Sometimes this job can throw up some unexpected surprises and, thankfully, usually of the good kind. There I was strolling back to the office from the bank on a quiet Tuesday morning when my phone rings with a call from Peugeot. "Would you like to go to Peugeot Sport headquarters outside Paris and collect a new 308 GTi for us and drive it back home to Dublin for the weekend?" Needless to say it didn't take me a terribly long time to answer.
This would be a somewhat special task, as this would be the first 308 GTi to come to Ireland, albeit for a temporary stay only, as it would be on display at a private Peugeot event. So it had to arrive on time and, most importantly, in one piece. Assisting/overseeing/supervising me would be Colin Sheridan, Sales Manager at Peugeot's Irish importer. The fact that Colin is a through-and-through petrolhead and rather talented when it comes to navigation trials is pure coincidence...
Our schedule was somewhat tight: fly to Paris on Friday morning, travel to Peugeot Sport headquarters, collect the car and get back to Dublin for Saturday evening. Naturally the first section went well, but landing into typical Parisian traffic resulted in an hour-long taxi ride to Peugeot Sport. This rather nondescript building in an industrial area is home to Peugeot motorsport and the birthplace of machines such as Sebastien Loeb's Pikes Peak hillclimb car and the company's latest 2008 DKR, which will again tackle the torturous Dakar Rally in January. With the exception of a small sign on the gate and one on the roof you'd be forgiven for thinking that something like printer toner cartridges or office furniture was created here.
Sitting right by the front door is the black 308 GTi that we have been tasked with transporting to Ireland. The damp conditions are somewhat typical of Paris at this time of year and although it might disappoint some people about to take on such a drive, what better conditions in which to put this car through its paces?
The 308 GTi won't begin arriving into Irish showrooms until early 2016 so our particular car is actually one of the pre-production models that was used by Peugeot as part of the final stages of validation. Its 17,000 kilometres on the odometer were, we suspect, not easy ones, but at least we don't have to worry about running in a new engine.
That engine is a turbocharged in-line four-cylinder, like the one powering the RCZ R, and produces 270hp. It puts the Peugeot at the upper end of the 'regular' hot hatch segment, falling into place just big the premier league of 300-plus horsepower cars.
Even though the 2008 DKR team were off site hot weather testing in Morocco, we couldn't set off for home without at least doing a lap of the car pack. These can often be the most fascinating and intriguing places in a facility like this, and it wasn't long before we caught a glimpse of some Peugeot 208 WRC cars sat outside in the drizzle, awaiting preparation for their next battle. But the highlight undoubtedly was a jacked-up race-ready Renault 4 van. Time was ticking by though and we had some ground to cover, not to mention Parisian traffic, before our Channel Tunnel crossing later that evening. And it was Friday. And it was raining.
Through the stop-start traffic of the various boroughs north of Paris the 308 GTi was very easy to live with and you'd almost forget that there is 270hp underneath your right foot. A reasonably light clutch pedal and power steering to match makes this a very useable car in what are, sadly, real-world conditions.
As we get closer to Calais the traffic does ease and the quiet peage affords us an opportunity to stretch the sporty Peugeot's legs a little more. Much like its smaller sibling, the 208 GTi, you do need to keep an eye on the high-mounted instrument cluster, as the clockwise speedometer and anti-clockwise tachometer like to try to meet each other far too easily. Whether in fourth, fifth or even sixth gear, the 308 GTi's engine rolls on power in huge amounts and is happy to rev all the way towards its 7,000rpm redline.
The Channel Tunnel crossing is quite simply the only way to get to the UK from France; it makes life so much easier than the ferry crossings. There is also the added bonus that at certain times, such as the Friday night we found ourselves in, the car park in the tunnel terminal can be supercar heaven with people returning from places like the Nürburgring. The Peugeot did manage to hold its own while being surrounded by Audi R8s, Porsche 911 GT3s and even a Mercedes-AMG CLK Black Series.
Thanks to Colin's excellent navigational skills we had arrived in time and before long we were driving into the carriages to depart Continental Europe. The temptation to floor it through the empty carriages of the Chunnel train is high but sensibility reigned supreme on this occasion. The 45-minute journey was enough to stretch our legs out of the car and find a place on the other side to put our heads down for the night. One quick WhatsApp message to CompleteCar's resident travel and make-things-happen expert, Melanie, quickly found us with a place to stay right on the route home. All while under the English Channel. Technology, eh?
If you thought getting on the Channel Tunnel sounded easy, leaving it is even better. Roll off the train, up a slip road and directly onto the motorway. We only had about 30 minutes of driving to our overnight stop, and somewhat surprisingly we were nowhere near needing fuel yet, despite having stretched the GTi's legs on a few occasions along the way.
Saturday would bring sunshine and hopefully emptier roads on the way from Maidstone to Holyhead for the ferry crossing. Wrong! It seems there actually isn't a time that the M25 isn't severely broken with traffic, so once we had brimmed the tank we allowed the Peugeot's satellite navigation to redirect us in order to avoid the worst of the traffic.
Once north of London the journey became much smoother and following a pit stop for lunch in Chester we were on the home straight to the ferry. Even as we approached the 1,000-kilometre mark on our trip the GTi's seats felt as comfortable and supportive as they started, something that can't always be said for sporty seats. Even in just these 24 hours we've gotten to know the Peugeot rather well and, like the aforementioned RCZ R, this hot 308 feels to have a chassis that is well sorted and certainly up to the job. It also used a lot less fuel than we had expected, which if you're a potential buyer reading this, you'll be pleased to know.
With the car loaded onto the ferry we set sail for Dublin and eventually presented Ireland with its first 308 GTi, albeit for a limited time only. I savour the short drive from Dublin Port to my place, on streets that I know, before handing the baton over to Colin. It has been a brief and somewhat intense time with the 308 GTi, but what better way to get to know a car than to take it on a nice long road trip? I wonder if Peugeot need it delivered back to Paris...