How Peugeot beat Porsche! Why the 308's Petrol Particulate Filter succeeds where others failed

The incoming Peugeot 308 GT Hatch is thought to be the first Australian delivered vehicle to feature an operational Petrol Particulate Filter (PPF), with the French brand beating Porsche and several others to the punch.

A PPF is a honeycomb or mesh filter that traps dangerous particles before they can be emitted, with the system storing them and later burning them off, either automatically or manually. 

You might recall an about-face from Porsche earlier this year, with the brand first confirming its 2020 Macan S - powered by a 3.0-litre V6 engine - would be fitted with a PPF that would be compliant with the high sulphur content of Australia's petrol.

But the brand later backtracked, telling media "we made an error", and confirming Australian-delivered vehicles would not be fitted with a PPF.

The problem is Australian fuel, which at 95RON typically contains up to 50ppm (parts per million) of sulphur, compared to 10ppm in other countries. The difference was thought to mean a PPF wouldn't work here.

But Peugeot has seemingly scooped the pool, with the French brand confirming its 308 GT Hatch will be fitted with a PPF, and that it will operate on both 95RON and higher-quality 98RON.

"PSA’s PPF design is robust to a fuel containing average 40 ppm average and thus can tolerate all premium grade fuel in Australia (RON98 and RON95 of 50ppm max)," says Peugeot. 

"While some of our samples and testing did use averages up to 70 and 150ppm, these were extreme levels and hence for the Australian market, our recommendation is to use premium grade fuels only – with a skew towards 98RON."

The Peugeot system - which, along with honeycombed filter - was designed in-house, with the brand saying its design is less sensitive to sulphur, and that burns off emissions more frequently than other systems.

The system will debut on the 308 GT, but will also appear on the 508 GT Fastback and Wagon. 

“Peugeot customers can take solace in the fact that they are gaining access to arguably the cleanest petrol drivetrains available in Australia first," says the brand's Australian boss, Ben Farlow.

"With the substantive amount of testing and development that has gone into our system, we believe that our moves will be followed by others in the near future.”