Sunday, March 2, 2008

Peugeot 308 Review

Peugeot 308

The 307 has been a great seller for Peugeot, and not because people have fallen in love with it, but because it did its job well. It is spacious, generally reliable, with a good choice of engines and a variety of body styles. It was a good value and, unlike some of its rivals, there was nothing frightening or on the ostentatious style.

The 308 is built using the same formula, but it is longer and wider, which makes it more spacious. The first to arrive is the sedan, which comes with two subtly different rear bumper, and two more subtly different fronts. They can not, however, hide the fact that visually it's just a modest evolution of the 307, which are described in detail in our preview and analysis of the new car.

If it looks familiar and unexciting largely from the outside, the interior is pleasantly neat, clean, simple and, most ergonomically sound. Opt for one of the two-tone options; simple black is available, but it does not do justice to the elegant simplicity of the style of the cabin.

There are five trim levels - Urban, S, Sport, SE and GT - and, so far, six drivers. The three species - developed jointly with BMW - are a 95bhp VTi 1.4-liter, a 120bhp 1.6 VTi and a turbo version 1.6, the THP, which produces 150bhp. The three HDi diesel engines are 90 and 110bhp versions of familiar group PSA of 1.6-litre unit, and 2.0 producing 136bhp. The most powerful is the only diesel 308 with a speed of six-speed manual, the others all five gears. Peugeot provides that 60% of sales from the United Kingdom are diesel engines.

Prices start at £12595 for the urban areas and 1.4 VTi rise to £20045 for the 2.0-litre diesel in GT trim. When the three-door joins the range, the price of admission will be £11995 for 1.4 VTi.

So, the change is from 307 to 308 worth it? The new car is significantly better than the one it replaces? Yes. The 308 is a way to engage in Peugeot 307 was not. Like the 306, the new car is friendly, relaxed and pleasant surprise, while the 307 has left most drivers cold.

The reliability of 307 is inadequate, and as many Peugeots of the past decade, it lacked the strength and nobility of sentiment that more and more expected of small family cars. You do not have to drive a golf experience who feel premium - the Ford Focus, Opel Astra, the Honda Civic and Nissan Note all have.

Only time will tell whether Peugeot 308 is actually more durable than the 307, but it definitely feels good facts. We have conducted four 308s, and they were all free of rattles, shakes and self-destructive tendencies.

The cabin has much more a sense of high quality, even at low specification versions. The plastic is soft, and only good quality leather and carpets are used.

Six engines are available in the first, we conducted four, and we are pleased to recommend three of them. Our favorite is the remarkable performance 110bhp 1.6-litre diesel. It is strong, the will, quite refined, and £750 cheaper than diesel 2.0 in the same spec. It is also more economical 8.7mpg, while only 10 mph slower being at the upper end and 1.2 second slower to 62 mph. What you save on the engine, you can have audio on an upgrade.

There is nothing wrong with the 2, 0 diesel, which is lazy, but safe, and happy to crack when you ask it to. But the 1.6 is so well adapted to the car that you do not need as much additional capacity of the engine.

The 308 is faster to 62 mph is the 2.0-litre diesel, 10.1 seconds, but the highest top speed is 133 mph clocked by the petrol engine turbocharged 1.6, which is another fine piece of kit: ready and quick, if sometimes deterred by Raide climbs. The non-turbo version is less satisfied with the work of hauling around a relatively large, heavy car. It is noisy when pushed hard, and sometimes find it difficult to keep the momentum up hills.

As a director is assisted rack hydroelectric. The heaviest engine, the 2.0 diesel, is accompanied by a beefed-up power steering pump, which was able to give the same car that direction than the rest of the range. And it is very good: the car goes where you point it, and precisely forward, and gives you enough feedback to let you know what happens when the wheels meet the road. The suspension is also adjusted to take account of different engines weight.

We would urge you to avoid the 17 "wheels fitted as standard on the Sport models. Take the lead They feel uncomfortable when you are switching between left and right in a way he has not with the 16 and 15 inchers.

It is not helped by the steering wheel, the large diameter which dictates the position that erases much of the guidance offered by the seat and the steering wheel. The hand brake, it looks a bit gimmicky, but considers fair, and does not take a lot of space, leaving room for a cup holders and armrest between the driver and front passenger.

The ride quality is very good, absorbing all the bumps, but the worst, while keeping the car stable through the corners. He does not have the sharpness of sports hatchbacks, and it is very good with family and fleet buyers who make up the majority of the 308 clients.

Euro NCAP crash test results of 308 gives five stars out of five for adult occupant protection, four out of five for child protection, and three out of four for the protection of pedestrians. This is the same pattern as the Citroen C4, VW Golf and Toyota Auris, and better than the Honda Civic, Opel Astra, Seat Leon and Mazda 3.

The 308 comes with a minimum of six and, in some cases, nine airbags, and the three rear seats have Isofix child seat mounting points.

Even the most basic Peugeot 308s brakes with antilock brake distribution and brake assist. Stability Control is standard on all sports, SE and GT.

One problem that appears the first time you take a coin is that the A-pillars each side of the windshield are just where you do not want to be: in your line of sight. The problem is far from unique, but it is disappointing to note that Peugeot has not taken the opportunity to reverse the trend.

Only the GT model has an alarm as standard, but all come with 308s dead.

The body of the 308 is very well designed to conceal how it is inside. There are no more front elbow 35mm and 28mm rear knee room for more space than the 307, with the seats being carefully shaped. They are also very comfortable.

The boot is a good size: 430 litres up to the parcel shelf, or 1398 litres with the rear seats folded. The parcel shelf itself has a thin compartment built into it, big enough for a couple of Gameboys or tennis rackets. The hinged lid is doubling, so it can be opened from inside or outside.

Refreshing, Peugeot is not in a style MPV cubbyhole frenzy. Instead, you get a useful front door pockets, two cupholders, a curry hook in the passenger footwell before and not much else. The glove box is a little gimmicky, with mouldings to house your sunglasses and mobile phone; fine if your sunglasses and mobile phones are the right size and shape, but a waste of space if they do not.

All models come with electrically operated front windows and mirrors, and a single CD player. S models gain front foglights, air conditioning, and body color mirrors and door handles. Sport adds rear power windows, front armrests, a cargo net in the trunk, a leather steering wheel, body colored rub strips, an MP3-compatible audio system, and a grid of 17-wheelers. Plush SE specification includes a fragrance diffuser, ambient lighting, a long glass roof, lights and wipers automatic climate control, 16-inch alloy and another rear bumper. GT means carpets, half-leather seats, the glass roof, pressure sensors tyres, rear parking sensors, headlamp washers, directional headlamps, Bluetooth hands-free kit, 18 "alloy wheels and a screen color.

Options include an impressive complete multimedia system called TPN4, featuring sat nav, a phone and a hard drive of 30 GB to store up to 180 hours of MP3 music files.

All hatchbacks french have a reputation to lose a lot of value very quickly, but Peugeot is in the right direction with 308. It is generally estimated to be around £800 more than a 307 after three years or 60000 km, and better than rivals such as the Renault Megane and Ford Focus. This is a way short of the VW Golf, but then a Golf will be more expensive to buy and run.
Source: channel4

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