Stylish saloon is a sleek success

Peugeot 508 leads fight against SUVS

IF you think the Peugeot 508 looks good in photographs just wait until you see it in the metal. I bet you’ll be impressed.

I first laid eyes on it at Peugeot’s stand at the Geneva motor show earlier this year – and I thought it was a concept car due to its striking design.

An estate version, that Peugeot calls the SW, was launched this week at the Paris motor show and that’s a looker too.

As for this saloon, the days of huge numbers of people buying four-door cars may be over as public taste has switched to crossovers and SUVS, but the sector is far from dead.

The new 508 range kicks off at £25,165 for the entry level model with a 1.5-litre diesel engine and manual gearbox.

We’ve shot to the other end of the price scale and are testing the most expensive one, the GT which is fitted with a 224bhp version of Peugeot’s 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine.

Like most 508s (barring that diesel) it comes with an eightspeed automatic gearbox which, incidentally, is one of the car’s only weak points. Inside, the first thing

you’ll notice is Peugeot’s now trademark saucer-sized steering wheel. It’s a real nuisance in other Peugeots but it’s better in the 508. That could be to do with my height or seating position. You have to look over the wheel at the clear and attractive digital dials which can mean having to drop the steering column to get your hands lower.

The 508 is almost unique in the

The 224bhp engine is economical and a strong performer

modern world in that it’s shorter than the car it replaces – by a not inconsiderable 8cm.

It’s lower too, thanks to frameless windows, and you do lose a bit of headroom due to that sexy fastback styling – but it’s a price I think is worth paying.

Our test car was loaded with goodies including full leather seats and Peugeot’s i-cockpit which includes the previously mentioned digital instruments, and on most 508 versions a 10in infotainment screen. Tomtom supplies the mapping and there’s smart phone mirroring and a cracking hi-fi system.

It all works well and is convenient to use.

The 224bhp engine is surprisingly economical and gives the 508 strong performance. However, the eightspeed automatic gearbox seems to be constantly dithering about which gear it wants to be in and never settles in one cog for any length of time.

This is annoying, but you can use the small paddles to manually select ratios, though you shouldn’t have to.

The 508 doesn’t handle like a cutting edge sports saloon – say, Alfa’s brilliant Giulia or even a Jag XE – but it performs far better than any SUV you’ll have driven.

The ride comfort is good on almost all surfaces and at most speeds. Only low-speed ridges in town upset it at all.

One of the reasons why the previous generation 508 wasn’t a big seller is depreciation. A car which loses value heavily over the first three years of its life attracts a very poor leasing deal – and if you can lease a German saloon for less than a French one the choice is going to be obvious.

However, Peugeot has made a huge effort to protect resale values over the last few years (particularly on the popular 3008) by refusing to discount heavily or chase after poor fleet deals.

The new 508 is expected to retain its value as well as, if not better than, some of its more exotically badged rivals. The only reason I wouldn’t choose this car is that I have a feeling the estate version is going to be even better.