PEUGEOT underlined its sporting prowess by inviting us to hurl its new 155 mph 308 GTi around a track carved with cones from parts of the old Donington Park race circuit.

It was a sporting echo of the time when the French brand finished first in one of the world's most watched motor races, the Indianapolis 500 in the United States.

That was a long time ago - 1913 - and the victor and riding mechanic sipped champagne during pit stops. Didn't prevent Jules Goux winning by an extraordinary 13 minutes and walking away with more than 20,000 dollars in prize money.

How times change; today it's more about building cars that compete on the street against a host of manufacturers that weren't even in business back before World War One.

In fact, Peugeot can boast of a continuing and winning competition history at places like the Le Mans 24 hour race and Pikes Peak - the terrifying 12 mile ride up a mountain in Colorado.

Leicestershire was rather more benign, with cones the only thing likely to succumb to over enthusiastic wheel twirling at Donington. Still, it proved that the 308 GTi is much more than a cosmetically tweaked version of the existing hatch that's giving the likes of a Focus and Golf something to think about.

Much more, in fact, depending on which of the two versions of the 308 GTi you plump for. Both share the same turbocharged 1.6 litre petrol engine but it comes in two states of tune; 250 horsepower for £26,555 and 270 horses for £28,155.

Peugeot reckons most of the 600 or so people tempted by the newcomer in the next 12 months will head for the dearer machine. Looking a bit more deeply into the two cars' specification it's not hard to see why.

The extra £1,600 buys not only more power (and a tiny improvement to the 0-62mph time where 6.2 seconds shrinks to 6.0 seconds) but bigger alloy wheels, much bigger front brakes with proper sporting pedigree and a clever limited slip differential that helps the front wheels pour their power down on tight corners.

It certainly worked at Donington Park, where the more powerful version fairly rocketed away from a hairpin with only the gentlest of steering wheel tugs from the burdened front wheels. The big front brakes - made by Alcon in Tamworth - laughed at being asked to stop the car from speed.

Both versions of the GTi share the same modest changes to looks, with the usual sporty additions of (slightly) lowered and stiffened suspension, some additional contours to front and side and applications of gloss black paint.

Inside, there is smart black trim with red stitching, more grippy front seats in the 270 version and an instrument panel that, like all 308s, is positioned so you read it over the small, leather wrapped steering wheel. It feels odd for the first mile or two but you soon adjust.

Shared across both models is a standard specification that includes satellite navigation, cruise control, DAB radio, dual zone climate control, reversing camera, parking sensors and Bluetooth.

Most traditional buttons are replaced by a touchscreen that looks undeniably smart but, like many others, makes everyday tasks like adjusting the temperature or changing radio channels a bit of a finger prodding process.

Hold down a Sport button between the seats and the beautifully clear instruments turn red and the accelerator pedal brings its rewards with more enthusiasm, a feature you might imagine most owners will have engaged all the time.

Pressed or not, both versions of the 308 GTi will hit 155mph (but where?) and share identical official fuel consumption figures (a 47.1mpg average, but as optimistic as these always are) and the same 139g/km tailpipe CO2 figure.

Away from the track the 308 GTi prefers smoother road surfaces but grips like the proverbial leech anyway and feels the thoroughly sorted sporty machine it truly is.