The Peugeot 3008 is the latest lion badged car to hit our market, a mid-sized crossover/SUV type of vehicle, it will be launched this coming Monday (June 7).
With three journos to a car, thanks to the taller roof, higher ride height and light interior colour (our tester had grey leather seats). There’s good space under the front seats to tuck feet under. There are also retractable blinds for the rear windows. The seats are of the firmer variety, which is not an issue, but the rear bench could be more sculptured. Similarly, the cupholders in the fold down armrest could go deeper.
The interior also include Multiflex feature. This consists of a boot floor that can be set to three different positions, flat folding rear seats and folding front passenger backrest. This means a flat floor from the tailgate to the dashboard, which is 2.62 metres .
The Peugeot 3008 is powered by the THP 156 engine, a member of the modern Prince engine family. With twin-scroll turbocharging and direct injection, it produces 156 bhp and 240 Nm of torque from just 1.6 litres. While there’s 16 horses more than the 308 Turbo here, the 3008 feels less forceful than the hatchback, which is expected as it’s is a larger and heavier vehicle. Few will complain about lack of pace and getting up to highway speeds is quite effortless. There’s a little bit of boominess from 4,500-6,000 rpm, but our test car had a factory tight engine with only 40 km on the clock.
The 3008’s handling ability is certainly more than what a typical SUV driver would need, but the high speed ride over the more undulating highways stretches could be a wee bit more settled. A pleasant drive overall. Besides the abovementioned highlights (glass roof, HUD, DRC), this Peugeot SUV comes with six airbags, ESP, ABS/EBD/Brake Assist, auto headlights/wipers and leather. Being a French car, the 3008 is also five-star Euro NCAP rated.
