Audi E-Tron Gt vs Peugeot 408

What's the difference?

While it may be a very different beast to the R8 supercar, it’s hard to argue that the e-tron GT offers performance that isn’t equal to anything Audi has previously produced. The immense acceleration and power, coupled with the brilliant and clever handling make this updated range, especially the RS pair, feel like something special.The fact that it will save you visiting a petrol bowser and might help cut harmful emissions is just a bonus.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Peugeot 408 GT Hybrid delivers heaps of standard equipment and safety tech for what is now a much more competitive price. It’s also super fuel-efficient, which is right for these turbulent times, offers thoughtful practicality and the wagon-fastback-crossover-SUV look is striking. The price paid for miserly economy is a peaky small-engine powertrain and the ownership promise isn’t exactly class-leading. That said, it deserves consideration in its new, even more competitive under $60K mid-size SUV segment.

While there are some big changes underneath, on the surface the design tweaks are quite subtle. 

There are some tweaks to the front grille, headlights, lower bumper and air intakes, but overall the look isn’t dramatically different. The more noticeable styling change is between the S and RS models, with the latter looking more sporty and dynamic thanks to a unique lower bumper design and the larger alloy wheels, which have a sportier look.

The biggest design changes are arguably the introduction of the switchable transparency roof on the RS and the option to use matt carbon camouflage.

The former is another shared element between the RS e-tron GT and Taycan, and it uses a special glass that can switch between being clear or opaque depending on whether you put a current through it. Cleverly, Audi is offering the option to have individual sections alternate between the two states, so you can customise it to your preference.

As for the grandly named matte carbon camouflage, it wasn’t highlighted in Audi’s presentation, but it’s the same material the Lamborghini developed over a decade ago and calls ‘forged carbon’ instead.

Unlike traditional carbon-fibre, which is made from injecting resin into sheets of fabric-like carbon fibre weave, forged composite uses a malleable paste of carbon sheets and resin. This technique is quicker to make and easier to shape into complex pieces, but lacks the visual impact of conventional carbon-fibre.

The biggest design change internally is the new steering wheel, which is a not-quote-squared-off rim that feels nice in your hand without being too thick. The RS models feature two new large red buttons - ‘RS’ and ‘Boost’ - which allow you to select the drive modes and activate the short boost function, respectively.

Peugeot Design Director Matthias Hossann has been guiding the brand’s look and feel since 2020 and the result is a recognisable approach across the range with enough flexibility to give each model its own personality.

Recurring themes include the dramatic, fan-like grille with body-colour elements, narrow angled LED daytime running lights (DRLs) slicing through the outer edges of the nose and sinister tapered headlights set into the front corners.

The rear end maintains the visual drama with a stacked, angular treatment sectioning off the ‘Claw Effect’ LED tail-lights (the Peugeot brand mark is a Lion), chamfered mid-section and chunky bumper.

And among what increasingly feels like a mass of same-same newcomers the 408’s sloping turret and high, wide haunches give the car a distinctively sporty fastback look.

The interior is classy and clean although the almost uniformly grey colour palette is unrelenting.

The two-tier dash adds visual interest and a combination of sweeping curves and clean, straight lines around the cabin lift the tone. Nappa leather trim with the ribbed seat centre panels using perforated hide also looks classy.

But then we come to the ‘iCockpit’ instrument display and steering wheel combination. It’s based on the idea that reducing the size of the steering wheel and lowering its position while flattening its top and raising the location of the instrument binnacle is a better solution than the traditional look-through-the-steering wheel approach.

It doesn’t work for everyone and it doesn’t work for me. As noted in previous Peugeot reviews, after more than a decade in existence various members of the CarsGuide editorial staff continue to struggle with the arrangement, while others love it. 

For me, the wheel feels too low, yet the top of it obscures the lower part of the instrument panel. While it may work well for others I see it as the answer to a question no one was asking.

Practicality is an important consolidation for the e-tron GT, it may have replaced the two-seater R8 as Audi’s definitive performance hero, but it’s a four-door sedan so it needs to be more family friendly. It’s especially relevant for Audi, as the brand has a history of brilliantly combining family needs with fast cars, namely its iconic wagons, the RS4 and RS6 Avants.

Audi also has a strong reputation for some of the best interior design in the industry, and the e-tron GT is arguably amongst its best work (at least in this reviewer’s opinion). It looks modern and stylish without leaning too far towards being different simply because it’s an electric car.

The new steering wheel fits the new design well, framing the digital driver’s display nicely. The display itself has a new RS-specific display for the higher-end models.

There’s a central infotainment touchscreen, but underneath this particular Audi skips the climate control touchscreen in favour of a digital readout and physical switchgear; a welcome relief for some, no doubt.

As for the seats, all three trim levels get the same style of sports seat trimmed in Nappa leather with a honeycomb stitch pattern. There are different finishes, both black and red leather, and some with contrasting stitching available through the optional design package. The RS performance package gets a unique ‘serpentine green’ stitching to stand out.

Small item storage in the front is adequate but not generous, which does make the e-tron GT feel more like a sports car at least, even if it doesn’t help practicality.

As for the rear, space is surprisingly good given the external dimensions and the nature of it being a low-roof sedan (rather than an SUV) with batteries underneath the floor. That’s largely because Audi has split the battery pack to allow for extra room in the rear for passengers’ feet, combating a common problem with electric sedans.

Headroom is adequate, and will be tight for anyone much taller than 180cm, but it will do the job of transporting the family in relative comfort. It is, by no means, the most spacious or family friendly model in the Audi range, but it does play its role as both a performance car and roomy sedan.

The boot is measured at 405 litres in the S but shrinks to 350L in the RS models, but both have the same 77L space under the bonnet, so space is (again) reasonable without being generous.

At close to 4.7m long, around 1.9m wide and a bit less than 1.5m tall with a 2790mm wheelbase, the 408 sits in the middle of the typical mid-size five-seater footprint.

Ample room in the front, although the lower section of the two-tier dash protrudes a fair way towards the driver and front passenger and the centre console is broad so it feels snug rather than airy.

Storage includes generous door bins with room for larger bottles, a lidded (and illuminated) bin between the seats that doubles as a centre armrest, two cupholders in the console with an oddments tray ahead of them and a decent glove box with an extra pocket built into the lid.

Switching to the rear, sitting behind the driver’s seat set for my 183cm position, there’s loads of leg- and headroom and enough width for three adults when required and more than enough for a trio of up to mid-teenage kids. Centre rear is less of a short-straw position, too, thanks to a relatively low and flat central tunnel.

The lack of a fold-down rear centre armrest is a miss mainly because it means there are no cupholders in the rear. But there are decent door bins with a space for smaller bottles, netted map pockets on the front seatbacks and a storage cubby at the back of the front centre console.

Speaking of which, individual air vents in the back of that console are a welcome addition.

 The boot is large for the class at 508 litres (VDA) with the rear seat upright and 1583 litres with the 60/40 split-folding backrest folded down. The power tailgate (with foot sensor and pedestrian detection) also makes life easier.

Other thoughtful touches include four load tie-down anchors, a netted pocket on the right-hand side, elasticised straps on the left-hand side, specific lighting and a pair of bag hooks.

Power and connectivity options include two USB-C sockets, a 12-volt outlet and a wireless phone charging pad in the front, another two USB-Cs in the back and a second 12V plug in the boot. So no problems with charging capacity for phones and other devices.

Maximum braked trailer towing capacity is a useful 1300kg (750kg unbraked) but we have to put a big black mark against provision of a repair/inflator kit rather than a physical spare. Not good enough for the Aussie market. 

The previous plug-in version of the current 408 Hybrid was a 1.6-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder paired with a relatively large electric motor and cost-of-entry sat at $67,990, before on-road costs.

A shift to this car’s mild-hybrid powertrain, built around a 1.2-litre, turbo-petrol, three-cylinder engine matched up with an appreciably smaller battery and electric motor coincided with a 15 per cent ($10,000) price reduction to $57,990, BOC.

Convenience or consequence? Either way, it’s opened up a new competitive set with the focus shifting from the likes of the Lexus NX, Mazda CX-60 PHEV and Volvo XC60 to a fresh batch of sub-$60K rivals.

Think Honda CR-V e:HEV RS ($59,900, drive-away), Hyundai Tucson AWD 1.6 Hybrid Premium ($58,350, BOC), Kia Sportage GT-Line HEV FWD ($57,370, BOC), Nissan X-Trail Ti e-Power 5 seat AWD ($58,215, BOC), Subaru Forester AWD Hybrid Touring ($55,990, BOC) and the Toyota RAV4 XSE Hybrid AWD ($59,015, BOC).

Suddenly the Peugeot’s included features list sits in a new context and aside from the performance and safety tech we’ll get to shortly, standard equipment highlights include dual-zone climate control air, full-grain Nappa leather seat trim, a leather-trimmed (heated) steering wheel, Alcantara door trim, 3D satellite navigation and 10-speaker 690-watt Focal audio (with digital radio) as well as wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Then there’s power-adjustable driver (eight-way) and front passenger (six-way) seats that are also heated with a ‘multi-point’ massage function, keyless entry and start, a 10-inch digital 3D instrument panel, a 10-inch multimedia touchscreen, auto LED matrix headlights, eight-colour ambient lighting, chrome trimmed pedals, a power tailgate, heated power-folding exterior mirrors, a panoramic glass sunroof, 19-inch alloy wheels, auto rain-sensing wipers and more. 

Then you can add over-the-air updates, access to remote services via the ‘MyPeugeot’ app and ‘Ok Peugeot’ voice recognition.

That’s an impressive basket of fruit for an under-$60,000 car. 

The key number for the new model is 680kW - that’s what the new RS e-tron GT Performance produces from its dual electric motors. That makes it the most powerful production car Audi has ever offered, which is quite an achievement when you look back at some of the cars this brand has built over the years.

That power upgrade is an extra 205kW over the pre-facelifted RS e-tron GT, and comes with a whopping 1027Nm of torque.

The RS e-tron GT has been upgraded too, now making 630kW/865Nm, a 155kW improvement on the old model. Which is a good thing, because the new S e-tron GT has even more power than the original RS, underlining just how much Audi has focused on power for this mid-life enhancement. The new S packs a 500kW/717Nm punch, compared to the 475kW/830Nm the previous RS offered.

The Peugeot 408 Hybrid is powered by a 1.2-litre, turbo-petrol, three-cylinder engine producing 100kW at 5500rpm and 230Nm at 1750rpm.

This compact, all-alloy, direct-injection unit works in concert with a single 15.6kW/51Nm 48-volt electric motor integrated into the six-speed dual-clutch auto transmission and energised by a 0.9kWh lithium-ion battery.

Drive goes to the front wheels only and Peugeot claims a 0-100kmh sprint time of 9.4 seconds.

Another one of the significant unseen changes for this update is the battery. Audi has overall the battery for this latest e-tron GT, so it now has higher energy density (168.3Wh/kg), more size (105kWh v 97kWh), faster charging (10-80 per cent in 18 minutes) and reduced weight (down 9kg).

Despite all the extra power, driving ranges for the three models are still all beyond 500km. The S e-tron GT has a claimed range of 558km, the RS e-tron GT can manage up to 522km and RS e-tron GT Performance can run 528km on a single charge, according to Audi. 

As for the charging itself, Audi claims it now takes just 18 minutes to get from 10 to 80 per cent using an ultra-fast DC charger.

The 408 Hybrid’s official fuel consumption figure for the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 4.5L/100km, the 1.2L turbo triple emitting 102g/km of CO2 in the process.

And it’s important to point out those official (ADR 81/02) numbers for the 408’s consumption and emissions are better than any of the direct competitors we’ve called out in the ‘Price & Features’ section above. 

Over a week of mainly city and suburban running with some freeway sections thrown in, we recorded an on-test average of 6.0L/100km. Impressive for a mid-size crossover weighing in at a bit over 1.4 tonnes.

Brim the 52-litre tank with minimum 95 RON premium fuel (ethanol blends not recommended) and using our real-world figure you can expect a handy driving range in excess of 860km.

Befitting its role as Audi’s performance hero, the new range drives with a level of speed and precision you would expect from such a car.

Even the new S e-tron GT has a level of acceleration that not every sports car could keep up with (the official 0-100km/h claim is 3.4 seconds), which would be impressive on its own but is a standout when you consider this is a four-door sedan.

It also helps that the adaptive air suspension and all-wheel steering (which can help both low speed manoeuvring and high speed changes of direction) make for an incredibly responsive and agile handling vehicle.

And then you drive the RS e-tron GT Performance and the driving experience is a step up again with its 2.5s triple-digit sprint time. That’s largely because of the new active suspension system it uses, which features a hi-tech array of cameras, radars and sensors to ‘read’ the road ahead of it and adjust the ride accordingly.

The result is arguably one of the best riding, most comfortable electric performance cars on sale today. Typically the need to control so much weight, from the batteries, means the ride is often too firm. But with the active suspension, Audi has somehow managed to make the ride both compliant (on 21-inch wheels) but also very well controlled, which allows you to really drive with precision even at speed.

But it’s not just the suspension, as mentioned earlier, the RS models also get a new ‘Boost’ button on the steering wheel that offers an extra 70kW of power for 10 seconds. Along with the surge of extra performance there’s a large countdown timer on the digital dashboard when you press it to really give you a sense of urgency and speed.

Thankfully, with so much power the e-tron GT range has plenty of stopping power. The S comes equipped with steel brakes, which do a fine job. But for the faster RS models, you get a carbide coated rotor and you can option ceramic brakes for more resilient stopping power.

Even with the assistance of an electric motor in the transmission and a turbo on the engine, a 1.2-litre, petrol three-cylinder powering a more than 1.4-tonne five-seat car is always going to be an interesting equation.

And in practice, although the small triple’s peak torque (230Nm) is available from just 1750rpm it lacks the smoothness of larger capacity mild- and full-hybrid combinations. Especially at slower speeds, the powertrain feels relatively edgy and agitated.

Outright acceleration is fine (claimed 0-100km/h acceleration is 9.4sec) with decent mid-range pulling power for confident overtaking or decisive lane changing (a 15.6kW/51Nm boost from the motor playing its part) and the dual-clutch auto is a more polished example of what can be a fractious device. 

But engineering and tuning for maximum fuel-efficiency has an impact on driveability. For example, we noticed the air-conditioning system’s output softened at standstill, which led to some mild window fogging in stop-start traffic on a particularly humid morning. Haven’t seen that for a while. 

The strut front, torsion beam rear suspension delivers a compliant ride and responsive handling in classic Peugeot fashion. The steering in particular points accurately and provides good road feel. 

We’ve covered the intricacies of the i-Cockpit instrument and steering wheel configuration in the Design section as its shortcomings (for me, anyway) are more ergonomic than dynamic.  

The car is relatively quiet, thanks in part to sound-dampening acoustic glass and the Michelin e.Primacy tyres (205/55) which also grip persistently if you decide to slice through your favourite set of corners. Push the engine harder and it’s revvy note and exhaust rasp will start to make their presence felt. 

Regenerative braking is helpful and the physical brakes (ventilated discs and the front and solid rotors at the rear) are nice and progressive.

The front seats are firmer than the Peugeot norm but remain comfy enough and they provide enough side support to keep you well located. 

Despite the swoopy fastback design, all-around vision is surprisingly good and an overall length under 4.7m, an acceptable 11.2m turning circle, a clear reversing camera and a 360-degree camera view make parking straightforward. 

The 408 has a maximum five-star ANCAP rating from assessment in 2022 with active crash avoidance tech including Auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, junction assist and backover detection, adaptive cruise (with stop & go), lane departure warning and lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, a 360-degree camera view, rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision warning, driver fatigue monitoring and tyre pressure monitoring as well as front and rear parking sensors.

If a crash is unavoidable there are six airbags onboard (front, front side and side curtain) but a front centre bag is notable for its absence. 

On the upside, an active bonnet helps protect impacted pedestrians from striking hard engine parts under the bonnet and multi-collision brake minimises the chances of subsequent impact after an initial crash. 

For child seats there are three top tether points across the second row with ISOFIX anchors in the outer positions.

Audi offers its standard five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty for the three e-tron GT variants, but the battery gets a specific eight year/160,000km warranty. The five years of coverage is fairly standard for the luxury car segment, but short of the increasingly common seven-year warranties for mainstream brands.

As for the servicing, that’s included in the cost of the car, with Audi covering the first six years of maintenance for no additional charge. It helps that service intervals, without a complicated and oily engine, are stretched to two years or 30,000km.

Peugeot covers the 408 with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is perilously close to sub-par in 2026 with an increasing number of brands at seven, eight and up to 10 years conditional. The battery warranty at eight years/160,000km matches the market.

Roadside assistance is included for five years, service is recommended every 12 months/15,000km and pre-paid servicing is offered across three-, four- or five-year plans, with the latter at $2070.

That’s a not insubstantial average of $414 per workshop visit, which Peugeot says will save you $893 compared to pay-as-you-go over the five years.

For reference, a Toyota RAV Hybrid service for any of the first five years is $260, although pricing steps up after that period.

Peugeot has a well established network of 31 dealers mainly covering major cities and key rural areas, primarily on the east coast. Currently, no presence in Tassie or the Northern Territory, while Perth and Adelaide are the only representation in WA and SA.