Call it a comebnad ck
Not so long ago, Peugeot was in the doldrums. Now it’s in a purple patch, and the 508 is a star performer. By Ben Pulman
I grew up on the tail end of the 205 GTI, 405 Mi16 and 306 GTi-6, and became a teenage car geek when the 406 Coupe was an achingly beautiful Pininfarina-penned design and its gold and green saloon sibling was competing during the British Touring Car Championship’s prime. And then… And then Peugeot gave us that 1007 thingamajig, entered a convertible in the World Rally Championship, and stopped making GTI hot hatches. Aside from the glimmer of the RCZ coupe, the Noughties mostly gave us disastrous Peugeots.
Yet now I’m bidding au revoir to a big estate car that’s turned out to be rather decent, and the rest of Peugeot’s car range is just as good (bar the 108). No other manufacturer flip-flops quite like it. When brands like Chevrolet and Infiniti have withdrawn from the UK after failing to gain a foothold,
I can’t imagine how Peugeot’s dealers are finding life. Great cars one decade, dross the next, followed by another about-face.
The turnaround of the 508 in one generation, both inside and out, is nothing short of remarkable. This praise might seem like a change of heart from past reports, but like a pubescent boy pulling the hair of the prettiest girl in class, I’ve belatedly realised I was mean to the 508 SW because I rather liked it. Ten months on it looks more striking than ever. It’s not beautiful – no family saloon should be described like an E-Type – but it’s definitely more interesting than most rivals. Kudos to Renault for pinching head of design Gilles Vidal, who’s transformed the Peugeot range over the past decade. No amount of sand and soil from countryside trips has dulled the aura inside. From the tint of the metal-effect highlights (titanium-ish rather than the usual crass chrome) to the grain of the dashboard and the heavily quilted seats, it still looks fab.
Fuel consumption kept improving, with the 34.5mpg average over 10 months belying the fact it was regularly beating 37mpg by the end of its time with us.
I’ve not completely drunk the Kool-Aid, though. The pillarless doors mean motorway refinement just isn’t good enough, the cruise control stalk is too clunky, the paddleshifters are pointless and cheap, the rear roofline tapers a little too steeply for adult rear passengers to enter and exit with ease, and the infotainment system’s ability to disconnect your Bluetooth and then deafen you with the radio could be reason enough not to buy.
As a 30-something who’s witnessed the recent peaks and troughs of Peugeot, would I have one? Maybe. Simply and objectively, is it a good car? Yes.
Count the cost
Cost new £39,780 Part exchange £24,616 Cost per mile 15.9p
Cost per mile including depreciation £2.43
Peugeot’s turnaround is nothing short of remarkable