Comment: How a hybrid Peugeot 308 R could top its class

There may be two routes to the delivery of the 308 R in principle, but only one of them can take the Peugeot 308 to the top of the mega-hatch class.

Hybrid Peugeot 308 R mega-hatch set to rival Ford Focus RS

In order to access the market segment in which the Audi RS3 and Ford Focus RS compete, the 308 R will need more power than Peugeot Sport’s turbocharged 1.6-litre engine can supply. That engine is already fitted with some pretty special internals and is in a high enough state of tune just providing thePeugeot 308 GTi with its 266bhp. To get the 350bhp-plus from it that the 308 R will need to compete at the highest level of the hot hatch market will be nigh on impossible.

However, a production version of the 308 R Hybrid concept first shown at last year’s Shanghai motor show would have the power and the all-corner drivetrain needed to take on Mercedes-AMG and Audi Sport. Having driven a prototype of that show car late last year, I’d say the resulting production car could be great — provided that Peugeot has ironed out the concept’s less impressive foibles, namely its unresponsive automated manual transmission and the frailty of a hybrid powertrain that can only develop full power for short bursts.

A bigger, better-cooled drive battery and a faster-shifting gearbox aren’t all the road-going 308 R Hybrid would need. An absolutely stellar chassis, coupled with as much weight-saving as possible, would also be required in order to justify what would necessarily be a very high price indeed for any five-door hatchback — let alone one without a premium badge on its nose to boost its desirability.

Stil, don’t bet against a highly motivated and skilled team at Peugeot Sport, properly backed by a notorious petrolhead in PSA Group chairman Carlos Tavares, to come up with the goods.

Matt Saunders

Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.

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