Peugeot Sport has revealed that it is developing an even faster variant of the 308 GTI hot hatch, aimed at rivaling the VW Golf R.

During an interview with Australia’s Motoring, Peugeot Sport’s Patrice Delannoy said that the hatch’s turbocharged 1.6-liter engine can handle much more than the current 270 PS (266 hp). In fact, he said that the French marque has already developed a mule with over 308 hp of reliable grunt from the compact engine.

Delannoy also asserted that the suspension and braking components of the current 308 GTI can handle the extra power of the test mule.

“It’s not so much the power the small turbo produces actually, but the torque. The car we have has more than 400Nm and it’s fine, it’s perfectly manageable,” he said.

While the existing car is sold exclusively with a six-speed manual transmission, Peugeot is considering offering the PSA Group’s EAT8 automatic from Aisin with this more potent version having developed it to work with the car’s Torsen limited-slip differential.

Delannoy failed to specify if the more powerful 308 GTI has been given the green light for production.

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