Champion of Europe
We put Peugeot’s award-winning 208 supermini through its paces
PEUGEOT’S 208 supermini was crowned European Car of the Year last week, beating the all-electric and far more expensive Tesla Model 3 and Porsche Taycan into second and third spots.
The award is likely to give the 208 a sales boost with British buyers. It is voted on by a panel of 60 motoring journalists, including six from the UK. Peugeot has won the award six times now, and has two models currently on sale, the 308 and 3008, which are previous winners.
A Car of the Year gong doesn’t necessarily mean that the car is the best in its class – only cars launched in the year prior to the announcement are considered.
So is the 208 a worthy winner? It certainly looks like it. This all-new 208 is a little longer and lower than its predecessor and is a very good-looking car, with its fangshaped LED running lights and dramatically sculpted body sides. Bright colours work best, contra sting with its black wheel arches and the black panel which runs the full width of the rear.
It’s even more exuberant inside, with cabin design you’d associate with a supercar rather than a supermini. The few switches aren’t placed vertically on the dash, but jut straight out at you. The tiny steering wheel is flat at the top and bottom, like an F1 car’s, and you view the instruments over the top of the wheel, rather than through it.
And even the dials are radical: all 208s bar the base model get a 3D driver’s display placed higher on the dash than usual. The information is displayed in layers, with the most critical at the front. It’s clever and looks good, but a standard screen is just as configurable and may be more legible.
For now, the 208 offers a 1.2-litre petrol engine with 74, 100 or 129bhp, a 100bhp diesel and a 134bhp all-electric version with a range of more than 200 miles. Prices start from £16,400 for the petrols, and from £ 25,200 for the electric version after you’ve reclaimed the Government grant.
We tested the 100bhp petrol, likely to be the UK’s top seller. It has the gutsy, characterful thrum usual for a three-cylinder engine and has sufficient power to make decent pace in a car weighing little over a ton. The eight-speed automatic fitted to the test car did its job well when left alone, and offers sharp shifts if you want to take control yourself.
The steering is very light, ideal for city driving, and although it doesn’t offer much feedback, its quick responses make the 208 an entertaining drive on back roads too. There’s some body roll, but the car’s composure never deteriorates completely and you can make the most of the 208’s engaging engine and handling.
But the price for that handling may lie in the 208’s reaction to the UK’s scarred road surfaces. In our GT Line car with its lowered suspension and bigger, sportier wheels the ride can get choppy and noise levels high over broken tarmac. If you’re thinking about ordering the GT Line, ask for a test drive in a standard car too. So is the 208 a worthy European Car of the Year? It’s nowhere near as innovative as the Tesla and the Porsche it beat, but its price makes it a lot more relevant to ordinary buyers. It’s not necessarily t he best car in its class: its Ford, Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda rivals especially still deserve your serious consideration, as does the Vauxhall Corsa which shares its underpinnings with the 208. But it is a brilliantly executed, great- l ooking small hatch, from a company that really knows how to make them.