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The 2008 is kind of a big deal for Peugeot - the old car was a bit niche and people didn't really know what it was. It also had a whiff of last-decade Peugeot whereas this one is proper 2021, fashion-forward Peugeot. The brand has changed so much in the past few years that it's even going to slap a new logo in its big grilles in the coming months.
Peugeot's product strategy was missing that important, late-millenial/early Gen X grabbing compact SUV, a cheaper entry to the brand that attracts fans of good design with a plenty of readies in their pockets. Basically the people Mini's Countryman, BMW's X2, Audi's Q2 and VW's T-Roc and T-Cross are going after. So not an easy task, then.
The local importer knows it needs to find younger customers to hook into the brand, because the halo of its turn-of-the-century success, the 306, has now faded. People like me will buy Peugeots because they wanted a 306, are Francophiles or are just plain contrarian (in my case, all three). Peugeot needs an in. The 2008 might just be it.
It’s pretty hard to miss the LDV D90.
Mainly because it is gigantic; it's one of the biggest SUVs you can buy. In fact, I’d say what’s drawn you to this review is maybe you’ve seen one of these behemoths trucking past, and you’re wondering what the LDV badge is all about and how this relatively unknown SUV stands up against popular rivals and other notable newcomers.
To get one confusing thing out of the way, LDV once stood for Leyland DAF Vans, a now-defunct British company which has been brought back to life by none other than China’s SAIC Motor – yes, the same one which also resurrected MG.
So, is this MG big brother worth looking into? We took the recently released diesel version of the D90 on test for a week to seek some answers…
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.
Looking for a cheap, powerful diesel SUV with huge cabin space and a humane third row for adults? The D90 is a really sound offering, especially considering the price of entry for this top-spec diesel which should resonate with Aussies a bit better than the petrol version.
It has plenty of issues that could be ironed out, but they’re all so small and not sale-breaking it’s almost annoying how much better the D90 could be with just a little work. Rivals should be looking over their shoulder for what comes next.
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.
Some colleagues I’ve spoken to like the way the D90 looks. To me, it looks like someone gene-spliced a Hyundai Tucson with a SsangYong Rexton in a lab, then grew it in a stew of peptides and this was the result.
What can’t really be communicated in images is how truly massive the D90 is. At over five metres long, two metres wide and almost two metres tall, the D90 is certifiably huge. Given that’s the case then, it’s admittedly almost admirable that only the side profile makes this thing look a little goofy.
I think LDV has done a pretty good job on the front, and the rear is simple but well resolved for a vehicle that rides on a ladder chassis (just take a look at the Pajero Sport for how ladder-chassis rear designs can get… controversial…).
The wheels, garnishes, and LED headlights are all tastefully applied. It’s not ugly… just confronting… size-wise.
Inside shares some familiar characteristics with sister-brand MG. Look from a distance and it’s all quite nice, get in too close and you’ll see where the corners have been cut.
The first thing I don’t like about the interior is the materials. Apart from the wheel they are all pretty cheap and nasty. It’s a sea of hollow plastics and mixed trims. The faux-wood pattern, which is clearly just a print on a plastic resin is particularly gnarly. Reminds me of some Japanese cars from 20 years ago. It might work for the Chinese audience, but that’s not where the market is in Australia.
On the other hand, you could say “well, what do you expect at this price?” and that is true. Everything is here and works, just don’t expect the D90 to be playing alongside the established players when it comes to fit, finish, or material quality.
The huge screen works to finish the dash, but that darned software is so ugly you’ll wish it didn’t. At least all the major touch-points are ergonomically accessible.
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.
The D90 is as massive on the inside as it is on the outside. I’m talking better space than a minivan, and nothing says that more than the humane third row. At 182cm tall, I not only fit in the rearmost two seats, but I can do so in as much comfort as any other row. It’s staggering. There’s actual airspace for my knees and head back there.
The second row is massive and on rails too, so you can extend the amount of room available to third-rowers – and there’s so much room in the second row, you’ll have space even with the seats moved forward.
My only criticism here is that the giant rear door is far enough forward to make clambering into the third row a little tricky. Once you’re there though there are really no complaints.
The boot is even usable with the third row deployed, with a claimed 343L of space. That should be hatchback-sized, but the measurement is a little deceptive as the space is tall but shallow, meaning it will only allow you to place smaller bags (a few, if you can stack them) with the remaining space.
The boot is otherwise cavernous with a wild 1350L available with the third row stowed flat, or 2382L with the second row stowed. In this configuration, with the front passenger seat slid forward to its furthest position, I was even able to get a 2.4-metre-long benchtop in the back. Truly impressive.
Without buying an actual commercial van then, this could be the cheapest way into such room, especially in a 4x4 bi-turbo diesel SUV. No arguing with that.
Second-row occupants get their own climate control module, USB ports and even a full-sized household power outlet, with more legroom than you could possibly need. My only complaint was that the seat trim seemed a little flat and cheap.
Front occupants get large cupholders in the centre console, a deep armrest box (with no connectivity in it, just a randomly placed DPF cycle switch), pockets in the doors, and an awkward binnacle under the climate controls that houses the single available USB port. My phone didn’t fit in there.
No complaints about leg and headroom in the front either, though, with plenty of adjustability to boot. The driver’s seat offers a commanding view of the road, although it can be a little unsettling to be so far off the ground in corners… more on that in the driving section.
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.
On paper, the seven-seat D90 is immediately quite appealing. At $47,990, it is literally a lot of car for the money. This latest iteration, the bi-turbo diesel, is only available in Executive trim at this price, but you can pinch pennies further by choosing one of the lesser petrol turbo variants.
Regardless, and much like its MG sister brand, LDV is good at making sure that essential spec boxes are ticked.
This includes screens galore as is popular in the Chinese market, including a massive 12-inch multimedia screen and 8.0-inch digital dash.
A screen is only as good as the software that runs on it though, and let me tell you, the D90’s software is not good. A quick flick through the weirdly small menu reveals barebones functionality, terrible resolution and response time, as well as possibly the worst execution of Apple CarPlay I’ve ever seen.
I mean, it doesn’t even use all of that screen real estate! Not only that, but in a recent overhaul to CarPlay, Apple released software to utilise wider displays – so the car’s own software must simply be incapable of supporting it. Inputs also proved laggy, and I had to repeat myself on multiple occasions to get any use out of Siri. Unlike every other car I’ve used, the software in the D90 wouldn’t return to the radio after you hang up or stop talking to Siri. Frustrating.
I’d rather have a far smaller display that actually worked well. The semi-digital dash was functional, although barely did anything that a small dot-matrix display isn’t capable of and had one screen which for my entire week said ‘loading’. I’m still not sure what it was meant to do…
At least it supports Apple CarPlay at all, which is more than could have been said for segment hero, the Toyota LandCruiser.
The D90 does tick some necessary items that are quite good. LED headlights are standard, as are leather seats with eight-way power adjust for the driver, a heated multi-function steering wheel, 19-inch alloy wheels (which still somehow look small on this huge thing), three-zone climate control, eight-speaker audio system, electric tailgate, keyless entry with push-start ignition, a reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, tyre-pressure monitoring, as well as a fairly substantial safety suite which we’ll explore later in this review.
Great on paper then, the bi-turbo diesel engine is a boon, as is the fact that the D90 rides on a ladder chassis with an electronically-controlled low-range terrain mode for the transmission, too.
You’d expect to pay more – even from Korean and Japanese rivals for this much specification. No matter which way you cut it, the D90 is good value.
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.
The D90 was initially offered in Australia with a 2.0-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder, but this 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel makes much more sense, both for towing and long-distance touring.
It’s a four-cylinder offering a healthy 160kW/480Nm. You’ll note that’s pretty close to Ford’s similar 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel, which is currently offered in the Everest…
The diesel also gets its own transmission, an eight-speed torque converter automatic with computer-controlled ‘Terrain Selection 4WD’.
This gives the D90 diesel a max towing capacity of 3100kg braked (or 750kg unbraked) with a max payload of 730kg.
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.
The D90 diesel is said to consume 9.1L/100km of diesel on the combined cycle, but ours didn’t score near that with a figure of 12.9L/100km after a week of what I’d consider “combined” testing.
The D90 a big unit, so that number doesn’t seem outrageous, it’s just nowhere near the claim… All D90s have 75-litre fuel tanks.
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 D90 is easier to drive than it looks… to a degree…
It lacks some polish of its more established rivals, which results in a drive experience that isn’t bad, but occasionally frustrating.
The ride somehow manages to be soft and harsh at the same time. It undulates over larger bumps, while transmitting the worst parts of smaller, sharper ones to the cabin. It speaks to a lack of calibration between the suspension and dampers.
That having been said, the D90 masks its ladder chassis underpinnings well, with little of that typical body-on-frame jiggle that some rivals still struggle with.
The drivetrain is good, but a little unruly. As you’d imagine from the figures, there’s more than enough power on tap, but the transmission tends to have a mind of its own.
It will occasionally lurch between gears, pick the wrong gear, and off-the-line will sometimes be delayed before shunting the D90’s bulk forward with a sudden mountain of torque. It doesn’t sound particularly good either, with the diesel surging through the rev range with industrial crudeness.
By the time the D90 has reached cruising speed though, there’s really not much to complain about, with the D90 milling along with plenty of power in reserve for overtaking. The view of the road is commanding, but you really feel the D90’s high centre of gravity in the corners and under heavy braking. The physics of such a large object are undeniable.
I have to say, LDV has done a fantastic job of the D90’s steering, with a quick, light feel that betrays the SUV’s size. It manages to stray on the right side of lightness though, not being so disconnected that you lose a feeling of where the wheels are pointing. No mean feat in something this shape.
Overall then, the D90 isn’t bad to drive and has some genuinely great characteristics, it just also has a litany of small issues that get in the way of it being truly competitive with segment leaders.
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.
The LDV D90 carries a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating as of 2017, and has a fairly comprehensive active safety suite.
Included on the diesel is auto emergency braking (AEB) with front collision warning, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, driver-attention alert, traffic-sign recognition, and adaptive cruise control.
Not bad for the price, and nice that there’s nothing optional. Expected items include electronic traction, stability, and brake controls, as well as six airbags.
The curtain airbags do extend to the third row, and there’s the bonus of a reversing camera and a tyre-pressure-monitoring system.
There is a full-size steel spare under the boot floor, and the D90 also gets dual ISOFIX and three top-tether child-seat mounting points.
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.
LDV covers the D90 with a five-year/130,000km warranty, which is not bad… but falls behind sister brand MG, which offers seven years/unlimited kilometres. At the very least it would be nice to have the unlimited kilometre promise.
Roadside assist is included for the duration of that warranty, but there’s no capped price servicing offered through LDV. The brand gave us indicative pricing of $513.74, $667.15, and $652.64 for the first three annual services. An initial six-monthly 5000km checkup is free.
All D90s need to be serviced once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.