2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch Review

Today we will be taking a look at the new-and-improved Peugeot 308 GT Hatch, a beauty from the land of France, here on Australian shores to grace us all with it’s good looks, sharp driving characteristics, and awesome technology. Available as a wagon or hatchback, we are looking at the “petite” option today to see how it competes against other options in the premium hatch segment like the VW Golf R-line, Audi A3, and BMW 118i, among others.

Join us as we explore all the car's interesting design aspects, talk about some of the more “quirky” interior features, give it some Sauce, and see how it launches 0-100km/h!

How much does the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch cost?

The 2023 Peugeot 308 Model Series comes in the following trims (all prices excl. On-road costs):

• 308 GT Hatch: $43,990
• 308 GT Premium Hatch (tested): $48,990
• 308 GT Premium Wagon: $50,490
• 308 GT Sport Plug-In Hybrid Hatch (price announced 30th March 2023): $64,990

This year’s pricing marks a more than $10,000 jump over the previous generation’s entry-level hatch (Allure), and it scores more tech such as the new 10-inch infotainment display, placing the 2023 Peugeot 308 firmly into premium hatch territory.

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What do we think of the exterior looks of the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch?

The 2023 Peugeot 308 range is simply stunning, available in 6 distinct colours, we have the Olivine Green on hand, and while I am not normally a green fan, this shade really stands out and will definitely break some necks as you drive through town.

First up, the front of the car has been heavily revised, it looks really modern with it’s thin, vertical LED daytime running light and indicator design, connecting to a sleek headlight unit which now has matrix LED lights as standard across the range. The spindle grille at the front is another addition to the design language of the 308, and something we haven’t seen in previous iterations of the car. The grille looks very aggressive and ties in well with Peugeot’s classy new badge, which was updated in 2021 to focus only on the lion’s head, on a black crest.

This new badge appears around the entire vehicle, and we also get some aerodynamic-looking “Kamakura” 18-inch alloys as standard on the hatch, while the premium gets 18-inch matte black alloy wheels which look amazing.

Another premium feature is the 360-degree camera system which has a really clear high-definition resolution, and we also get a panoramic opening glass sunroof which is fairly large, though doesn’t extend the full length of the roof. The rear windows are very tinted glass as well which is nice for rear occupant privacy.

The lighting at the rear is full LED with a 3D effect, Peugeot calls it the “claw effect” and the lights do a dance when you unlock the car with the key or come in close proximity to the vehicle for your keyless entry and go. These are the features that we notice and come to expect when a vehicle is competing against other premium options on the market from the likes of Audi and BMW, and we were pretty impressed during our time with this car.

What’s the interior and connectivity like of the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch?

The interior of the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium genuinely wowed us. From the soft-touch material choices and ambient lighting to the luxurious Nappa leather seats (premium spec only), my first impression of this car was that it definitely justifies its place in the premium hatchback segment from its interior quality alone, so let's break that down because it’s not all perfect.

Firstly, starting with the technology, the digital instrument cluster is up there with the competition such as the VW Golf, it is fully customizable, shows all the relevant information, and changes appearance and colour based on drive modes. All good - so far that is standard - but Peugeot needs to stand out from the rest, so they went ahead and added a 3D effect to the gauge cluster, which is one of the best executions of a 3D display that I have seen. Peugeot calls their digital instrument cluster “i-Cockpit” due to the way in which you look over the steering wheel at it, instead of through, and I have more to say about this ahead.

Moving on to the infotainment display, I have to say as somebody that used to jailbreak their iPod touch to add customisability to it, I am a massive fan of the amount of power Peugeot gives to their owners to be able to set up their infotainment system so it is just right, how French! The display is crystal clear, responsive, lightning-fast, and has a sleek glossy finish, and below it is a separate screen that displays your shortcuts. You can take any UI (user interface) element, and I mean any element, and add it to their shortcut bar, including setting the climate control to a specific temperature, or changing the brightness on the display. So if you notice that there are certain actions you find yourself repeating over and over while driving your Peugeot 308 GT, you can set it up so that those actions only take a single press, and are always visible on the interface. Massive thumbs up from me, from a power usability standpoint.

Apart from that, the main display itself is super useable, with built-in navigation, wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto, and a super clear parking camera system with 360-degree coverage. The speakers in the car we tested were phenomenal, with a 10-speaker FOCAL sound system installed, again, as part of that premium package, and aided by a large subwoofer beneath the boot floor.

Before we get into what we didn’t necessarily like about the interior of the new Peugeot 308, I have to talk about what we loved the most; those beautiful Nappa leather seats that come with the premium spec of the Hatch and Wagon variants, these seats are power adjustable at the front with memory function, seat heating, as well as MASSAGE function. Frankly, I’d be spending the extra $5k on the premium pack just for these seats alone, they are incredibly comfortable.

So our main issue with the Peugeot 308 is this “i-Cockpit” system that is unique to Peugeot. Essentially, the steering wheel is quite a bit smaller than usual and flatter as well, so it can sit lower down and closer to your legs, allowing you to see the digital instrument cluster over the wheel, not through. This is great in theory, though in practice we found that it doesn’t work for all body types, and while some people may find the driving position a little strange and something to get used to, others may find it completely unusable. We had a similar experience during testing and Matt found the driving position didn’t work for him, while I found that it wasn’t a problem, personally. It is for this reason that we can’t unequivocally recommend this car to everybody, despite being so impressed by so many of its attributes. We highly recommend going out and giving it a test drive prior to purchase so you can see for yourself.

Connectivity in the 308 is also excellent with a wireless charger, a USB-A port, a USB-C port, and a 12V socket. There is also an additional USB-C port hidden within the armrest storage, and a cable pass-through with a phone holder for cable management, another nice touch and good attention to detail. Overall, apart from that aforementioned driving position issue, we were really impressed sitting inside the Peugeot 308 GT Premium, and definitely think it is deserving of its “Premium” title.

What about the Back seats of the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch?

The back seats of the 308 GT Hatch definitely take a turn for the worse, compared to up front.

While quality is still good with the Nappa leather continuing, legroom and toe room are certainly very limited. You get a USB-A and USB-C port at the back, a small storage area, and strangely, no fold-down center armrest. We do get net pockets behind the front seats and door bins though so storage is still manageable. Overall though, you can tell that the front-seat occupants have been prioritised in terms of comfort and features.

How much can it fit in the boot of the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch?

The 2023 Peugeot 308 Hatch has 412L of boot volume, which is reduced to 361L in the Sport Plug-In Hybrid, and increased to 608L for the wagon, thanks to it’s longer wheelbase. Overall it is a very useable size with a deep floor, which also houses the subwoofer for our premium audio system.

The rear seats can be folded (almost) flat to add extra storage, however, you may have difficulty fitting large items due to the hump created by the thickness of the plush Nappa leather seats.

What’s under the bonnet of the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch?

The 2023 Peugeot 308 line-up (apart from the plug-in hybrid) is powered by a 1.2L 3-cylinder turbo petrol engine which produces 96kW of power, and 220Nm of torque. This is sent to the front wheels exclusively via an 8-speed automatic transmission.

This means fuel economy is excellent, with a claimed City cycle of 6.1L/100km, and claimed Combined cycle of 5.3L/100km.

How does the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch drive?

While the power figures coming from the turbo 1.2L 3-cylinder petrol engine are far from earth-shattering, the Peugeot 308 GT Hatch only weighs about 1250kg, meaning that it still has some pep in its step. We tested the claimed 9.7 seconds 0-100km/h launch time and clocked it at 10.24 seconds, which is neither good nor bad. Peugeot claims the new top-of-the-line Sports Plug-in Hybrid will have a 7.5 second 0-100 which places that model in Warm Hatch territory.

So while we weren’t mindblown by the straight-line performance of the new 308 GT Hatch, I did find myself impressed by the ride quality and handling, I think they have achieved a good balance of comfort and dynamics in this version that makes it actually very fun to drive on the back roads. The position of the steering wheel certainly felt odd during the more twisty segments of the road during our testing, but I found myself acclimatising to it fairly quickly and within an hour of driving, those teething issues were out of the way.

Despite being low on power, the engine is quite torquey and the 8-speed transmission decisive, with the car responding predictably to our inputs at low and high speeds, and even maintaining a freeway speed of up to 110km/h effortlessly despite being a 3-cylinder. We also found that the engine was quiet within the cabin, there was no loud racket like a car with a CVT, and the road noise was very well insulated, definitely up to scratch with other premium competitors like the BMW 118i.

Driver assistance works well with the new Lane Positioning Assist system on the Premium, however, the fact that it isn’t included as standard with the base GT is a little disappointing, considering that other options on the market included these features as standard. The other safety features like blind-spot monitoring work perfectly, and the speed sign recognition works hand-in-hand with the adaptive cruise control so you can easily adjust your speed with a single button press.

Overall, the Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch now feels very premium, with a host of inclusions that make it a very versatile and comfortable daily driver. While it’s certainly a long shot away from being a sports hatch, the new plug-in hybrid model should fill that gap and we hope to test out one of those soon!

Is the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch Safe?

The 2023 Peugeot 308 has a 4-star ANCAP Safety Rating for build dates of November 2022 onwards, with a score of 79% for adult occupant protection. The range comes equipped with the following safety features as standard:

• Autonomous Emergency Braking with low-light pedestrian, cyclist detection
• Adaptive cruise control, including stop/start
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Driver attention monitoring
• Lane-keep assist
• Active lane positioning (premium only)
• Speed sign recognition
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera (360-degree camera premium only)

How much does the 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch cost to service?

The entire Peugeot range is covered by a five-year, unlimited km warranty, with logbook servicing required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.

Peugeot also offers three and five-year servicing plans for $1000 and $1800, respectively.

Final thoughts - should you buy a 2023 Peugeot 308 GT Premium Hatch?

While this new model series of the Peugeot 308 has certainly upped the ante in terms of price, we also believe that its inclusions and driving dynamics make it a fairly compelling option for people in the market for a stylish, premium hatch that focuses on luxury and comfort, with the Premium spec delivering those amazing Nappa leather seats with Massage functionality, and without compromising on technology and safety features. This car does seem like an all-rounder that does everything well without doing anything exceptionally, and this makes it a very appealing option for the premium market.

The distinct presentation of the front grille, the LED lights (both front and rear), and stunning colour options make this car a definite statement, and after being in so many cars that are, frankly, pretty similar in look and feel, the Peugeot 308 GT has been a breath of fresh air, and a really pleasant one at that.