Peugeot 208 GTi

The new Ford Fiesta ST is one of the most hotly-anticipated hot hatches of recent times, with a sterling pedigree and promising early reviews. But how does it stack up against its pint-sized competitors? Matt Watson and CarWow clearly asking the same question, and lined it up with a Toyota Yaris GRMN, a Mini Cooper JCW, a Volkswagen Polo GTI and Peugeot 208 GTi to find out. We're not going to spoil the results, but the winner came as a bit of a shock to us. Enough said.

Could this car be the most expensive production Peugeot ever? With a sticker price of £175,000 (AUD$300,000), this 1984 Peugeot 205 T16 presents a compelling case. One of just 200 homologation specials built in order for the French carmaker to compete in the World Rally Championship, the transverse mid-mounted 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine pumped out around 150kW to all four wheels.

The 2015 Peugeot 208 GTi has had a further $490 shaved from its Australian retail price this week, as the current model shifts into runout mode. Today’s cut follows a $1000 reduction that came as part of a brand-wide pricing change in June, effectively amounting to a total saving of $1500 off the 208 GTi’s earlier retail price. Peugeot says it has just 30 examples of the 2015 208 GTi left in the local inventory, with a revised example scheduled to hit the market before the end of this year.

French car maker Peugeot is reportedly working on a special edition of the recently released Peugeot 208 GTi in recognition of Sebastien Loeb's record-crushing run at the 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado. Based on the Peugeot 208 GTi hot-hatch, the Pikes Peak Edition could reportedly launch with an extra 15-22kW for a total output of 164-171kW.

The upcoming Peugeot 208 GTi will have closer parallels to the famous 205 GTi of the 1980s, says the French car manufacturer. The 205 GTi's successors to date, the 206 GTi and 207 GTi, weren’t short on engine performance but couldn’t match the pure handling fun of the original. A new 208 city car that’s lighter than the 207, however, provides the perfect basis for a great GTi variant, says Peugeot.