Spoke to Gilles Vidal last week, design boss at Peugeot, who was talking about the new 208 supermini that goes on sale in the summer. He explained he was hoping to bring back the passion customers felt for the 205 when it was launched back in the mid-Eighties. Vidal told me: “What was amazing about the 205 was that it was quite fresh in terms of design and everyone was happy with their own version. It’s quite iconic in that. The 208 has the potential to be basic, popular and premium all at the same time.” Shaving some weigh off is going to help with the dynamics. On average it’s 110kg lighter than the 207, and up to 173kg on some versions. Vidal also explained about the psychology of steering wheel size. The one in the 208 is smaller than the one in the RCZ, which is a sporty car. From a design perspective, he can get away with it because the driver doesn’t need to be able to see the instruments through the steering wheel anymore. In the 208 you see them over the top instead. “The physical feeling is different because the wheel is smaller. You get good handling in cities but people also associate smaller steering wheels with sportier handling,” Vidal added. It will be interesting to see if the 208 can tempt people out of the Citroen DS3 and MINI.
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