The Peugeot 308 GTI will have a mountain to climb to prove it is a worthy hot hatch. Yes, Peugeot has the tradition under its belt, but as the Top Gear trio excellently put it in the last season of the show, Pug’s more recent efforts (in any class) never won any high praise.

Take the old 308 GTI, a car that was as powerful as the comparable VW Golf GTI yet nobody bought it or cared about it. Then Peugeot tested the waters with the 208 GTI and it was much better, so there is still hope for the new hot 308.

Journos are only just getting their hands on the 308 GTI, and while nobody has made any comments as to the way it drives, we can at least see it in action in an unofficial track video for the first time, courtesy of PistonHeads.

Previously we had Stephan Peterhansel telling us what an amazing machine it is. It looks planted enough in the video, shot around the Braga circuit in Portugal, though… maybe a bit too planted.

Video