First Drive: Peugeot 208

Despite the hype, Ray Leathern was his normal cynical self when meeting the new Peugeot 208. He came away with a positive first impression.

They say you only have one chance to make a first impression. I’ve proven that to be the case with many failed, stuttering, attempts at flirting with girls back in my single days. Despite being one helluva catch, I thought to myself anyway, the ladies were never on board unless you made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Much in the same way, when you hear car companies starting to talk about ‘downsizing’, ‘economies of scale’ and streamlining production’ you can’t help but mentally prepare yourself for a few red flags.

We all know Peugeot are not going through the best financial patch at the moment so they could have easily gone the ‘built in India’ route with their new 208. They haven’t though. Some 208s will be built in Slovakia and Brazil, but the ones we get are built in ‘Vive la France’, and if the turbulent auto industry has taught us one thing for certain over the years, it’s that good product is the only thing that will pull you out of a slump. The mantra in real estate is “location, location, location”. In the auto industry it should be “product, product, product”.

The next potential red flag for the Peugeot 208 is that being a guy of six-foot-two plus proportions, I’m always worried I simply won’t be able to fit comfortably inside a super-mini. It’s a full 70 mm shorter than the outgoing 207 and therefore entirely possible that it comes with a “…you need to be this tall to go on this ride” proviso. I clambered inside and thanks to height and reach adjustable steering I found a comfy sweet spot in the seat immediately. Yes. So, it’s not a third world, built down to a price, value proposition and I can fit inside it easily. Hey presto. Now our attention can shift to the good stuff.

New cars are supposed to offer you more, at more cost, or so most automakers would lead us to believe, not so? Peugeot, however, with the new 208, are turning that ideology of excess on its head. They freely admit that the 207 fell fowl of that bigger is better mentality and became a heavy, wasteful hulk of a hatchback; so the 208 must return to frothy, fun ways of the two generations old 206.

The nub of why the new 208 is impressive is because it’s designed with ambitious planning and vision. The Peugeot 208 is an all-new car, built on an all-new platform, using all-new technologies, that strives for safety, eco awareness, connectivity, ergonomics, wrapped up in an evocative design. The body was made with fanatical attention to weight saving and uses 25% recyclable / green material. The entire rear bumper is recyclable and these sorts of parts reduce environmental impact and save you money in running costs, fuel and maintenance. Yet the quality is bang on in the new 208.

The rest of the vehicle is built with the same exacting attention. All these small improvements mean the new 208 with the 3-cylinder engine and side, driver, passenger airbags, aircon, electric windows, ABS the whole toot, weighs only 976 kg’s. That’s just 1 kg more than the 206 from the 1990’s.

It’s the new, 21 kg lighter, engine under the 208’s bonnet that is also a star in the 208 show. The 1.2-litre VTi, normally aspirated, 3-cylinder petrol engine produces 60 kW and 118 Nm of torque, 104 g/km CO2 and will return 4.5 L/100km on a combined cycle. The 3-cylinder engine is an absolute joy to drive. With an exciting sound and quick response connected to the 5-speed manual, you feel like it’s directly linked to your big toe. It provides a lightness and urgency that I immediately recognised after having driven the 1.6-litre VTi 4-cylinder. I certainly recommend the smaller engine ahead of the 4-cylinder offering, which although it has a healthy 88 kW and 160 Nm of torque, is less economical (5.8 L/100km and 134 g/km CO2) and a little less vibrant to drive somehow.

Sure the 1.2 VTi will only get to 100 km/h in 12.2 seconds, but the way it performs speaks louder than the figures suggest. Most 3-cylinder engines are 1 000 cc or less, but Peugeot’s jump up by 200 cc displacement is exactly what the three-cylinder needed to make it workable in an everyday way. Peugeot have had a range of well sorted diesel engines for a while now and with this new engine they are the company that’s cracked small petrol as well. Three-cylinder motors will be here to stay for a lot longer thanks to them.

The little 208 is a joy dynamically too. Not blisteringly quick by any means, but cracking good fun to hustle around at full throttle. The 1.2 VTi thunders along sounding like half a V6 and you’d be surprised at how comfortably the 208 gets to and holds the national speed limit too. The 5-speed manual could’ve slipped through its gears with a little less fuss, but feel through the small steering wheel was sharp and ultra-easy at any speed.

The small dimensions, lightness and new engine aside, a small car like the 208 needs to make a styling statement to win over the hearts of people nowadays. It’s not easily forgotten that the 207 wasn’t to everyone’s taste. It was aimed at the conventional, compact hatch segment and was styled with a deliberately challenging, oversized front and back end. It never struck a chord with the public like the 206 did.

This new Peugeot super-mini is altogether a better styling effort. In many ways it appears to have a few cursory nods back to the 206. There are lots of extra “surprise and delight” elements embellished upon it though, which should stand it out of the regular B-segment crowd. Its not exactly to my taste, but I think it looks perfectly good for what it is. The interior (in Allure and Active spec) is very well appointed with a new 7-inch touchscreen that controls the USB, radio, Bluetooth phone, etc., taking centre stage on the inside of the car. This screen is not available on the cheapest Access spec, but it is brilliant, so I recommend if you’re in the market that you stretch your budget.

The rest of the interior features good plastics, comfortable seats and two, four and six air bags as you move up the specifications within the new 208 range. The cabin is amazingly cavernous despite the pint-sized proportions and everything combines to produce an uncluttered feeling inside. Boot space and rear passenger leg room is not as limited as you may think and the boot can hold 331-litres.

This new Peugeot 208 is brilliantly thought out, thoroughly resourceful, chock full of new technology; while still being comfortable and fun to drive if you go for the three-cylinder. It’ll have its work cut out against the vast B-segment competition, but it’s made a great first impression on me. I look forward to a second date, when we can do a more thorough evaluation.

Prices a 3-year/100 000 km warranty and 5-year/60 000 km maintenance plan.

Comments

comments