The Sub-£7000 Peugeot 208 GTI Is The Affordable Hot Hatch You Didn't Consider

After a string of iffy small hot hatches from Peugeot, the French company finally gave the legendary 205 GTI the successor it deserved in 2012. The 208 GTI said its big hello to the world at the Geneva Motor Show that year, ready to right the wrongs of its predecessors.

It’s sadly been taken off sale ahead of the arrival of the all-new 208, but thankfully, the used market is awash with tidy examples. What’s more, prices have dipped below £7000.

We’ve plucked this 2014 model out of the classifieds for closer inspection. It has a thoroughly reasonable 57,000 miles on the clock, comes with a full service history, and looks rather dapper in Prestige Black. The price for all this? A mere £6,991.

The 1.6-litre inline-four turbo engine produces a handy 197bhp, whisking you from 0-60mph in 6.6 seconds. It isn’t quite a dynamic match for the Ford Fiesta ST of the same era, but the GTI longtermer CT ran many years ago proved to be fun and capable to drive.

If you must have something that’s as good as a Fiesta ST to drive, though, you might want to consider upping the budget a tad. If you do, you should be able to snag a GTI 30th Anniversary.

For the 30th, Peugeot upped the power to 205bhp, but more importantly, widened the front track and added a Torsen limited-slip differential. Praise from almost all corners of the motoring world was rightly heaped upon this car, with the tweaked 208 GTI widely seen to have recaptured the magic of that old 205.

This 2015 example admittedly won’t be to everyone’s tastes with its two-tone ‘coupe franche’ paintwork, but has done just 30,000 miles and will set you back £10,500.

So, which will it be for you: the standard GTI or the 30th?