Peugeot 2008 SUV

I don’t know whether you’d call the Peugeot 2008 a big car or a small car. These days, the old clear-cut lines seem to be getting blurred and there are heaps of things that you could call crossover vehicles. The Peugeot 2008 is a sort of crossover – it’s not quite a classic five-door hatch and it’s not quite an SUV. It’s a bit of both.

The Peugeot 2008 makes sense, though, and the design team seem to have thought it through well.  Many drivers these days want something with a decent bit of ground clearance just in case you need to go somewhere that isn’t perfectly smooth tarmac, and with a bit of height for extra visibility.  In fact, visibility seems to be the name of the game throughout the Peugeot 2008, as the steering wheel has been reduced in size (but is still responsive enough to your input) and the main instrument panel has been placed at eye level so there’s no bobbing your head up and down to watch the speedo or the fuel gauge while you’re driving.

Regarding the exterior styling, the Peugeot 2008 leans more towards the SUV end of things – those roof rails make it look as though it’s ready to head off into the great outdoors, possibly with a surfboard or a gear pod attached – or even a kayak.  However, if you end up choosing the Allure or Outdoor variants of the Peugeot 2008, you’ll want to be careful with what you put on those roof rails, as these variants have a panoramic sunroof with a sunblind. However, the roof spoiler on all variants gives the Peugeot 2008 a sporty, urban touch. The Active and Allure variants have 16-inch spoked alloy wheels and the Outdoor gets 17-inch ones, all of which sport Peugeot’s lion rampant proudly in the middle. Body coloured door handles, chrome mirrors on the Allure and Outdoor variants (the Active gets body-coloured ones), “boomerang” shaped LED tail lights, and double halogen front lights with running lights and fog lights complete the Peugeot 2008 exterior package. Personally, I’d also get an after-market towbar fitted to the Peugeot 2008 as well, as even though the Peugeot 2008 is on the smaller end of things when it comes to trailers, it’s still got enough [e[ behind the floating front grille to take a light trailer loaded with garden rubbish, or the kids’ bikes on a bicycle bar (but not a hefty trailer or a caravan – you need something bigger than this little urban SUV for that).

Peugeot 2008 Interior

Let’s get specific about the pep in question.  This will depend, of course, on the variant that you pick.  If you go for the entry-level Peugeot 2008 Active, your options are either a 1.2 petrol engine (coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission) or a 1.6 petrol engine (four-speed auto gearbox).  With the Allure, you can just get the 1.6 petrol engine but you have the choice between five-speed manual or a four-speed auto.  In the Outdoor, you get one of Peugeot’s renowned little diesel engines: a 1.6-litre turbodiesel.  The 1.6-litre petrol engine is the most powerful, with 88 kW of power at 6000 rpm at maximum (vs. 60 kW at 5750 rpm for the 1.2 litre and 68 kW at 4000 rpm for the turbodiesel), but the 1.6-litre diesel has the most torque, with 230 Nm at 1750 rpm (vs. 118 Nm at 2750 rpm for the 1.2 and 160 Nm at 4250 rpm for the 1.6 petrol).  To be honest, the Peugeot 2008 isn’t built for serious towing or power, but it is built for economy: the combined fuel consumption figures are very much at the lower end of things: 4.9 L/100 km for the 1.2, 5.9 L/100 km for the 1.6 petrol manual, 6.5 L/100 km for the 1.6 petrol auto and 4.0 L/100 km for the 1.6 turbodiesel. Peugeot has certainly been putting out economical little diesels for years and they just keep getting better, so it’s good to see one of these super-frugal engines going into a body that will fit a growing family rather than just being shoved into little wee hatches.

And there certainly is enough room in the Peugeot 2008 for a family.  All five seats have a decent bit of room, and the rear seats have separate height-adjustable head rests for that extra bit of safety.  The front seats recline nicely, and they’re sports seats into the bargain. Both front seats in the Allure and Outdoor are height adjustable (and just the driver’s seat in the Active is height adjustable). The cloth trim in the Peugeot 2008 is very family-friendly. It’s attractive enough but will handle the sort of thing that kids can do to cars.  Boot capacity can be anything from 410 litres with the back seats up to 1400 litres with the seats down.

As we mentioned earlier, the control panel of the Peugeot 2008 has been set up for maximum visibility, so the steering wheel has been reduced in size but still comes with leather trim and a chrome accent, and can fit in the audio controls. However, you’ll soon find everything easily. Things that you’ll find in every variant of the Peugeot 2008 include the multifunction 7-inch colour digital display panel, a USB port, Bluetooth preparation, speed-sensitive volume, rear parking asisst and cruise control. The Allure and Outdoor variants throw in dual-zone climate control (as opposed to the air-con for the Active), satellite navigation, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, privacy glass in the rear side windows – and a leather-trimmed handbrake.  All variants have two 12-volt power points strategically placed in the cabin – perfect for charging up all those devices everyone seems to have these days.

Being a family-oriented vehicle that is on the smaller end of things (even though it’s a big little car), the Peugeot 2008 needs to have plenty of safety features.  And it does – in all variants, which is good.  The Peugeot 2008 has side impact protection, six airbags, ABS brakes with EBD and emergency brake assist, an electronic stability program and a rear view camera. All variants except for those with the 1.2-litre engine have Hill Assist, and the Outdoor adds in grip control (which is probably Peugeot’s equivalent of traction control). The rear seat belts are three-pointers, while the front seatbelts are pretensioned and force-limited; this is pretty much a given these days for all new cars.

All in all, the Peugeot 2008 is likely to appeal to anyone who wants a car that will fit the family and go most places but will pretty much run on the smell of an oily rag, to use a cliché.

Current Peugeot 2008 models:

• Peugeot 2008 Active 1.2 manual
• Peugeot 2008 Active 1.6 auto
• Peugeot 2008 Allure 1.6 manual
• Peugeot 2008 Allure 1.6 auto
• Peugeot 2008 Outdoor 1.6 turbodiesel

For any more information on the Peugeot 2008, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Peugeot dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!