GTI is back! Peugeot's legendary badge goes on the e-208 EV - can it be the 205 GTI's spiritual successor?

After half a decade away, Peugeot's legendary GTI performance badge is back - but on an electric vehicle.
The three-letter moniker, which is synonymous with its iconic 205 GTi of the 1980s and 1990s, has been stamped onto a souped-up version of the Peugeot e-208 EV.
Unveiled today on the eve of the 2025 Le Man 24 Hour, it's officially the first time the adored badge has appeared since the 308 GTi was discontinued back in 2020.
And it invites a direct comparison between Peugeot's new electric hot hatch and its 205 GTI ancestor, which is considered one of the best ever made.
Set to rival the EV Abarth 500e, Alpine's A290 and Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Electric hot hatches, the French marque promises it will focus on 'driving sensations'.
Peugeot has guaranteed the 'best performance in the electric hot hatch market', claiming the e-208 GTI will accelerate from zero to 62mph in just 5.7 seconds.
Debuting some 40 years after the original 205 GTI, can it really be considered the its spiritual successor?
The new model is a very big deal for Peugeot.
That's because it's the first all-electric car to be graced by the GTI stamp.
With this in mind, the team responsible for creating it was given a strict brief to ensure the e-208 lives up to the three-letter status that has underpinned its performance machines for four decades.
Hot hatch looks
To give the e-208 GTI a more squatted and aggressive stance, engineers have lowered the suspension by 30mm and extended the track (the distance between the wheels) at the front by 56mm and 27mm to the rear.
While the conventional e-208 is already a boxy, eighties-inspired supermini, a number of additional adjustments has ramped its purposeful look up to eleven.
The wheel arches have been bulked up to accommodate the wider track, with a flared section over the top of the tyres featuring a red pinstripe - a nod to the original 205 GTI's plastic body trim that ran the length of its profile.
There's a new front splitter and rear diffuser to tick the hot hatch boxes, but these also increase downforce while cornering.
Unique to the GTI EV are the 18-inch wheels based on those used on the 205 GTI 1.9, with the fabled 'holes' not just a nod to the modern classic but shaped to increase cooling to the enlarged 355mm brake discs and four-piston calipers entrusted with providing extra stopping power.
To give it a more squatted and aggressive stance, engineers have lowered the suspension and extended the track
The launch model revealed the day before the start of the French endurance race is finished in an exclusive bright red paint, which harks back to the Cherry option that popularised the 205 GTI in the eighties.
The bright red accents carry over to the cabin, with scarlet carpets, floor mats and seat belts to give a 'sporty atmosphere' to the cockpit.
Even the seats are a modern twist of the split design of the 205 GTI 1.9.
A central red trim extends across the seat and backrest, while the red mesh on the right side of the chairs recalls that of the 205 GTI 1.6.
Back to the 80s: Bright red accents carry over to the cabin, with scarlet carpets, floor mats and seat belts to give a 'sporty atmosphere' to the cockpit
Will the e-208 GTI drive like an old-school hot hatch?
To ensure the e-208 GTI has the performance to match its bold looks, Peugeot has reworked just about ever facet of its powertrain and chassis with input from its 'Sport' division, which currently leads its charge in the World Endurance Championship.
While the standard e-208 has the option of a 50 or 51kWh battery, the energy source for the GTI is an increased 54kWh unit.
This uses 'optimised management' with improved cooling to ensure it can cope under the aggressive driving conditions it will likely endure at the hands of enthusiast owners.
Peugeot bosses claim it should return 217 miles of range on a full charge - though this figures is based on official fuel economy laboratory measurements and not the club-footed driving of a boy racer.
The battery supplies a 278bhp electric motor, which produces an impressive 345Nm of torque. Thanks to the improved traction from the chassis tweaks, it will provide a sub-six-second sprint time to 62mph and an electronically limited top speed of 112mph.
While Peugeot is yet to clarify the car's bulk, it says it has the best power-to-weight ratio in its segment of 5.7kg per horsepower.
The addition of a limited-slip differential will optimise the handling characteristics and performance while cornering to make this a true B-road weapon.
Upgraded suspension springs and shock absorbers have been added, which, combined with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres as standard, along with a tuned rear anti-roll bars, should keep it planted to the road.
Tweaks to the steering rack will make it feel sharper than the standard supermini, too.
Peugeot has also introduced a bespoke 'Sport' mode as part of the adaptive driving settings; activating it switches off the driver assistance features to 'maximise sensations' when the EV is being thrashed around a track.
How much will the e-208 GTI cost?
The big question on everyone's lips is how much the e-208 GTI is going to cost.
While Peugeot has yet to put a firm figure on the electric hot hatch for the UK market, we expect it to ring in between £35,000 and £40,000.
The highest-spec standard e-208 currently costs £34,800 while arguably the GTi's biggest rival from fellow French outfit Alpine - the A290 - starts from £33,500, though its most powerful 217hp version is £38,000.
First deliveries should arrive towards the end of the year or early 2026.
What else do I need to know?
Using a conventional 7kW wallbox homecharger, the 54kWh battery in the e-208 GTI can be recharged in 4 hours and 40 minutes.
However, a compatible 100kW ultra-rapid charging point can boost the battery from 20 to 80 per cent charge in less than half an hour.
It also benefits from vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality, which allows an electrical device - like a laptop, kettle or even an e-bike - to be powered via the car's high-voltage battery.
The e-208 GTI will likely be produced alongside the standard EV at the Zaragoza plant in Spain, though its powerful electric motor is made in Trémery, in eastern France - an old engine manufacturing plant that's received a recent upgrade for its transition to EVs.
And despite the performance upgrades, Peugeot has committed the e-208 GTI to the same warranty coverage it provides with its more conventional EVs.
This includes eight-year/100,000 mile cover for the vehicle and the battery.
Unveiling the electric hot hatch at Le Mans, Alain Favey, Peugeot CEO, called the car a 'ground-breaking next chapter in an iconic GTI story'.
He added: 'This model represents a fusion of our rich heritage with cutting-edge technology, offering unparalleled performance and driving sensations, because at Peugeot we are serious about driving pleasure.
'With this new GTI, we set new standards within the hot hatch market.'
Peugeot 205 GTi: The icon
The Peugeot 205 GTI was launched in 1984 into an era that had fallen in love with the hot hatch thanks to the original Golf GTI, writes Simon Lambert.
It looked the part, with the stylish three-door standard 205's form and stance enhanced, including the addition of a very 1980s red-striped trim and spoiler, to give it a sporting character.
The 205 GTI was initially powered by a 1.6-litre engine, with 105bhp and later 115bhp. While that doesn't sound like much these days, the car's lightweight nature – with a curb weight of just 848kg – meant that performance stacked up well against rivals.
More important though was the 205 GTI's handling.
Peugeot's engineers had hit upon a magic formula that meant even 40 years later, the 205 GTI is still considered one of the best handling cars of all time.
The French carmaker had a near instant hit on its hands with the 205 GTI and eighties 'yuppies' fell head over heels for it, just as they had the Mark 1 and Mark 2 Golf GTI.
The 1.6-litre 205 GTi got an upgrade from 105bhp to 115bhp just ahead of the launch of the 1.9-litre 205 GTi in 1986.
This came with an updated cabin, styling tweaks and the famous Speedline alloy wheels instead of the 1.6-litre car's 'pepperpot' wheels.
The bragging rights delivered by the 130bhp larger engine extended to better performance. The 0-to-60mph time was cut from the 1.6-litre car's 8.7 seconds to just 7.8 seconds.
There's still debate among 205 enthusiasts now as to which was the better car, the fizzy, revvy 1.6 or the torquey 1.9 GTI. The broad agreement though is that both are fantastic.
Peugeot's engineers had hit upon a magic formula that meant even 40 years later, the 205 GTI is still considered one of the best handling cars of all time
According to Hagerty's price guide, a 'good' condition 1989 1.9 205 GTI is worth about £15,000 – 15 years ago, it could have been bought for about £3,000
The 205 GTI remained on sale, through a few minor cosmetic facelifts, until 1994, when it became a victim of high insurance costs delivered by boy racer crashes and joyrider thefts – and the 205 coming towards the end of its lifetime.
Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the 205 GTI retained a hardcore fanbase but to most became just another ageing hot hatch.
Then it started to be appreciated, with fans like Jeremy Clarkson singing its praises in a famous Top Gear clip you can find on YouTube, and soon prices started appreciating.
They really took off in the 2010s, as the 205 GTI became recognised as a modern classic and auction prices for mint condition cars broke through the £10,000 mark and soared up in the £20,000 and £30,000s for the best examples.
According to Hagerty's price guide, a 'good' condition 1989 1.9 205 GTI is worth about £15,000 – 15 years ago, it could have been bought for about £3,000.

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