peugeot 3008 1,6 THP Active AT

I’m a firm believer in a daily driver fulfilling multiple roles. Towing a trailer with a Panamera? Why not. Using an MX-5 to buy plants at a nursery? Sure.

Utilising a 3008 to move house? Entirely doable. The midsize Peugeot that’s smaller in stature to what you may think recently helped me cart a jumble of personal effects to my new place. A number of pictures, a pair of kitchen stools, a safe and boxes of wine neatly fitted into the cargo bay. The next day, it swallowed nine overstuffed black bags of clothes and bedding on their way to a charity shop. It’s a marvel of packaging, measuring less than 4,5 metres long yet offering a family-sized boot and oodles of rear legroom.

It’s also more refined than a number of other midsize SUVS which have recently visited the CAR garage. At 120 km/h, chats with backseat occupants require no more than a gently raised voice instead of the slightly delirious-sounding volume other crossovers demand.

Noticed an odd quirk this month: the wipers have an auto setting but no adjustment for the sensitivity. Someone at Peugeot clearly believed putting the system on hyper alert is the answer. A drizzle sets the wipers off on a constant wipe and the vigour with which they attempt to clean the screen only ramps up from there. They also don’t run out of steam when the vehicle comes to a halt at a traffic light, right at the point where other cars desensitise their systems.

Unlike those wipers, the 1,6 THP’S consumption has settled nicely, maintaining an average just south of 9,0 L/ 100 km despite being confined to urban driving this month. As I type this, I’m planning a 1 000 km festive season trip including lots of steady freeway driving that should see the 3008’s average dip to nearer 8,0, a good deal more impressive than the Kuga’s on page 96.