Poor show Peugeot!

Every now and then, work throws up the chance to try out a new car for a day or two – as I have previously done with the Hyundai i10 (Tested here).

This time I was down in Cardiff for a couple of days, and after a good flight down, it was time to head out and see what the friendly car hire chaps had for my delectation and delight.

The booking slip made reference to a Fiat 500, but I was quietly hoping against hope that this was not to be..

As I approached the desk, I offered up utterances to non existent deities in return for a favourable car allocation. It was not to be. A blue Pug 208 awaited my attention.

After the positive experience with the i10, I decided to give the lil pug the benefit of the doubt and approach it with a clean slate – this is what I found..

Basic specs:

Weighing in at 975kg, this 5 door model is within the normal range for a modern “small” city car.

The 1.0 3 cyl 12v engine outputs 67bhp, and 70ft-lb of torque

0-60mph takes 14 seconds, and max speed is apparently 101mph

 

Equipment:

This car was fitted with the Active trim level, bringing with it:

15″ alloy wheels

7″ Touch screen OBC/entertainment system

Digital Radio

LED running lights

And… A LEATHER STEERING WHEEL!

Exterior styling:

In the past, the French have given us the Citroen SM, the Citroen CX, the 2CV, the Peugeot 205/306 405 and 406 to name but a few. Sadly, such a fine design tradition is lost on the little 208.

Eh? you’re supposed to style the car from the block of clay, not just squish it up..

It looks like it has sat too close to the fire for far too long. The bonnet is not visible from the drivers seat at all, and the wing mirrors are missing the ability to reflect key areas due to their odd shape.

Objects in the rear view mirror? not likely with this daft shape!

The back at least is not as offensive, but it shows a lack of consideration and continuity. Very little can be seen to echo the front in design, and it looks for all the world like they left the apprentice to finish off.

Despite appearances, I was glad to see the back of it..

Interior styling and comfort:

Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH) are taken seriously by motor manufacturers, and the ride in the 208 shows what a decent tyre sidewall and sensible damping can do. Even on fairly rutted surfaces, the ride was compliant, and comfortable. I imagine that the larger wheeled higher spec ones may appear a touch crashy.

Now, styling.. what does it mean to you? Does it mean “random chrome bits, and a steering wheel that blocks your view of the instruments”? if so, the 208 will be right up your street!

The seats are comfortable enough, and there is sufficient headroom. Other than that, it looks like some sort of futuristic detention chamber/torture setup. You cannot see most of the stalks or instruments most of the time, the touch screen is ponderous and unresponsive and the dash is just a sea of unrelenting blandness.

Like trying to change gear with Kryton’s head..

Fantastic.

Utterly pointless. and cheap looking

Someone forgot about the “Finish” part of “Fit and Finish”

About as helpful as a disinterested sloth, and about as responsive

Driving:

The little 3 cyl engine makes itself very well known at anything above idle, and is positively intrusive when giving it the beans (See a full throttle test here) and I was unable to decide whether it was a good sound or just annoying.

Much ado about nothing

Certainly it’s no ball of fire, and the low torque figure is very evident when climbing some of the hills in the valleys – I don’t imagine that gearing which is so long in 4th and 5th helps much either. It also was not a fan of the side winds it encountered – I don’t know if it is the exterior panel styling, or just the fact that it is fairly tall and narrow that led it to be blown about so much. Either way, it was less than relaxing in inclement weather.

The steering lock is good, and the initial braking effort is controllable – however I initially struggled to control the medium effort easily – either getting too little or much too much modulation in speed. Over time this lessened, so it was simply a case of adapting to it.

The lack of visibility (pertaining to the bonnet/front of the car) made for entertaining parking and driving in traffic. Otherwise the visibility out and around the car was good, making it relatively easy to place on the road.

Roadholding was adequate, but the dead steering and narrow track did not inspire confidence should you ask it to corner in a robust fashion.

Running costs:

A Toyo nanoenergy 3 tyre in 185/65/15 costs £45 fitted.

Road tax is £20 per year

I managed to get 119.7 miles to 12.71 L, giving an mpg of 42.8. this was over a mix of town/a road and motorway driving

Air filter £8.64

Oil Filter £3.52

Oil £15 (5w40 fully synth)

Front discs/pads £19.50 front disc, £21.30 front pads

Conclusion:

Buy an i10 instead. The 208 has very little going for it – poor performance, uninspired styling and a grim interior do not a super-mini make.