Mitsubishi Outlander vs Peugeot 2008

What's the difference?

Apart from the cramped third-row seating (for adults at least) and space-saver spare, it’s difficult to find anything else deserving criticism. The Exceed combines sharp styling, a plush interior and upmarket appointments with the performance, practicality and all-round competence required for the Outlander – particularly in Exceed model grade - to justify its place as a leading contender in Australia’s medium SUV market. Worthy of a test drive and serious consideration. 

The 2008's score is slightly hurt by the price and the lack of advanced safety features (mostly reverse cross-traffic alert) but is boosted by the fantastic looks, great dynamics and avant-garde interior. While it certainly isn't the cheapest compact SUV, it certainly is one of the most stylish and, in some ways, innovative. 

Peugeot has a mountain to climb in Australia, a hangover from more than a decade of indifferent or oddball cars. The 2008 is a key plank of its premium strategy and that will become more important when it throws the full EV e-2008 at us later this year, or early next. This 2008 is the car to grab those younger buyers, I just wonder if they're keen enough to stump up the cash.

Exterior styling is richly contoured with fine attention to detail in the bold multi-element design of the grille and headlights that projects a prestige look.

The sumptuous interior, with ‘diamond-quilt’ stitching prominent on the seat-facings and door trims, adds to the upmarket appearance. Occupants are pampered by lots of soft-touch surfaces, exposed seam-stitching and a visually-pleasing mix of contrasting tones.

The interior has a bright and airy feel, particularly with the panoramic sunroof and optional light grey leather trim in our example. However, a darker upholstery shade might be more practical for young families, given inevitable scuffs and stains would be less visible.

Second-row legroom is spacious, even for my adult ‘kids’ (LOL) who are both more than 180cm tall. They have about 40mm of knee clearance when sitting behind the driver’s seat in my position, which shows efficient use of floor space.

However, the prominent contour in the roof lining required to accommodate the sunroof imposes on headroom for taller people.

Adding 5+2 equals seven so that includes a third row of seating, which folds flat but can be easily raised and head-rests installed (these are stowed beneath the luggage area floor) to allow seven-seat versatility.

However, providing adequate legroom for adults in these seats requires the second-row to be slid so far forward its occupants have their knees pressed into the front seat backrests. So, in real-world use, the third-row seats are strictly for small kids.

The 2008 is a cracking looking machine, with  a lot of what looks like Audi Q2 in profile (and detailing). It fooled a few passers-by, including the regular, "What have you got this week?" crew of neighbours. It's a brilliant design, sporting the 508's big light-up fangs and the cat's claw segmented taillights. Chunky but not self-conscious, it's great to look at.

Peugeot cabins are brilliant these days, with clever, interesting designs that I think are really challenging the way other carmakers think about what to put in front of the people in the front seat. The i-Cockpit works well in the SUVs (m'colleague Richard Berry will likely disagree), but the excessively cool 3D dashboard - with a screen that looks like it's floating in front of you like a hologram - really helps push the idea that the price being asked is actually quite reasonable. Lovely materials throughout, cool detailing, lots of thought and even usable cupholders. It's mad in all the right ways.

With its 1760kg kerb weight and 2355kg GVM, our test vehicle has load capacity of 595kg, of which up to 80kg can be carried on the roof.

However, given five adults and two kids could use up most of that seven-seat load capacity before you could think of adding luggage, it’s important to keep an eye on these load ratings when preparing for a trip.

The Exceed is also rated to tow up to 1600kg of braked trailer and with its 3955kg GCM rating (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time), it can legally tow its maximum trailer weight while carrying its maximum car-load. That’s a handy set of numbers for most recreational tasks.

In addition to USB-A and USB-C ports plus a 12V accessory socket, storage for driver and front passenger includes a large-bottle holder and bin in each front door, a single glove box and an overhead glasses holder.

The front of the centre console has open storage up front, two cup/small-bottle holders in the centre and a box at the rear with padded lid that doubles as an elbow rest.

Second-row passengers, in addition to USB-A and USB-ports, air-vents and a climate control panel on the rear of the centre console, get a bottle-holder and small bin in each door. There are also large lower pockets on each front seat backrest, plus two small upper pockets handy for loose items.

The 60/40-split second-row seat also has a fold-down centre armrest containing two cup/small-bottle holders.

When folded flat this also provides a handy opening in the seat's backrest through which long and narrow items can be carried (suitably secured of course), stretching from the tailgate to the dash if need be. Third-row passengers have small storage bins on each side.

The carpeted luggage area offers another 12-volt outlet and retractable load-anchorage hooks. Load volume starts at (VDA) 163 litres with all seats upright, which expands to 478 litres with the third-row folded and up to 1473 litres (or more than 1.4 cubic metres) with the second and third rows folded.

Starting with the bad stuff, what is it with carmakers - and fellow French carmaker Renault was front and centre in my head here - not putting a rear armrest and cupholders in SUVs? These are cars that can fit families, so neglecting the rear  passengers seems weird and sloppy. You can kind of forgive a $25,000 Kona Go (RIP), but not a $35,000 premium product. A small but irritating detail.

Up front, you do get useful cupholders, a small centre console bin and glove box and the doors will hold bottles. There's a dedicated spot for your phone, too, which is nice.

The boot is a gigantic 434 litres, beating pretty much every other car in the space that's not from France, and with the 60/40 split-fold out of the way, you have 1467 litres at your disposal. There's also a false floor on the boot that you can either remove or use to separate valuables or muddy/stinky/sandy outdoorsy stuff.

Peugeot is trying to mark itself out as a premium offering, with no bait-and-switch entry-level machines displaying startling prices. The 2008 Allure costs about the same as the top-spec Renault Captur, which is loaded up with gear. It's also gunning at mid-spec Korean, Japanese and German compact crossovers.

For $34,990, you get 17-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo, climate control, reversing camera, keyless entry and start, cruise control, 3D digital dashboard, auto LED headlights, fake leather trim along with cloth (nothing wrong with that), power windows and mirrors, a lot of safety gear and a space-saver spare.

The media system is an updated version of Peugeot's familiar stack and it's quite good on the small 7.0-inch touchscreen (small, as in "other cars this size are getting bigger ones") and has Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and DAB. The screen is snappier than past offerings from Peugeot which is a good thing, because the old one in the 3008 was glacially slow.

The Exceed’s refined 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine produces 135kW at 6000rpm and 244Nm of torque at 3600pm and can use 91 RON fuel.

The smooth and responsive CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) 'eight-speed' has overdrive on fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth ratios which ensures low rpm and fuel consumption at highway speeds. Sequential manual-shifting is also available using steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Mitsubishi’s full-time all-wheel drive transmission offers six drive modes controlled by a console dial. These comprise 'Normal', 'Eco', 'Tarmac', 'Gravel', 'Snow' and 'Mud'.

The Puretech 1.2-litre three-cylinder is a cracker of an engine and I won't hear a bad word against it. Partly because nobody ever says bad things about it. In the Allure, it's in 130 specification, which means 96kW and 230Nm of torque. The power figure is in line with almost everything in the class and the torque figure is good for the segment, especially considering the 1267kg kerb weight.

Driving the front wheels via a six-speed Aisin-supplied automatic, the Allure will complete the sprint to 100km/h in under 10 seconds. It feels quick enough, but that might be the torque curve filling in after a tardy start. If you're willing to drop another nine grand, you can have 114kW, eight gears and a slightly quicker 0-100km/h time.

Mitsubishi claims combined cycle average consumption of 8.1L/100km and the dash display was showing 9.0L/100km at the completion of our 378km test, which comprised mostly city and suburban driving with up to five adults on board.

Our figure, calculated from fuel bowser and trip meter readings, was not far from the Outlander’s at 9.8L/100km. So, based on our numbers, you could expect a real-world driving range of around 560km from its relatively small 55-litre tank. That range extends to 680km based on the Mitsubishi's official consumption number.

And the good news is the Outlander Exceed runs happily on 91RON 'standard' unleaded.

Peugeot says the Allure completed its government-mandated testing with a 6.5L/100km combined cycle figure while huffing out 148g/km of carbon dioxide.

I managed 6.8L/100km driving as I normally would around the suburbs and with some fast roads in the mix. That's an impressively close number to the official figures and lines up well with the more accurate WLTP findings.

Drivers of different stature can find comfortable driving positions, as confirmed by the 20cm difference in height between my wife and me.

With ample adjustment available in the steering wheel and multi-way powered seat, she enjoyed driving the Outlander and praised the seat memory function, which could quickly change from my settings to hers with the push of a button. Very handy when you share driving duties.

The driver’s seat is comfortable and supportive, with ample side-bolsters on the backrest providing good lateral support for the upper torso.

A large left footrest provides a solid platform to brace against and padded elbow-rests on each side enhance driving comfort, particularly on long trips.

Overall, it’s a refined and comfortable vehicle which feels like it has solid build quality. The ride quality is smooth and supple over bumps with negligible tyre, engine and wind noise, particularly at highway speeds where the engine requires a leisurely 1800rpm to maintain 110km/h.

The driver’s head-up display on the windscreen works efficiently, by displaying signposted speed limits and the vehicle’s road speed in your line of vision. It would be hard to come up with a viable excuse for exceeding the speed limit using this system!

We also trialled the numerous selectable drive modes. Although the Normal setting provides ample performance for most requirements, we found the Tarmac mode was the most engaging and rewarding for road use wet or dry, with all-wheel drive traction and optimised gearshift calibrations combining to provide spirited performance.

We also had an ideal opportunity to test the Mi-Pilot semi-autonomous driving assistant while crawling along in dense freeway traffic triggered by major road maintenance works.

Given this required lots of stop-start driving, the Mi-Pilot maintained a safe distance from the car in front and slowed, stopped and accelerated in unison, without driver input. And only light hand-contact with the steering wheel was required for the Mi-Pilot to maintain its lane-keeping function.

My first experience with the 2008 was in tipping rain on the same day I drove the 5008, so it was nice for the sun to shine during the time I had it. Dry roads and Peugeots are way more fun, although it was uncommonly wet on my first attempt.

What struck me about the 2008 is how sure-footed it is, even on the cheap-ish tyres fitted. It has that lovely, pointy Peugeot feel of the other cars in the range, which is partly to do with the hilariously small steering wheel but mostly because they're just so well set up.

The 2008 handles all the nastiness of suburban streets, even with torsion beams at the rear, something European cars somehow make work with almost magical effect. It's also very quiet inside, whether it's wind, tyre or engine noise, none of which make much impact on the occupants.

The transmission and engine work extremely well together, so well I don't think I resorted to the paddles even once to hurry things along. Quite a few cars in this class either have a whining continuously variable transmission or a sometimes-clunky twin-clutch auto. The smoothness of the Aisin six-speeder is excellent and it seems to know where the turbo lag is, and shifts accordingly. It also picks up when you want it to, wringing every last drop of torque out of the engine when you need it most. The car does slow noticeably when loaded up, but you'll get that in every other car in the class, too.

The Allure has six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward AEB, lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist.

The forward AEB works between 10km/h and 180km/h, with daytime pedestrian detection up to 60km/h and cyclist detection up to 80km/h.

It is missing reverse cross-traffic alert and if you want adaptive cruise, auto high beam, blind-spot monitoring or lane-keep assist, you have to step up to the GT Sport.

Mitsubishi covers the Outlander with a five-year/100,000km warranty with 12 months roadside assist.

Extended 10-year/200,000km warranty and 10 years capped-price servicing is available if the car is always serviced within the Mitsubishi dealer network.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/15,000km, whichever occurs first. Capped-price servicing for 10 years totals $4340, or a reasonable $434 annually.

Peugeot's five-year warranty, five-year capped-price servicing and five years of roadside assist is a solid, if unspectacular offering. Which is a bit rude, because three years ago we'd have been bowing at Peugeot's feet for such generosity. It's a thankless business.

Servicing comes around every 12 months/15,000km, which is pretty good going for a turbo engine in this class (except, of course, Renaults, which go for 30,000km) and you'll pay, on average, $447 per service, which isn't awful, but is not cheap either.