Introduction
The 208 GTi is the sportier big brother of (you guessed it) the Peugeot 208.
Introduced to the market in 2013, the GTi version of this car was designed to be sportier than its sibling, with a focus on performance and handling.
The car’s best features are its strong engine, great handling, and affordable price point. The 1.6-liter turbocharged engine makes 208 horsepower and 207 lb-ft of torque. The 208 GTI also has a six-speed manual transmission with a limited slip differential for optimal performance.
Perhaps you own one or are thinking or purchasing one and are looking to see what potential mods there are available.
Whether you’re looking for more power, handling, or braking capabilities—or maybe just a different look—modifying your 208 GTI can help achieve this.
Lets take a look at the various interior, exterior and performance mods you can do to your car that will make it even more exciting and personalised.
Interior Mods
The 208 GTI’s interior shares much of the same styling and layout as the standard 208, with some additional sportier trim elements like red accents and sports seats.
While relatively comfortable and modern, it’s a tame interior compared to more upmarket sports hatchbacks and performance cars. However with some tinkering and additional touches, there are a few things you can do to extract the most from your GTI’s interior.
One of the simplest things we would recommend doing is getting some custom floor mats. The floor mats will help protect the interior of your car from dirt and spills. It’s also a great way to add some extra style to your car’s interior to match any colour scheme you may have going on.
Adding LED strips to your Pug’s interior can be another nice touch. This is another way to add some personality and colour into your car’s interior without making any permanent alterations (which means no mess if you decide you don’t like it).
If you are serious about the performance of your car, then a multi gauge or boost gauge is a very useful tool, especially if the car is remapped. A multi gauge can tell you a lot live operating parameters of the car to let you know how it is running and help identify any potential issues.
A boost gauge will help you identify any boost leaks that my be costing you precious power. You can get one for the 208 GTi that fits over the air vent and blends in with the interior nicely.
Spoiler
The 208 GTi comes with a small roofer spoiler as standard at the rear, helping to characterise the sportier version of the model. This can be quite subtle and you may want something that makes the rear “pop” a little more.
A spoiler extension is a fantastic option which can make your rear spoiler much more prominent, increasing the aggressive looks and sportier nature of your car.
The Maxton design spoiler for the MK1 version is a very nice touch, and slots over the existing standard spoiler. The sharper lines on this really give the rear an aggressive look, especially when paired with an aftermarket rear diffuser which we’ll cover next.
Maxton Spoiler
MK1 208 GTi
Rear Diffuser
Aside from the spoiler, an aftermarket finned rear diffusers can be a real nice way of spicing up the rear of your car.
Maxton design offer a finned rear diffuser, which makes the rear bumper looks a lot meaner. This is a subtle touch, but can drastically transform the rear of the car and really set your GTi out from the crowd.
There are some different variations depending on the year of your 208 GTi, that are bespoke made to the car making fitting easier.
The TRC version here is an option that fits all 208 models GTi models and can be installed yourself pretty easily with some basic tools. This product comes in gloss black, which can really compliment a blacked out GTi or a lighter white colour to add some nice colour accents.
Sideskirts
Aftermarket sideskirts are a great way to customize your car and make it look sportier. They can really compliment the look of your GTi, especially if you have other body mods like a spoiler and diffuser that make the lines of the car more aggressive.
Aside from providing a sleek and sporty look to the car, they’re also great for adding protection against mud and dirt on the road – which is perfect if you live in an area where it gets muddy during the rainy season.
Maxton yet again have another fantastic out-the-box option specifically made for the 208 GTi. These are custom made for this car so will measure up correctly and fit nice and snug.
This saves you buying universal sideskirts and then having to go through the time and effort of measuring, cutting and fitting them.
Maxton Sideskirts
MK1 208 GTi
Remap/Tuning
As with most turbocharged engines, a remap can really help bring the car to life.
The 208 GTi features two slightly different engines with either produce 200bhp or 208bhp. The tuning results may vary slightly depending on the year of your car, but you can expect some decent gains.
With just a remap and no supporting mods, you can expect up to a 30bhp gain providing the car is in healthy shape which will be a lovely noticeable boost in power.
Of course, with some additional exhaust, induction and cooling mods you can expect to see even more power gains. Adding a more free flowing exhaust, intercooler and cooler spark plugs can easily help you achieve 250bhp which will be a hoot!
In the the next section, we’ll take a look at some of the best supporting hardware mods you can add to your car that a remap will really compliment.
Exhaust Upgrades
The 208 GTi is a pretty fun car, but you know what could make it even more fun?
An aftermarket exhaust system!
Many people associate an aftermarket exhaust with an obnoxiously loud one which doesn’t often sound great on a 4 cylinder engine.
However, there are many performance benefits to be had from adding a more free flowing exhaust that doesn’t have to be overly loud and doesn’t upset your neighbours.
For the best performance gains, consider getting a more free-flowing downpipe and sports cats for your car. This will help your turbo spool up earlier and give you some nice power gains throughout the rev range. You could also opt for a decat in place of sports cats which should give you some additional power, however these aren’t allowed for road use in most places.
If it’s some additional sound that you are after, there are various options for cat-back systems that will make your exhaust sound meatier.
Reputable aftermarket exhaust manufacturers like Scorpian and Milltek have bespoke cat-back exhausts for the 208 GTi that you can order online. You can’t go wrong with these brands and they are known for their good build quality, terrific sound and in many cases weight saving over the standard exhaust systems.
Scorpion Resonated Cat-back
208 GTi 2012-2015
Scorpion Downpipe & Sports Cat
208 GTi 2012-2015
Intercooler Upgrade
An intercooler is a device that makes sure the air coming into the engine is cooled before it gets sucked in, so it can be used more efficiently. This means that you get more power out of each breath of air, which translates into better overall performance.
An aftermarket intercooler is a very popular mod among those who like to drive their GTi’s hard. If you’ve ever been out for a long spirited drive in a turbo’d car, you will likely have experienced heat soak at one point or another. This is where the performance drops as the air coming into your engine gets hotter as the intercooler isn’t able to efficiently cool it down enough.
AIRTEC are a leader in designing aftermarket intercoolers for various brands of cars and they have an intercooler made specifically for the 208 GTi. Pairing this with a remap can really see some good performance gains. In fact, this is one of the first mods many tuning companies will recommend if you take your 208 to them for a tune/remap.
The AIRTEC intercooler is wider and taller than the standard intercooler, meaning there is more surface area and increased cooling capacity. It is also designed with the radiator air flow in mind, ensuring that there won’t be any overheating issues which can sometimes happen with the more “universal” intercoolers that require a lot of tinkering to get set up right.
AIRTEC Intercooler
208 GTi 2012-2019
Cold Air Intake & Intake Hose
A cold air intake is an aftermarket modification that replaces the stock air filter with a more efficient one. It’s designed to draw in cooler air from outside the car and use it to feed your engine more effectively.
RCTS have made an air intake for the 208 GTi that fits perfectly and works more efficiently than the standard intake. The RCTS intake is larger than the stock one, and has been tested on the dyno to ensure proven performance gains.
Aside from a small boost in performance, you can also expect to get some additional sound out the engine and turbo due to it flowing more freely. The same can be said with an aftermarket intake hose.
An aftermarket intake hose replaces the more restrictive standard hose, increasing the air flow going into your engine. These are usually made out of silicone, which is a durable material used in a variety of aftermarket performance mods. These hold strong under high boost reducing the chances of cracks over time resulting in boost leaks.
Forge are a market leader in producing silicone aftermarket hoses and they have made an intake hose for the GTi which you can take a look at below.
When paired with a more free-flowing air filter, this can really help improve the efficiency of your intake system and give you a nice performance boost – even more so when paired with a bespoke remap!
Forge Intake Hose
208 GTi 2016+
Finishing Thoughts
The Peugeot 208 GTi is a great hot hatch for modders and tuners. It’s not just a fun car, but with all of the performance mods available for it, this little Frenchman is a very versatile and customisable vehicle as well.
As you can see there really are heaps of small modifications you can do to your car for very little money and still have a massive impact on the performance and look of your Pug.
We hope you found this guide useful at giving you some tips and guidance for modifying your 208 GTi. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to mod your car – its all personal preference.
Happy modding!
