Peugeot 2008 Allure 2017 review

You definitely know a car better after you've finished fishing your two-year old son out from under the brake pedal. Or after you've changed a nappy in the boot, or driven it through a muddy paddock, or taken it to  a country hot rod show, hoping nobody will burn it.

Or parked it... five times a day, driven on tram tracks in the wet, down rural roads in the freezing fog, picked up four pizzas and a curry in it, or cleaned curry off the seats, vacuumed hundreds and thousands out of its carpet, driven it as smoothly as possible for kilometres and hours into the night, just to send the toddler off to sleep. Or just sat alone in it to get some peace and quiet. And that was just on our family holiday – all 664km of it.

My wife Amanda and I thought it would be nice to go to Melbourne for a week with our two-year-old, Ed. I thought it would be a good idea to test the updated Peugeot 2008 in the Allure grade while we were there.

My wife Amanda and I thought it would be nice to go to Melbourne for a week with our two-year-old, Ed. (Image credit: Richard Berry)

The 2008 small SUV counts the Mazda CX-3, the Renault Captur, and now, the Berry family as its rivals.

Barrelling off the plane loaded with five weeks' worth of luggage for one week's stay, and a full itinerary of things to do, I did feel a bit sorry for the little Peugeot hiding in the corner of the airport car park as we approached it. This was going to be a test for all of us.

Is there anything interesting about its design?

7 / 10

It's a Peugeot, there's always something interesting about the design. The upgrade brought a new face to the 2008, one with a more upright grille that has an intricate louvre-style effect which looks elegant and tough at the same time.

That side profile is interesting, the way the roofline steps up like a mini Land Rover Discovery gives things a 'safari' feel. The glimmers of chrome trim add to the premium look of this small SUV.

The handbrake looks like the throttle from a jetliner – that kept me amused for way too long.

And it is small, look at these dimensions. At 4159mm end-to-end it's shorter in length than a CX-3 by 116mm, but it's wider at 1829mm (including the mirrors) and taller at 2004mm.

The 2008 is 186mm longer than the 208 hatch that shares the same platform, and the SUV's body has quite a different look to the design of the hatch. Inside though they have similar, super stylish and well-crafted cabins.

1 / 5

The layering of materials on the dash is beautiful. (Image credit: Richard Berry)

2 / 5

The layering of materials on the dash is beautiful. (Image credit: Richard Berry)

3 / 5

4 / 5

5 / 5

The layering of materials on the dash is beautiful, the large screen looks solid, the seats cool and heavily bolstered and... the steering wheel is unusually small, just like the 208. And as with the 208 the low-positioned wheel obstructed my view of the instruments including the digital speedo even when adjusted as high as it could go.

This might not be the case for you. Some colleagues haven't had any issues of this sort at all. It could be that I'm tall, and always adjust the seat to the lowest level and the wheel to the highest.

My wife isn't into labels but when I told her we would be test driving a Peugeot while in Melbourne she made a 'ooooohhh' noise.

The handbrake looks like the throttle from a jetliner – that kept me amused for way too long.

Brand names can sway opinion easily, my wife isn't into labels but when I told her we would be test driving a Peugeot while in Melbourne she made a 'ooooohhh' noise. And in non-motoring terms that is the best summary of the 2008's looks. It's more stylish and pretty than most small SUVs, a bit more special, a bit more, oooohhh.

How practical is the space inside?

6 / 10

Looking at our assortment of luggage popping out of the hole and onto the baggage carousel it became difficult to breathe. There was no way all of this was going to fit in the 2008.  Why did we bring a wheelie suitcase just for a two year old who has tiny clothes? Why did I bring my work bag? And my gym gear? That's not going to happen. Pillows? A big, foam snake thing to stop the child from falling out of bed?

But it fitted in – and all in the boot and without blocking the back window. I'm a master at packing a boot, but it helps if it's a decent size which the 2008's is at 410 litres.

Ed's car seat (which we also brought with us) went in easily. It's a top-tether type and there are three of them across the back, and three ISOFIX points, too.

Looking at our assortment of luggage popping out of the hole and onto the baggage carousel it became difficult to breathe. (Image credit: Richard Berry)

1 / 2

The 2008 has 410 litres of boot space. (Image credit: Richard Berry)

2 / 2

Ed's party trick is opening the door at 110km/h, because I occasionally forget to put the child lock on. That wasn't happening again. Yes, I've said that several times before, but it really wasn't. Problem is I couldn't work out how to put the child lock on, and after sticking my key in every hole in the door I gave up and climbed into the driver's seat and instantly spotted the electronic child lock button. Ooooh. Locked.

Up front is spacious and headroom, even with the optional sunroof, is excellent. Remembering to check the rear legroom when we arrived at our St Kilda holiday house I sat behind my driving position – well I tried, because I couldn't. I'm a tall freak at 191cm and the only way I could sit back there was with my knees mashed into the seat back. Headroom is limited for me back there too.

Cabin storage isn't great – the centre console bin and glovebox are small and while there are two cup holders in the front and bottle holders in the doors up there, too, there are no such things in the rear.

Explore the 2017 Peugeot 2008 Range

Peugeot 2008 Active 2017 review: snapshot Peugeot 2008 Active 2017 review: weekend test Peugeot 2008 Allure 2017 review Peugeot 2008 GT-Line 2017 review: snapshot

Does it represent good value for the price? What features does it come with?

8 / 10

The Allure sits in the middle of the 2008 three-variant range with a list price of $30,990. Above it is the GT-Line for $32,990 and below it is the $26,490 Active.

Mid-range cars are often the best value because they get some luxuries but you're not having to pay for non-essential stuff, and that's true for the Allure.

This grades picks up the standard features in the level below such as a 7.0-inch screen with reversing camera, Apple CarPlay, rear parking sensors, cooled centre console bin and a leather steering wheel.

The blue LED strip lighting around the optional sunroof was a winner with Ed. He's into blue, right now.

Then the Allure adds auto parking, sat nav, 17-inch alloy wheels, auto wipers and auto headlights, rear privacy glass, dual-zone climate control, and premium cloth seats with leather-like bits.

That's good value and makes the Allure the grade to get considering the next spec up pretty much just gets snazzy red and alloy bits in the cabin and externally.

The dark-tinted glass in the back windows seemed to please my wife the most – so much better than putting up a sun screen to shade children in the back.

The blue LED strip lighting around the optional sunroof was a winner with Ed. He's into blue, right now.

What are the key stats for the engine and transmission?

8 / 10

The biggest single improvement to the 2008 that came with the 2017 upgrade is the new 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine which replaced a 1.6-litre four.

That engine is excellent, and I forgot it was a three-cylinder, because even with two adults and a giant toddler plus what seemed like all their worldly possessions, I was never frustrated by a lack of grunt, even though on paper 81kW/205Nm doesn't seem like much.

It’s no Pikes Peak Peugeot race car monster, but there’s enough oomph to overtake happily on the highway. (Image credit: Richard Berry)

Look, it's no Pikes Peak Peugeot race car monster, but there's enough oomph to overtake happily on the highway or when you need to point and squirt to change lanes in the city.

The six-speed automatic transmission also came fresh with the update and it's another big improvement over the previous four-speed unit.

How much fuel does it consume?

8 / 10

Peugeot's claimed combined fuel consumption figure for the three-cylinder engine with the six speed auto is 4.8L/100km.

After 664km of the most combined type of driving you can think of our car's trip metre was telling us it had been averaging bang-on 7.0L/100km. Not bad, and we only had to fill up the 50-litre tank once.

The stop-start system would have helped to achieve the good figure – I left it on for the duration of the trip.

What's it like to drive?

7 / 10

The biggest hurdle for me straight from the start was the driving position. I'd encountered the same issue in the 208 hatch – a low-mounted steering wheel, high-placed instrument cluster, but from my eyeline the speedo and tacho were obscured by the rim of the wheel.

As mentioned earlier, others don't seem to have the same issue, and after some extra adjustment, which meant I could see my speed, I became used to the driving position.

What my wife never became used to was me pointing out all of the Peugeots we saw. It's that thing when you hardly notice a type of car on the road until you're driving one. I made her keep a list of all the ones we saw. Here they are in order: 4008, 208, 207 wagon, 508 wagon, 308 wagon, 4008 (in our street!), 505, 207cc, 4007, 505 wagon (classic!), 207, 307 (also in our street!).

She kept up the recording for the first day and then lost it with me on the second and from then on I had to make mental notes which I updated in my phone that night.

The ride is excellent – comfortable and composed, and handling is impressive for a small SUV, while steering is smooth, natural feeling and accurate.

We were based in St Kilda in a street that felt about as wide as a double bed and with fierce competition for parking spaces. Not being very long, the 2008 was easy to parallel park and finding spots to fit us was never a problem (the auto parking function works well, too), but it's wide for a small SUV, and we found space tight sometimes in supermarket car spots. The turning circle is also largish at 10.8m (the CX-3's is 10.6m).

Once out of the car park things get good – really good. The ride is excellent – comfortable and composed, and handling is impressive for a small SUV, while steering is smooth, natural feeling and accurate.

All 2008s are front-wheel drive but the chunky dial behind the shifter has the words Snow, Mud and Sand marked on it. While it's not a proper all-wheel drive system the 2008 uses traction control to add extra grip in various road conditions.

We took the 2008 to a hot rod festival in Castlemaine, around 130km north-west of Melbourne, and apart from the risk of it being set alight by other attendees, there was a risk we could have got bogged in the muddy field doubling as a car park – mud mode engage!

Visibility out the front and rear is good, while the well insulated cabin keeps road noise out.

Warranty & Safety Rating

Basic Warranty

3 years/100,000 km warranty

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ANCAP Safety Rating

What safety equipment is fitted? What safety rating?

7 / 10

The 2008 scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating, and the update brought city AEB to the Allure and GT-Line. There's not much else in the way of advanced safety equipment, however, such as blind spot warning or rear cross traffic alert.

What does it cost to own? What warranty is offered?

7 / 10

At the time of writing the 2008 was covered by a five year/unlimited warranty, but it's not a permanent offer. Servicing is recommended every 12 months/15,000km with the cost coming to $544.20 per year over five years.

Pricing & Specs Insurance Quote

Verdict