Peugeot 2008 review: Keeping 'old order' alive

It is a great irony of the era which has seen the motor industry pushing outside its comfort zone and into the electric age that the cost of its older and supposedly less green products are now way more affordable than the new ones it is manufacturing.

Of the so-called ‘old order,’ a number of cars stand out as being actual paragons of environmental friendliness by comparison with electric cars who may have zero tailpipe emissions but whose batteries have the potential to cause huge damage when it comes to disposing of them.

We drive one such this week in the shape of the Peugeot 2008 PureTech 130, which is something of an anomaly in many ways in the modern scheme of thinking and also ironically a direct competitor for one of the company’s EVs, the e-2008.

Like any other business, car companies are profit-led and while they pay more than lip-service to the cause of global environmental protection by investing billions in new, clean, technologies, they still have to balance the books.

As we have seen recently there has been a distinct cooling in the customer fervour for EVs; this has been for any number of reasons from the simple one of the cost of them to the realisation that newer and cleaner technologies are coming along all the time and it might be better to cool one’s jets before committing.

What with Polestar announcing that 94% of its shareholder value had evaporated because of an overheated market and the fact that EV customers are worried by consistently diminishing residual values, things are not good.

That being so, car makers are hedging their bets by continuing to make petrol and diesel options, as well as EVs and PHEVs. The Japanese are so convinced new generation petrol engines can be environmentally friendly, three of them have launched a programme to make new ones.

All this adds up to the fact that petrol and diesel engines are still very viable and while manufacturers are still investing in EV technologies and paying particular attention to the increasing popularity of plug-in hybrids, it has been demonstrated that the auld dog that is the internal combustion engine is not dead yet.

And, if it smacks of revisionism to laud a Peugeot renaissance – and particularly so when testing one of their cars with a petrol engine – then so be it. The French marque has been undergoing a transformation for many years now and, on the whole, it has been a hugely successful one.

It has gone from being a manufacturer of comfortable, roomy but unremarkable cars to one which makes comfortable, roomy and very distinctive automobiles which are not only innovative and good to drive, but have a stand-out design department behind them.

The latest 2008 has received a mid-life facelift which sees it being made more roomy, given a completely new front and rear appearance and kitted out with some novel technology. Given that the small-SUV market is rather bristling with contenders, this refreshed beast needs to be at the top of its game to compete – and that’s what Peugeot has aimed for here.

There are traditionalists – like myself, if I’m honest – who get the whole SUV thing and understand why people love them, but still prefer the older options. In this case that would be the new 208 hatchback or supermini (which we have yet to drive, to be fair) but the 2008 will undoubtedly sell in big numbers.

I have no evidence to back this hunch, but I suspect that having a petrol option will stand Peugeot in good stead and while the electric version will appeal to many, I nearly be shocked if the petrol doesn’t turn out to be the big seller in the short to medium term.

The car itself is bigger than its predecessor and overall length has stretched to 4,300mm, while the wheelbase is also expanded to 2,605mm. That mean significantly more room in the cabin and a boot which now has a 434-litre capacity with the rear seats in place.

Visually the car still has the horizontal bonnet which sort of gives it a classic off-road look, á la the original Defender or any number of Jeeps. The ‘three claw’ running lights are new too, as is the huge black grille which is nicely offset by either chrome or body colour inserts, both of which look great.

Basic spec (on the entry level Active trim) includes auto lights and wipers, cruise control and limiter, road sign recognition, that damnable lane assist function (unworkable on rural Irish roads), reversing camera and rear parking sensors. In the Allure spec we tested, 17” alloys are added, along with upgraded interior trim and upholstery, a split-level boot floor, front parking sensors and other bits and bobs.

In all it’s a comprehensive package and one which tecchies might also note includes new graphics and functions on the 10” infotainment screen and also sees the i-Cockpit concept being mildly revamped so it is not such a burden to find a comfortable seating position and still be able to see the instrumentation.

Heating functions are all controlled by the ‘piano key’ buttons under the centre screen which is very positive and does not distract you unduly when driving.

The combination of a six-speed manual ‘box and that delightful 1.2 three-cylinder engine is excellent and, to be honest, it was something of a pleasure to hark back to a less complicated method of driving by comparison with some of the systems coming on stream right now.

This engine comes with three levels of output – in this case the middle 130 bhp one – and power is delivered to the front wheels only. It’s a perky little thing with an 8.9 second 0-100 km/h time and a top speed of 196 km/h, while there’s an abundance of torque which means you don’t have to consistently work the gearbox and unless you’re Charles Leclerc, you should see a return of around 5.9 l/100km (47.4 mpg).

As a front wheel drive, you’re going to see an element of understeer if you’re a press-on driver, but overall the handling is pretty spot-on and the ride is tuned to soak up the worst our great road network has to offer.

This is a sturdy and pleasing contender in the small SUV segment and there is no little irony in the fact that this petrol version will sell well. If you demand an electric option there is one there, but in the current climate, I think Peugeot may have judged the mood of the buying public well by providing this option.