The last weekend of the GT Tour multi-class endurance championship was the perfect opportunity for Peugeot Sport to showcase its pre-production hyper hatch prototype. We are, of course, talking about the famous 308 R HYbrid, shown as a concept earlier this year and soon to become a scary sportscar killer.
Peugeot test engineers showed off not one but two models, the first being a roadable version of the concept and the other a prototype wearing full camouflage. In the video below, you can see how they are performing straight line acceleration tests, indirectly revealing the huge tires when making turning maneuvers.
The 308 R needs a lot of rubber to deal with the highest output of any hatchback ever. Peugeot officials are still talking about an output equivalent to half a Bugatti Veyron - 500 horsepower.
The 308 R HYbrid made its debut at the Shanghai Motor Show, and we initially thought it was just a study. However, in June, Peugeot brand boss Maxime Picat confirmed it received the green light for production via Twitter, along with the Director of PSA Peugeot Citroën, Carlos Tavares.
The voice of a four-cylinder turbocharged engine can be easily identified in the video below. It belongs to the 1.6-liter THP unit that's been plucked out of the 308 GTi, together with the 270 PS output. Nobody can ever say the car lost something by not using a large 2-liter engine! The rest of the power comes from two identical 115 PS electric motors.
As you may have noticed, nobody has tried to stuff 230 electric horsepower into a compact hatchback. In fact, even the biggest plug-in hybrid SUVs come with about half that. Also, the Peugeot 308 R HYbrid claims to have over a quarter more power than a Mercedes-AMG A45.
So you'll excuse us for seeming a little too excited about a hybrid car made by a French company.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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