In the old days, GTi’s were lightweight specialist cars that used their diminutive size to out-handle and outperform many more powerful cars. Those days are gone now, as is the old Peugeot hot hatch trick of flinging itself off the road if the driver lifted off the throttle mid corner.
Dynamic High Performance Cornering
But watch a modern day Peugeot 207GTi in extreme action and it is noticeable that when the cornering gets really challenging the inside rear tyre still lifts off the ground. It’s all in perfect safety of course, as vehicle dynamics means that the tyre is carrying little or none of any car’s weight under those conditions, but that wheel up in the air neatly sums up the $37,990 Peugeot 207GTi THP 175. It is good clean fun, with the emphasis on fun, rather than extreme performance.
Turbocharged Engine With Overboost Function
With a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine providing 128kW and 240Nm of torque the car has less power than the previous 206 GTi, but the turbo provides higher torque and spreads it over a wider range. There is also an overboost function that will give access to 264Nm on full throttle. It is the same engine that is in the Mini Cooper S, and despite Peugeot’s claim the 207GTi will do 0-100km/h in 7.1 seconds the engine is what makes the 207GTi a warm, rather than outright hot hatch.
Limits of Front Wheel Drive Power
There has to be more than 147kW pumping through the front wheels to make an impact on the hot hatch market these days, and there is a hotter version of the GTi on the way, but at the moment this represents the quickest 207.
Good thing then that the GTi is very agile. The small 207 body shape is easy to fling around, and thanks to lots of boost down low in the rev range the car feels much quicker than it really is. Lateral grip is good, although driver and passengers have to put up with a slightly rough ride.
The gearshift on the six speed manual gearbox is a little rubbery, but it is accurate and the driver can flip between gears quickly, which is a good thing because the GTi is almost always egging the driver on to drive a little quicker. It must be because of the good torque delivery.
Inside the GTi there’s not all that much to tell it is anything special, apart from the grippy sports seats and the alloy gear knob. There is a good looking three door body though, and front and rear bumpers that bring out the aggressive nature of the cars styling.
Hot Hatch with Safety Systems
There are also ABS with EBFD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution) and EBA (Emergency Brake Assist), six airbags – Driver, passenger, side and curtain, remote central locking, MP3 compatible CD Player, digital climate control air conditioning with air conditioned glovebox, rain sensitive automatic wipers, light sensitive automatic headlights, front and rear fog lights, and twin exhaust pipes.
As the image leader for the 207 range the GTi is a good pick. It looks good –certainly it is the best expression of that big corporate grille – and it is quick enough and fun enough to deserve to be called a GTi.
Sam Domett - I have been a motoring journalist for over 15 years, beginning with my own website. I then moved on to the Manukau Daily News. My next job ...
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