Having spent five months with a Peugeot 3008, I can appreciate the virtues of this style of vehicle with its glass roof, feisty engines, features, space and comfort. Well, the 5008 is just like the 3008 except more so. More comfort, more space and more seats. It even has more looks! In fact this must be one of the best looking MPVs on the market. Gone is the massive whale mouth grille adorning most siblings, replaced with a much more elegant design. Satin-chrome roof rails add extra SUV-style appeal and have concealed mounting points for transverse racks. The huge windscreen flows up and rearwards to the full-length Cielo glass roof that allows a panoramic view of all above, especially impressive when raining. In full sun, protection is provided by a full-length electric retractable screen. The seating material is comfy cloth, the front seats sporting adjustable centre armrests whereas the middle row consists of three individual seats, adjustable for reach and backrest rake. A long trip with children on-board was undertaken to Hermanus and back, mostly in rain but the overall comfort made the journey a pleasant one. The heads-up display helps enormously to keep your speed in check and the radar sensor warns you (fortunately only visually) when your following distance to the car in front is getting tight.
The 2,0-litre diesel engine has 110 kW at a very low 3 750 r/min and with 340 N.m at 2 000 r/min is one of the best oil-burners around – not at all noisy, hardly any vibes, very economical and with minimal turbo lag. A range of 700 km was shown on the large central instrument display on the fuel tank of 60 litres, and this was after we had already made two trips, the first from Cape Town to Clovelly and back and then to Hermanus via the northern suburbs. The actual fuel consumption worked out to about 7,5 l/100 km (combined Euro cycle spec is 5,6 l/100 km). Both gearboxes have six-speeds.
The petrol version uses the trusty 1,6 turbo shared with the Mini that produces 115 kW at 5 800 r/min with 240 N.m of torque at only 1 400 r/min. Real life fuel consumption was around 9,5 l/100 km (combined Euro cycle spec is 7,7 l/100 km).
What stands out with this vehicle? First noticed is the long list of features – glass roof, heads-up display with radar controlled distance alert display, rear parking sensors with accurate display, bi-zone climate control, heated front seats, leather seats on the Allure model although the cloth seats use a classy material, auto lights and windscreen wipers, re-chargeable torch in the luggage trunk, under-floor storage, four side window sun-screens and a driver’s under-seat tray plus a five-year service plan. The top-of-the range Allure model also offers a rear seat entertainment system with dual screens built-into the headrests with a pair of Bluetooth fold-up headphones in protective cases supplied. The system accepts your own portable DVD player. The system can accept two separate inputs. The automatic wipers worked better than some and were thoroughly tested in the cold and stormy weather conditions on the launch weekend.
Next is the spaciousness – the three individual second row seats are adjustable for reach and rake and offer loads of legroom while the third row pair can easily be folded flat into the floor, providing a very large boot area. A space-saver spare wheel is mounted under the bodywork. Another pleasant surprise was the road holding. The ride is not soft but not harsh either but on twisty mountain passes, the handling was more sure-footed than could be expected for a MPV with hardly any body roll resulting in a people mover that is nearly as manoeuvrable as a smaller car. Lots of seat and steering wheel adjustment gives the driver his comfort zone with a high and rather sporty positioning of the gear lever adding to driving enjoyment. I quite fancied the manual-shift diesel and was reluctant to swop to the petrol automatic. Still, the auto has a sport setting and an easy-to-use manual shift option that adds some fun to the equation.
Pricing is quite keen in this market and with these levels of standard spec.
5008 1.6 THP Active Manual R282 000
5008 2.0 HDi Active Manual R302 000
5008 1.6 THP Allure Automatic R314 300
The pricing includes a five-year/90 000 km service plan, and three-year/100 000 km warranty.