BEST DRIVING ROADS: Peugeot 308 GTI – Mountain Lion
Road Trip: medium or long-term drive on the road. Then, if this kind of trip includes a route which is spread over four mountain passes, a 270 horsepower sports car and a rowdy entourage in tow, you want to live 100% of these “road trips”. Bread and road trip. That of early August will be remembered for a long time for a variety of reasons that made it so special – with me friends and photographers Jay and Gian and the best personal assistant/girlfriend/photographer too Giorgia. Funny though to realize that everything was done in just a few hours, after all no more than 150km of driving (if you consider the hotel as a starting point), but judging from the photo archive that we found ourselves with at the end of the weekend – approximately 2700 shots – I would say we took it very seriously. Best Driving Roads is a reality that has always existed in Auto Class, we’ve always had a real attraction for the mountains, for their views, for the emotions that driving a sports car in the midst of some valley transmits, crossing borders from Country to Country, but with the 308 GTI we wanted to do something different, thus creating a real quest for the perfect road, without necessarily going to end up on what everyone knows and mentions like the ultimate roads in Europe.
PART I
Photos b y Jay Tomei
We get to Bardonecchia a bit earlier than the two photographers who will join us only in the evening – just in time for looking for the hotel, unload the (few) luggage and have a nice walk through the streets of this small town, buying some inevitable local stuff and collecting a €135,00 fine for the horrible road signs that were supposed to close the access of the town center. We enjoy the fresh, pure and uncontaminated air, a sort of village that stands at 1.312m above sea level (the hotel was at 1.940m) and while it is getting dark and the air becomes incredibly cold, the concentration for the following day is at top levels, including the fact that we wanted to come back to the headquarter with something very valuable, making our colleagues even more jealous. There is the new Peugeot 308 GTI with us, the compact 5-door made by PeugeotSport, and available with a 1.6 turbo petrol engine outputting 250 or 272 horses. Of course we have chosen the most powerful one, able to accelerate in 6 seconds flat from 0 to 100 kph and reach without big efforts 250 per hour. The fact that it is available with five doors only reveals as an advantage, given the numerous stops and the need to load and unload backpacks and bags with the frequency of a group of retired at their first seasonal trip. There is the optional two-tone livery (in my opinion intriguing, but certainly not cheap), and above all there is a manual transmission and a Torsen slip-diff at the front, axle that has the task to attend the most of the work, especially when things will get serious.
Our breakfast, in typical mountain mood, had to be light, but it’s not easy to resist all those jams, with warm croissants and company … After checking-out we load the car and climb down in altitude, returning in the town center, a full tank of petrol and we head towards the Col de l’Echelle, the first real stretch of road that will mark the start of our adventure at the wheel of the French lion. It is a very short bit of road, and within minutes, leaving behind Bardonecchia and Italy, our climb on the hill that with a height of 1.762m and a succession of curves and sharp bends begins – then it greets us with a more open landscape made of green and tidy lawns, always dominated by those classic rock walls, real characteristic feature of these mountain views. It’s a Saturday and cars around are only a few, but the area is busy with bikers and this makes our pace to be forced to constant switch from fast when the road is clear and slow when you find yourself in the midst of groups of bikers on road. But hey, the road belongs to everyone, and it is right that everyone enjoys such a lovely landscape with their favorite way. We cross Val-des-Prés, and finally I can get the chance to get in tune with this pocket rocket, great-grandson of the legendary 306 GTI, which definitely embossed the dreams and gifted fun to a lot of you reading today. The “Sport” button, although is not in a very happy position (too close and similar to the handbrake button), changes the character to the GTI, the dash turns red, the steering response and the clutch become heavier, the same speech for its attitude, always sincere and communicative, especially when you decide to exploit the full potential of the engine. Taking apart the sound, amplified by the audio system’s speakers, despite the two tailpipes look good overall and generous size, we come back to the good points of the car – torque is available almost immediately, put down the gas and after a light delivery delay, the turbo kicks in and the progression seems not wanting to stop its insistence in pushing you against the beautiful sports seats. The continuous thrust is the 308 GTI’s strength, and also separates it from the typical hot hatches, becoming expendable as a car of a bigger segment and responding almost like a naturally aspirated one, with a strong torque curve that starts at about 1900revs dispensing all its 272 horses at 6000rpm.
The cabin then is the connection between you and the car, with the new reduced size steering wheel that initially can shock, but later allows you to have a perfect steering management, never boring during the most hectic maneuvering stages. Its transgression, however, is to let you play hide and seek with the tachometer, just like the central part of the dashboard, where it is virtually all entrusted to the touch screen system and sometimes is inconvenient and cumbersome, especially during driving. Never mind, the sat-nav works well, and the shift lever is pure enjoyment: it has as precise engagements as the aims of a sniper and despite I’d have preferred a shorter run for the ratios (physically speaking), tinkering with one hand on the wheel and the other in search of the right gear is what we are all looking on enjoyable cars like these. We leave behind both Briancon and Cervières and we start the climb to the Col d’Izoard, today’s center of the action. Driving in “Sport” and at the center of the display you can check the power and the engine torque used, while the mechanically locking diff is seriously committed to transfer power to the tire with the better traction. Heaven opens above us and the scenery is stunning – it is one of the rare times that I’m happy to pull over, get out and enjoy a landscape that looks like it came from my most optimistic dreams. We are at 2.360m and the height is felt, also weighing on the engine readiness – so you have to be clever, keep lower gears, eliminating the need to downshift for revving the small but portentous 1.6. With traction control switched off you get the best out of it and the car lets you come out wide from the hairpins without annoying power cuts that have to be avoided in these conditions. Bend after bend you fall in love with the Izoard and thus comes the time to pull over for some more shots.
PART II
Photos by Gian Romero
We update Instagram, just to kill our colleagues back home, and we keep driving down the other side and entering along the second part of our road trip, the fastest one. Once again I have the opportunity to test the power and braking system accuracy, that despite being seemingly tireless emit few whistles more than before. The handling is one of the essential aspects of a car and be aware that this 308 GTI is perfectly at ease, shot from one hairpin the day before and accompanying your girlfriend to the shopping center the following day – yet another proof that hot hatches are one of man’s greatest inventions. Power and convenience to our service, who could ask for more? Well, if I may just answer, I’d ask the Col de Vars – a long snake of perfect asphalt that rises up to 2.108m, with wide open roads with great visibility and a number of restaurants and bars at the top, ideal to rest our mountain lion and put something in our stomach. While we wait for our orders to arrive we have time for some hot comments, no one is engaged in his own work, and we’re all talking and chatting about how amazing and fun the GTI has been. It’s a real shame that you do not see its name in the top 5 list. The 272hp 308 GTI has absolutely nothing to envy to the competition: it has a young shape, it’s done well, it is strong, it has good cornering speed and grip, has a big trunk and a pair of front seats among the best in the category. This lion roars and I mean, really roars and after our coffee we are ready to get back in action. Archived the hilarious stretches of the Col de Vars, we head for Italy, going up (and then down) the Col de Larche (1.996m), a long coming and going of tight hairpins, which once again put to the test the balance and the chassis of the French girl. Nothing to pin, only the firm conviction demonstrating that we chose the right car – and despite the several hours of drive (and the numerous back and forth for photographic needs), if only we had the opportunity, we would have turned around and done all that back again, indeed even adding a few more peak to climb, knowing that nothing would be able to tire the GTI.
In the evening, coming home, there was silence in the cockpit. The display lights were lit and the soft sound of the exhaust was my only companion. I was able to reflect further, since at times, in the middle of the action you’re not fresh enough for being able to take a position that is unassailable. Within a few days I have established a great relationship with this 308, I took it everywhere and these four mountain passes have been its final test, widely exceeded. But it still wants to run, roaring and entertain me. No need to be asked twice, down a gear and I blast the accelerator to the metal, thanking fate for having made my home along a winding hilly road. So it’s just like that, you that are going to buy one have to know – any excuse will be good, every road will be a road trip. And yes, every day with it, will be a day well spent. A day of a lion.
Words by Alessandro Marrone
PEUGEOT 308 GTI (2016-)
Layout – front-engined, front-wheel-drive
Engine – 4 cylinder 1598cc – turbo
Transmission – 6-speed manual gearbox
Power – 272 hp @ 6000 rpm
330 Nm @ 1900 rpm
Weight – 1280 kg
Acceleration – 6 sec.
Top Speed – 250 kph
Price – from 35.150 €