Peugeot 308 review: In a tough class, there's something special about the 308

Some months ago we reviewed in these columns, the excellent new Peugeot 308. Unfortunately for Peugeot, the specific car was a plug-in hybrid and while the package met with a very favourable response here, there were bits of it we were not terribly impressed with – namely the powertrain.

Without boring you rigid, we have here at Examiner Motoring long been unimpressed with the whole idea of PHEVs for a variety of reasons, not least that it is by now practically a redundant technology and has also lost the tax-friendly status it previously enjoyed across Europe. On top of that, a majority of them only give limited – very limited – electric motoring.

We did say that the French car was possibly one of the better PHEVs we’ve driven and also that this 308 was possibly the best small family hatchback to come from Peugeot in quite some time and that it had the capability to break the hegemony enjoyed in the segment enjoyed for so many years by such as the Volkswagen Golf and the Ford Focus.

Indeed, we went as far as to say that the 308 was capable of kicking down the door that both the VW and the Ford had seemingly long closed behind them.

The Peugeot attack on this vital segment is actually multi-pronged and already there are petrol, diesel and PHEV versions of the 308 on offer with an all-electric set to join them in the very near future. The latter, especially, is something we look forward to as it will tell us if Peugeot can capitalise on the stock it built up with the fantastic e-208.

If the e-308 can expand its range to a sufficient level to make it a worthwhile proposition, then it will be something special indeed, because the regular 308 has already shown itself to be something a bit special in a segment were ‘something a bit special’ is not exactly a common currency.

But this week we revisit the car – this time fitted with Peugeot’s excellent 1.2 ‘PureTech’ petrol engine. Now I know some of you may choke on your cornflakes when you read that such a small three-cylinder unit might actually be something sensible, worthy or even advisable, but stick with me because this is a brilliant engine.

In fact, it is the star of the show here in a car which is already wowing customers – female and male alike – and if the garages could get their hands on the numbers they would like from the factory, then they would be looking forward to the new year with more than a little confidence.

As it is, though, the dealers know they have a winner on their hands here, And, if I were them, I’d be plugging this petrol version like mad and trying to get as many asses as possible into the available stock I have just to show them how good it actually is. I doubt that many testers will walk away disappointed.

And, with the news last week that the cost of charging an electric car at a public charging point is to rise as much as 67% from December 20, making it nearly as dear as diesel, many will be looking to small petrol-engined cars as a potential alternative. 

Here’s one we cooked earlier… This unit outputs some 130 bhp which might not seem like much, but the turbocharger keeps things lively and as this is an engine which likes to be revved, it comes across as a very sporty thing. The 0-100 km/h time is 9.7 seconds which, admittedly, is not riotous but there is an underlying urgency here.

This is perhaps aided by the eight-speed auto gearbox which is pretty anonymous when you’re not in a hurry but delivers sweet and snappy changes when you are. And when you are in ‘eager’ mode, it is a responsive and attentive companion.

The engine too is very refined for a three-cylinder, although you can extract a characteristic soundtrack when you do press on.

Top speed is a worthy 209 km/k, but if you’re not too heavy with the right foot you will see a fuel return in the region of 5.4 l/100 km (51.8 mpg) which is very acceptable given the size of the car and the relatively diminutive engine.

Driving aids are abundant and on the ‘Allure’ specification model with the we tried, such stuff as adaptive cruise control and a rear cross traffic alert system are on offer and, worth noting, the lane departure warning system – such a pain in the ass on most Irish roads – is easily disabled. There is much to like here.

I know that there are those who hate Peugeot’s i-Cockpit and particularly anyone over about 5’8” because it is hard to find the sweet spot in the seating settings and when you do, you cannot see large parts of the (otherwise excellent) instrumentation binnacle. This unique-to-Peugeot design feature looks great, but it is not the most practical.

That said the layout of the switchgear around the excellent 10” high-definition touchscreen is brilliant and one of the best such systems on the go right now. 

The ‘piano’ switchgear pioneered by Peugeot is still there, but this time around there is also a series of ‘i-toggle’ buttons under the screen which can be customized and programmed to do a vast array of tasks.

Soft touch materials abound throughout the interior and some fancy trim strips across the dash. It looks great and makes the interior a really pleasing place to be. The seating is – bien sur – terribly French and therefore exceedingly comfortable and the cabin is roomy throughout. Boot space is excellent as well.

On the road, this 308 is a much sharper handler than the PHEV we previously tried – largely because it’s not as heavy and the super-sharp steering rack makes point-and-squirt driving a realistic proposition. Unfortunately, the damping is very much on the hard side, which means a rural Irish trek can be something of a trial.

On good surfaces though, the 308 shines but this makes it more of a comfy highway cruiser than a B-road stormer and this, in truth, lessens the appeal of an otherwise really good car.

I really liked this car – much as I did the sister car from Opel, the new Astra, which readers might recall got a rare five-star review in these columns recently. 

But those i-Cockpit travails and that too-stiff suspension take the gloss off the Peugeot and while there are signs that the French outfit has really come on a bunch, it still has a little way to travel when pitched in against the best in class.

But, after the 3008 the new 308 is among the best things Peugeot has done in recent years and signs are that progress will continue unabated under the Stellantis banner.

That means we can look forward to the e-308 with considerable anticipation because, realistically, that’s the future which is ahead of us all.