Peugeot 5008 is a practical fashionista

ROAD TEST/ It’ll add French pizzazz to your school-run slump, writes Phuti Mpyane

Peugeot’s 5008 petrol-powered, automatic, frontwheel-drive sevenseater SUV that takes on VW’s Tiguan All-Space in a market niche.

The French recipe’s actually more vibrant than you might expect and the interior is a good place to start because this is where most of the impressive stuff is. It has a 2,840mm wheelbase, about 50mm more than its closest rival, and the cabin has independent, comfy seats which in this car were is a covered in a mix of leather and a textured cloth. It’s easy to tell that the material is designed to please the senses while still providing durability.

The dashboard is also interesting, covered in a textile material that resembles fine denim, while an array of satin chrometipped function buttons with satisfying tactility are stacked neatly in a fighter-jet style. Below this row is one of the coolest, single-press automatic gear levers in the market.

A small, flat top-and-bottom steering wheel finishes off the interior charm offensive and it’s a curious fitment in a car of the 5008’s size. Any worries about its feasibility to thread this 4,641mm-long MPV safely around corners is quickly diminished by the most effortless one-handed operation you’ll ever want.

The digital instrument binnacle is another source of infotainment. The Peugeot i-Cockpit layout uses remote buttons on the steering wheel to flip through its menu with ease while the display with a speedo that runs anticlockwise can be modified for colour and more quirky display styles. If that’s not enough, the 5008 also comes

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Top: It’s a good-looker and drew attention everywhere it went. Above: The tail gate reveals 780l of boot and extends to a useful 1,940l with all the seats down.

Digital sophistication meets haute couture and family practicality inside the 5008’s capacious cabin.