Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Opel, and Peugeot all have an impressive selection of cars that handle themselves incredibly well around a track.
Stellantis recently held a media driving experience at the Gerotek Vehicle Testing Facility in Gauteng where it revealed its plans for new models, and we were able to get hands-on with the company’s family of vehicles around the track.
A lightning-round track day
The first event of the day involved a number of vehicles from across Stellantis’ current line-up, which we were able to drive around the Gerotek handling course.
The track itself is relatively short, but involves a longer opening stretch where you are able to pick up speed, followed by a few curves in the road leading up to a steep rising hairpin bend on a corner, before the track loops back around into a series of more gradual corner going both left and right before straightening out back to the starting line.
The cars on hand provided a varied selection of what you can find in the Stellantis catalogue, with representatives from Opel, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat.
On the passenger car side, we had access to the Alfa Romeo Tonale hybrid, the Peugeot 2008 and 3008 GT, and the Opel Mokka and Grandland.
However, the event organizers also delivered a number of light commercial vehicles, including the Fiat Fiorino, Peugeot Partner and Opel Combo panel vans, as well as the new Peugeot Landtrek single cab and double cab manual bakkies.
All the cars were lined up one after the other on the track and the participants would all take turns driving each car around the track following the car in front, with the pace being set by a marshal in another Alfa Tonale.
Once each lap was over, the group would all move down to the car behind them, while the individual at the back moved to the front, ensuring that we got to cycle between the selection at a rapid pace.
My first car of the day was the Alfa Romeo, and first impressions were excellent.
The event moved at such a rapid pace that we weren’t able to really take in the car’s interiors and make assessments of that nature, but even with a single lap around the course, I can say that the Alfa takes the prize for the sleekest interior.
The 1.5-litre turbo-petrol hybrid drivetrain develops 118kW and 240Nm, which translates to plenty of power off the line.
The gearshifts were smooth and it leans into the corners beautifully, making it a car well-suited for sporty driving – something that every Alfa should strive to do.
Of course, the Tonale was the most expensive vehicle of the group with a minimum price tag of R787,900, so its great performance in the context of the pack is to be expected.
Moving onto the Opel Mokka was where things got really interesting, as it was one of the more affordable vehicles in the line-up, relatively speaking, with a starting sticker of R499,900.
It looks great from the outside, and Opel’s interiors are more down to earth compared to Peugeot and Alfa’s without feeling boring.
Paddle shifters are a big win, and the Mokka delivered amazing grunt courtesy of the 1.2-litre turbo engine (96kW/230Nm) common to many Stellantis vehicles including the Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa hatchbacks.
The Opel actually felt more powerful than the Alfa on account of an aggressive-sounding exhaust and more deliberate gearshifts, making for a stark contrast to the hybrid Tonale’s more refined experience.
Next up was the Opel Grandland – one of the larger vehicles on test – which it makes up for with its 1.6-litre turbo producing 121kW and 240Nm.
That power is evident from the get-go, and the Grandland still handled the course in an elegant fashion, though its size does mean you’ll likely take corners with a tiny bit more restraint than the others.
The next two cars were the Peugeot 2008 and 3008, which are the sister cars to the Opel Mokka and Grandland, respectively, so the driving experience is largely the same.
Hopping from the Opel to the Peugeot creates an intriguing contrast of the design differences between the two, as the latter is clearly going for a more dramatic look both inside and out.
Disappointingly, the 2008 and 3008 do not come with paddle shifters like the Opels, but they do have the best steering wheels of the entire Stellantis family.
A steering wheel is not something you often think about as they all do the same thing in practice, but Peugeot’s cars ditch the basic circle for a more octagonal design with straight edges making it clear which part of the wheel your hands should be on at all times.
Their wheels are also much smaller on average than those from other brands, allowing for tighter inputs with minimal arm movements, and the GT models gain a perforated leather cover that is excellent for grip.
The result is that the 2008 and 3008 feel awesome to drive on a more tangible level of what your body can see and feel in the moment, which works incredibly well with the aforementioned performance they share with their corresponding Opel.
Moving on, the panel’s vans were an interesting choice, as they obviously won’t perform in the same vein as the other cars on this list, but as an exercise in how stable they are and how much power their smaller engines can muster when need be, they all did admirably well.
The Fiat Fiorino struggled the most on the hill, but it is the cheapest and least powerful of the group, and the Opel Combo and Peugeot Partner could maintain a good pace with the other cars provided you were making thought-out shifts with the manual gearbox.
Finally, there’s the Peugeot Landtrek manual, which is the only vehicle in the line-up that isn’t already on sale in South Africa.
The manual units are intended to broaden the appeal of the bakkie in our competitive market, which is reflected in their more basic interiors compared to the existing double cabs.
The one thing that all of the participants commented on is that the clutch’s bite only occurs right before you take your foot off the pedal, which could lead to jerky starts.
In fairness, jumping from several automatics to a manual can make the adjustment difficult regardless of the clutch, and once we got going, the Landtrek still gave a commendable performance with acceleration not seen on other utilitarian pickups.
At the end of the day, every car was fun to drive, but the general consensus was that the Opel Mokka was the star of the show with the best handling and power, all packaged in a great-looking package with an attractive price tag.
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