It’s a family affair for Peugeot 5008
WHEN I drove the seven seater Peugeot 5008 powered by a 1.6 BlueHDi diesel engine, I thought performance might be compromised in a large people carrier.
But it never felt short of urge, even on a 200 mile airport trip picking up five adults and all their luggage. And of course, economy was excellent, bettering a number of competitors.
That said, the model built between 2010 and 2016 was also available with a 2.0-litre HDi diesel plus a 1.2 turbo petrol and two versions of the same 1.6 petrol.
The 1.6 diesel was available with 112, 115 or 120bhp at different times, and the 2.0-litre had either 150 or 163bhp with an automatic gearbox.
The petrol choices are two 1.6s with either 120 or 156bhp, or latterly, the excellent Peugeot/Citroen 1.2 turbo with 130. The higher powered 1.6 was the performance choice of the bunch.
Performance – in an MPV? This one is worthy of good performance because it has an excellent chassis that’s right up with the previous best in class Mazda5 – and that has only five seats.
The lower powered 1.6 petrol VTi and the 1.6 diesel are the slowest, taking about 11.5 seconds to reach 60mph from rest.
But the 2.0-litre diesel manual and the higher powered petrol bring the sprint well under 10 seconds, while the 1.2 covers it in a shade over.
As is the way of secondhand cars, year for year and even with higher mileage, the diesels are going to be more expensive, so if your needs don’t include too many miles, the petrols will be better value.
Comfort is excellent, and it smoothes out even the worst of surfaces on potholed town roads. Yet as I said above, the excellent chassis helps it hold the road brilliantly for a large vehicle, allowing swift, safe progress on more twisting roads.
The 5008 is also one of the most family friendly vehicles in a class full of family friendly transport.
It has loads of space and very flexible seating. The rearmost two seats have enough legroom for shorter adults or young teenagers and fold down into the boot floor in about three seconds to give a huge load area.
The middle three are individual and adjustable for legroom and they fold down to make even more loadspace.
Top models get a head-up display for speed – not available on most others – putting it a cut above them.
Equipment is good in all so that even the entry level Active has air conditioning, energy saving tyres, a CD stereo, an electric handbrake and electronic stability control.
Sport models add the ‘family pack’, which includes storage compartments under the front seats and foot wells, alloys, cruise, front fog lights and a lighting pack with bootmounted torch.
Exclusive adds a glass roof, climate control, the head-up display, automatic headlamps and wipers, USB, Bluetooth, electric folding mirrors, auto dimming rear-view mirror and rear parking sensors.
Pay about £6,500 for a ’13 13-reg 1.6 diesel Active II, or £8,750 for a ’15 15-reg Allure 1.6THP petrol.