SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.


This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a short drive over a prepared course chosen to make the product look good. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.

The legend lives on. We met Peugeot’s latest hot hatch; the 208 GTi for 2013

Pics supplied

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday July 17, 2013

Sportiness without aggression

Peugeot’s 205 GTi, introduced in 1984, was light, powerful and dynamic. It offered a rounded and balanced approach to small performance hatchbacks and went on to become a legend. More powerful 206 and 207 versions followed, but the one most fondly remembered is 205.

For 2013 and beyond, the company is aiming to win back market share from that other GTI; the one that started it all. That one has a bigger engine, more power and a killer badge, but the joy of freedom of choice is that buyers can choose. In the words of Peugeot design director, Pierre Authier:  "If we want to (re)make the legend we have to be different, embody the new kind of sportivity but without being derivative of (other) cars."

Peugeot’s newest GTi represents an arresting interpretation of the 208 design thanks to a more muscular presence created by wider front and rear tracks, extended wheel arches and deeper sills, together with comprehensive colour coding and big alloy wheels shod with low-profile rubber. Its hexagonal grille is more prominent, featuring a three-dimensional chequered design that combines glossy black and bright metallic inserts, while a curved lower air intake adds to the overall aggression of the frontal styling.

The rear features an extended roof spoiler and a lower apron finished in contrasting black with an integrated, rectangular design for the twin exhaust tailpipes. Red is a recurring theme employed in the badging of the GTi, while the C-pillar gets a distinctive sweep of brightwork adorned with the GTi logo. The car runs on distinctive ‘Carbone’ 17-inch alloy wheels. They’re shod with 205/45 R17 performance tyres and allow a clear view of its bright red front and rear brake callipers.

The red theme continues inside with the cabin’s sporty ambience confirmed by an ergonomically efficient layout that places round, analogue instrument dials and a central digital readout directly in the driver’s line of sight. The dial faces echo the chequered effect of the front grille, and feature white graphics and needles. Bucket seats, shaped for both comfort and support, are adjustable for height, reach and backrest rake.

Standard specification includes all the expected safety kit, six bags, remote central locking, dual-zone climate control, electrically operated windows and exterior mirrors, auto-activating headlights and windscreen wipers, cruise control with speed limiter, front and rear parking sensors and Park Assistance that allows for automated parallel parking. Touch screen interaction provides access to infotainment, satnav, an onboard computer and Bluetooth for music streaming and phone integration.

Under the covers stiffer springs, recalibrated damper settings, thicker anti-roll bars and more rigid rear cross members work together with an optimised front subframe to provide crisper and more responsive handling, while retaining a ride that is still compliant enough to ensure poise and balance on compromised surfaces.  Electro-mechanical, power assisted rack-and-pinion steering provides a greater degree of feedback and heft, allowing for more positive steering inputs and greater steering precision.

Peugeot proved it can build indecently competitive cars when its 875-horsepower, 875-kg, 208 T16 shadow racer rasped more than a minute-and-a-half off the Pike’s Peak hillclimb record recently. But back in the real world; let’s look at the 208 GTi and some obvious competitors. 

The 1600cc 208 GTi develops 147 kW and 275 Nm, does the standard sprint in 6,8 seconds and is priced at R260 000. Ford’s 1600cc Fiesta ST puts out 134 kW and 240 Nm for a zero-to-100 of 6,9 seconds. It sells for R254 500. The 2.0-litre Clio RenaultSport develops 148 kW and 215 Nm, but in fairness, it isn’t turbocharged, so it runs through the traps in 7,5 seconds. It’s priced at R300 000. The new 2.0-litre Golf GTI is good for 162 kW, 350 Nm and a sprint time of 6,5 seconds. It sells for R368 300. Satnav, parking sensors and park assist would be extra.

Peugeot’s 208 GTi offers an excellent blend of comfort and handling, decent ergonomics, good looks, an attractive interior, a full house of safety and convenience kit and a very workable alternative to the others.  Monsieur Authier described it well: “It is sportive without aggressiveness; much more agility, much more pleasure."

Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press launch

The numbers
Price: R259 900
Engine: 1598 cc, four-cylinder, turbopetrol
Power: 147 kW at 5800 rpm
Torque: 275 Nm at 1700 rpm
Gearbox: 6-speed manual
Zero to 100 km/h: 6,8 seconds
Combined cycle fuel consumption (claimed): 5,9 l/100 km
Tank: 50 litres
Boot: 470 litres
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km; with roadside assistance
Maintenance: 5 years/60 000 km


What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.


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