Avan Cruiseliner vs Peugeot 5008

What's the difference?

The Avan isn’t for everyone, although usually when I speak to owners, they’re a passionate lot who love their campers. 

I really like how easy this is to set up and pack up, and the level of comfort a solid-walled camper offers. They don’t feel very large inside, mainly thanks to the sloping roof, and that’s where something like the Jayco Penguin just wins out. 

But if you can sacrifice that ‘feeling’ of space, this is a highly featured camper with a good amount of rough-road ability.

The answer is, I think, two-fold - price and badge. Peugeot Australia has a job on its hands to turn things around as 2020 was a tough year and 2021 is shaping up to be almost as hard. There aren't any significant changes to the 5008 to make it suddenly stand out from the crowd because it already did. So the badge's cachet isn't matching the premium pricing.

Peugeot's SUVs are very popular in Europe but barely make a dent here. Because there isn't a bait-and-switch cheaper model to lure buyers off the street, it's a harder sell. Peugeot's glory days of the late 1990s and the late 1970s before mean the people who have fond memories of the badge are older and probably don't have any attachment at all to the French lion. Perhaps the re-energised 2008 will start that conversation, except it's not cheap either.

Having said all that, it's hard to see why folks with over fifty grand to spend on a seven-seater - and there are plenty of those - aren't paying more attention to the 5008. It's a striking presence, is practical but isn't overbearingly large or even slightly clumsy. It may not have AWD but hardly anyone ever uses that. It'll handle the city and the motorway and, as I discovered, biblical rain all in its stride. Like its 3008 sibling, it's a mystery there aren't more out there.

Almost no-one builds an 11-foot caravan any more, and hasn’t since the 1960s, probably, but that’s essentially what the interior of the Cruiseliner is like. 

Small and pokey as it is, though, it’s not impractical and not even uncomfortable. With a bed at the back, kitchen in the middle and dinette at the front, it’s got all the basic elements for comfort and because of the steep pitch of the roof, there’s plenty of headroom where it’s needed most. 

It’s actually quite an efficient little space for two people, and that’s demonstrated in the storage that’s available. Almost all of it is easy to get to – except the cupboard under the table – and some of the biggest areas can be accessed from inside or out.

Legroom is good in the middle row, with plenty of knee space as well as a that long flat roof stopping you from giving yourself a haircut. 

Each of the front seats has a fold down airline-style tray table, which kids go absolutely wild for.

The third row is really an occasional use only proposition, but it does the job and is reasonably easy to access. The middle row also slides forward (60/40 split) to allow a bit more space for the third row, which is nice.

The 5008 has a trick up its sleeve - removable third-row seats. If you fold the middle row down and remove the back row, you have a massive 2150 litres (VDA) of cargo volume. 

If you just fold the third row away you still have a formidable 2042 litres. Whip the back row out again but leave the centre row in place and you have a 1060-litre boot, reattach them and it's a still impressive 952 litres. So, it's a massive boot.

The 5008 is rated to tow 1350kg (petrol) or 1800kg (diesel) with a braked trailer, or 600kg (petrol) and 750kg (diesel) without brakes.

The Cruiseliner Adventure Plus was great to tow. The low weight and low roof height reduces drag and it’s very stable on the road. For a little while, Avan was importing its suspension from overseas, and the system had a few teething problems. Now the Adventure Plus is fitted with Australian-made AL-KO Enduro independent coil-spring suspension, which is a very reliable and high-performing package. 

Although this is the ‘off-road’ version of the Avan, the company’s ‘off-road’ policy is very conservative, and it recommends this only for gravel roads and water crossings no deeper than the bottom of the chassis. 

The off-road pack does go a little further than Jayco’s Outback pack, though, as Avan includes and off-road hitch, upgraded drawer runners and wall hinges, over and above the upgraded suspension and chassis. 

Once you're comfortable with the i-Cockpit, which features a high dashboard and a tiny, squared-off steering wheel, you'll feel like you're driving a much smaller car. 

I have theorised over the years that the light steering coupled with the small steering wheel makes it feel more dynamic than it is, but I think that's wrong - it's genuinely well set-up and is a car in which you can have some fun.

I was only able to drive the 1.6-litre petrol with six-speed auto on launch and that was on a horrifically wet day during Sydney's recent deluge. 

The M5 motorway was covered in standing water and the spray from the big rigs made driving conditions rather more difficult than usual. 

The 5008 sailed through it all (pun intended). That engine is hardly the last word in power and torque, but it does the job and the auto is well-calibrated to the numbers. 

The big Michelin tyres bite the tarmac pretty well and while you always feel the weight of a seven-seater SUV, it drives much more like a raised wagon than a doughy SUV. 

Fewer of its rivals are doughy these days, but there's a little bit of spark in the 5008, matching the promise of its looks. 

It's not quick, and it's not a hot SUV, but every time I get in this or its smaller 3008 sibling I ask myself why more people don't buy them.

It's irritating that the diesel costs so much more if you want that extra in-gear performance and another two gears.