Peugeot will be showing off two concept cars at Geneva this year. The first of which is the XY, a city car focused on bringing a fresh approach and refinement to the small car arena. The second is the 208 GTi. Oh yes, a legend will be reborn.
You can see from the picture that there’s plenty of cosmetic areas of interest from the swoops and shut lines of the bonnet through to the jewellery around the lights. There’s also a chequered-flag motif that embellishes the metal mesh of the grille.
The rear has the now standard double exhaust system fitted, whilst also apparent is aero lower bodywork spoilers and lower sill skirt extensions. These all serve to highlight the fact that this is a non-standard variant of the car.
Power comes from the 1.6-litre THP engine of the RCZ, which serves up a well rounded 200 bhp. To enhance the dynamic experience, it has a 36mm wider track and a rear roof spoiler to generate down force at speed. For optimum braking performance, the GTi Concept is equipped with four discs; 302mm diameter at the front and 249mm at the rear, set off by red-painted brake calipers.
So, what do you all make of this concept? I think it’s a cracking little small car, but is it different enough – and dare I say it powerful enough – to really stand out from the crowd in the extremely busy world of hot hatches? Is this a redesign too late given the lacklustre reception to other GTi vehicles from Peugeot in the recent past?
There’s no word yet on price or whether this particular model will make production. However, I believe that we’ll see both the 208 XY and the GTi rather sooner than you would imagine…
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