Honda Civic vs Peugeot 208

What's the difference?

Talk about your new-car unsung heroes – I can't believe Honda's not selling more of these. So, if you can get over the price, and you worry it might be too small for you, I encourage you to check the Civic out. The back seat and boot are both bigger than you might expect, and the drive experience leaves most SUVs in the rear view mirror.

The 208 GT-Line is hardly a car purchased on its value offering; it’s an emotional purchase. Fans of the brand know it, even Peugeot knows it.

Here’s the thing, though, the GT-Line looks the part, is true-to-its-roots in how fun it is to drive, and will surprise most with its spacious dimensions and decent spec level. So, while it might be an emotional buy, it’s not necessarily a bad one.

Beauty. Eye. Beholder. All that. But I reckon this Civic looks fantastic. Low-slung and sporty. The perfect antidote to all those bland, beige SUVs currently doing the rounds.

New as part of the most recent refresh is the front-end treatment, a new front bumper, more body-coloured flourishes and new designs for the 18-inch alloys. 

I think it looks sleek, premium and purposeful, and not at all boring.

Inside, though, it’s a little less adventurous, though I do adore some of the little design touches, like the perforated metal effect that spans the dash.

The central screen is pretty small by modern standards, and you don't want to push too hard on some of the touch points, like the gloss-black highlights on the doors, which feel flimsy, flexible and pretty cheap.

Now, the screen. Does UX design count in the overall design section? Let's say that it does. I haven’t really experienced less intuitive and user friendly cabin tech lately.

For example, I couldn't figure out (though I must admit I didn't resort to owner's manual) how to get Apple CarPlay to load automatically, if you can.

Instead I had to select my phone, cycle through several screens of approval, and then select my phone again, every single time I got in the car. I had a similar issue using Google maps, which simply wouldn't connect at all for me.

Good tech is easy and intuitive. This wasn't.

It might not be for you, but I had come around to the 208’s design by the time I handed the keys back. It’s a bit more upright and frumpy than the slick, conservative design of the Volkswagen Polo, or the swish, cutting-edge lines of the Mazda2.

It’s undeniably a European city car in its short and upright stance, but blazes its own path, even compared to French competitors. I grew quite fond of its weird, slopey bonnet, unconventional face and tough rear wheel arches. The way the rear light clusters clasp the rear to bring the design together is quite satisfying, as are the aluminium-brush alloys, recessed lights and the single chrome tailpipe.

It could be argued that this is a path well-travelled, with this 208 mirroring the design cues of the 207 that came before it, but I’d argue it holds its own, even in 2019. If you’re after something radically different, the styling on its replacement, due next year, is one to look out for.

On the inside, things are… unique.

There are cushy, deep seats for front occupants, with a super vertical dash design, leading up from the deep-set shifter (an older look) to the top-mounted media screen, which is slick, with its chrome bezel and lack of buttons.

The steering wheel is awesome. It’s tiny, strongly contoured and covered in nice leather trim. Its small, almost oval shape is super satisfying to wrangle, and enhances the way you interact with the front wheels.

What is extra strange about it is how far separated it is from the dash cluster. The dials are perched way atop the dash in a layout Peugeot refers to as the ‘iCockpit’. This is all very cool and aesthetic and French if you’re my height (182cm), but if you’re particularly short or particularly tall, the wheel begins to obscure vital information.

Other strange things about the cabin mainly involve little bits of plastic of varying quality strewn about the place. While the overall look is very cool, there are some odd bits of chrome trim and hollow black plastics about that probably don’t need to be there.

The Honda Civic measures 4569mm in length, 1802mm in width and 1415mm in height, and as you've no doubt already noticed, it's not an SUV, rather a liftback-style sedan.

But if you feel like you need an SUV to move a family, I beg to differ. While the middle seat in the second row is too tight for adults (owing largely to the intrusive raised tunnel that runs through the middle of the cabin), the two window seats can absolutely fit adult humans. I'm 175cm, and had absolutely no issue sitting behind my own driving position.

But the biggest surprise is the boot, which opens to reveal a flat and wide storage space that can swallow 409 litres (VDA) of luggage. In real terms, that's more than enough for our pram and the assorted knick-knacks that go with it on a baby day out.

Unfortunately, though, there’s no spare. Instead you’ll find yourself wrestling with a hateful repair kit should you get a puncture, and you don't want to wait for roadside assist.

There's also twin USB ports in the back, as well as air vents, along with twin cupholders in the pulldown divider.

The 208 hit me with some surprises here. Firstly, don’t drink and drive this car. And, by that I mean, don’t even begin to think you’ll find a good spot for a decently sized coffee. There are two cupholders under the dash; they are about an inch deep, and narrow enough to accommodate maybe a piccolo latte. Place anything else in there and you’re asking for a spillage.

There’s also an odd little trench there that barely fits a phone, and a top-box arm-rest thing that’s tiny and bound to the driver’s seat. The glovebox is large and also air-conditioned.

The front seats offer heaps of room, though, for arms, head and especially legs, and there is no shortage of soft surfaces for elbows.

The back seat was also a surprise. I was expecting it to be an afterthought, as it is in many cars this size, but the 208 delivers, with excellent matching seat trim and generous legroom.

Sadly, that’s where back-seat amenities end. There are tiny trenches in the door, but no air vents or cupholders. You’ll have to make do with just the pockets on the backs of the front seats.

Don’t be fooled by the 208’s cropped rear, the boot is deep and grants a surprising 311 litres to the shelf, and maxes out a 1152L with the second row folded down. Also surprising  is the inclusion of a full-size steel spare, stashed under the floor.

This Peugeot is never going to be as cheap as a Mazda2 or Suzuki Swift. The current range spans from $21,990 for the base Active to $26,990 for the GT-Line, and that’s all before on-road costs.

Safe to say you’re looking at a $30k hatch then. For the same money you could be hopping into a decently specified Hyundai i30, Toyota Corolla or Mazda3, but Peugeot bank on the fact that this car appeals to a special kind of customer; the emotional buyer.

Perhaps they had a Peugeot in the past. Perhaps the quirky styling calls out to them. But they aren’t interested in value… per se.

So do you at least get a decent standard spec? The GT-Line comes with a 7.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support, built-in sat-nav, 17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in some seriously low-profile Michelin Pilot Sport rubber, panoramic fixed glass roof, dual-zone climate control, self-parking function, front and rear parking sensors with a reversing camera, rain sensing wipers, sports bucket seats, auto folding mirrors and GT-Line specific chrome styling touches.

Not bad. The styling is certainly turned up a notch over the regular 208 range and the spec list makes it one of the better-equipped cars in the segment. However, there are some notable omissions which hurt on a car at this price. For example, there’s no option for push-start or LED headlamps.

Safety is okay, but it could use update. More on that in the safety section.

The Civic range is an all-hybrid affair, which in this case is what Honda calls its 'two-motor hybrid', which pairs a 2.0-litre petrol engine with two electric motors, one being an electric generator, and the other being the actual propulsion motor which sends power to the wheels. Expect a total 135kW and 315Nm, which is sent to the front wheels via a CVT auto.

The regular (that’s non-GTi) 208s are offered with just one engine now. A 1.2-litre turbo petrol three-cylinder, which produces 81kW/205Nm. While that doesn’t sound like an awful lot, it turns out to be plenty for the little 1070kg hatch.

Unlike some notable French manufacturers, Peugeot has seen the light and dumped single-clutch automatics (aka automated manuals) in favour of a six-speed torque converter auto, which does its best to have you not notice it.

It also has a stop-start system, which might save fuel (I couldn’t objectively prove that it did) but will definitely annoy you at the lights.

Honda says you can expect 4.2L/100km on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle, but we found the fuel use was a still impressive 5.5L or so, admittedly mostly in the city.

The 40-litre tank drinks 91 RON 'standard' fuel, meaning its cheapish to fill up, and — using Honda’s numbers at least — should deliver a 950km driving range.

Yesterday, 91 RON was about $1.80 per litre meaning you can theoretically get from Melbourne to Sydney for around $75.

The claimed/combined fuel number for the 208 GT-Line is a slightly unrealistic-sounding 4.5L/100km. Sure enough, after a week of city/highway combined driving, I produced a number of 7.4L/100km. So, a solid miss. Slightly less-enthusiastic driving should see that number drop, but I still don’t see how you could get it down to 4.5L/100km.

The 208 requires a minimum of 95RON mid-range fuel, and has a 50-litre tank.

First things first – I really, really like the way this Honda drives. There's a finesse, a confidence, in the drive experience that's sometimes missing from the new brands when they first arrive in Australia.

In short, it feels like it was engineered by people who really know what they're doing. That's the easiest way to describe it.

If you're used to driving older-fashioned hybrid systems you might be used to a bit of shuddering harshness when the engine kicks in, but that's simply not the case here.

Instead, the transition is seamless, with the Honda Civic making the choice for you and largely leaving you out of the process entirely.

Where the powertrain does let itself be more known is under heavier acceleration, with engine thrum seriously invading the cabin, without much in the way of flat-footed performance to accompany it.

But the magic of the Civic drive experience is in its balance. It's not a performance car, but there's real driver engagement to be found in the way it rides and handles. Equally, though, it's never uncomfortable, striking the balance between road-holding confidence and comfort really well.

Happy in the city, happy on a twisting road - this is not one of those smaller cars that leaves the drive experience as a secondary factor. It feels like it really has the driver at heart.

The 208 is good fun, and lives up to its heritage of making the most of its lightweight dimensions and small figure to make for an agile city-slicker. The engine outputs might look like just any other hatch in this class, but the turbo comes on nice and strong in an impressively linear fashion.

It makes for reliable and strong acceleration, with the peak 205Nm of torque available at 1500rpm.

A featherweight at 1070kg, you’ll find no complaints from me about its performance. It’s no GTi, but it will still be warm enough for most.

Despite its upright figure, handling is fantastic, too. The low-profile Michelins feel planted at the front and back, and, unlike the GTi, you never really feel at risk of understeer or wheelspin.

This is all enhanced by the intense helm, with the small steering wheel giving it a thoroughly engaging feel. You can chuck this car into corners and down alleyways with enthusiasm, and it feels like it loves it as much as you do.

The suspension is stiff, especially at the rear, and the low-profile rubber makes it noisy on coarse-chip surfaces, but you’ll barely hear a peep out of the little engine. Other notable downsides include the slow-to-react stop-start system (which you can turn off) and the lack of active cruise, which would be nice at this price.

On the topic of active cruise, this car is showing its age in the safety department. Available active safety is limited to a camera-based city-speed auto emergency braking system (AEB). The lack of a radar, even optionally, means no active cruise or freeway-speed AEB. There’s also no option for blind-spot monitoring (BSM), lane-departure warning (LDW) or lane-keep assist (LKAS).

Sure, we’re talking about a car which largely dates back to 2012, but you can get cars a full size up with all those features for close to the same money from Korea and Japan.

On the more impressive side, you get an above-average set of six airbags, seatbelt pre-tensioners and rear ISOFIX child-seat mounting points, as well as the expected set of electronic braking and stability aids. A reversing camera is also now standard.

The 208 previously held a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from 2012, but that rating is limited to four-cylinder variants, which have since been phased out. Three-cylinder cars remain un-rated.

The Honda is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, and servicing is every 12 months or 10,000km.

There is a capped-price servicing program, called 'Low Price Servicing', which means your first five services are $199, but don't cover things like brake pads and tyres.

Peugeot offers a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty on its entire range of passenger cars, which is up-to-date and in-line with most segment competitors.

The 208 requires servicing at yearly or 15,000km intervals (whichever occurs first) and has a fixed price to the length of the warranty.

Servicing is not cheap, with yearly visits costing between $397 and $621, although there’s nothing on the optional extras list, that price is all-inclusive.

Total cost over the five-year period is $2406 for an (expensive) average of $481.20 a year.