2012 Peugeot 208 Reviews

It comes as no surprise that Peugeot’s new 208 is all about style, after all the French and flair are synonymous. In an unusual move we will discuss the style of the 208’s interior before we get on to talk about it body. That’s because of a radical new shapes and ideas within the car.The new Peugeot 208 Active starts at $18,490 for the 1.2-litre three cylinder. The 1.6-litre four cylinder Allure starts at $21,490, while the top of the range 1.6 four cylinder turbocharged Allure Sport comes in at $26,490.Lower set, and in the centre of the car, a seven-inch multifunction touchscreen provides access to the satellite navigation and onboard audio systems. The latter comes complete with the usual inputs for music and telephone, but, interestingly no CD player. Peugeot feels the era of the audio CD is now history.Power comes from a choice of three engines, 1.2-litre with three cylinders, a four-cylinder 1.6 with natural aspiration, or the latter unit with a turbocharger to push along the Active Sport model. Five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmissions are offered.The first thing you will notice stepping into the Peugeot 208 is the tiny steering wheel, the sort of wheel you would expect to find in a sports car, not in a family hatchback. The miniature wheel is there not to make a styling statement, but to leave space above itself so the driver can view the high-set instatement layout.The intention is that the driver takes their attention off the road for a minimum amount of time to scan the instruments, and thus increases road safety. These instruments are set within a dashboard design that’s classy and finished to a high standard. The plastics have pleasingly soft finish and the minor controls not only look good but function in an easy to use manner.Peugeot 208‘s all-new body comes in three and five-door format. However, the three-door isn’t simply a five-door with fewer openings, it takes quite a different approach to style. Thus the three-door has a real sporty appearance, while the five-door has a slightly less radical shape. The latter still hasn’t lost out in the flair stakes, though.Peugeot was in the vanguard of the latest car ‘big-grille’ styling theme, with close to a decade since it first moved in what was considered a provocative new direction. Now Peugeot has left the others, who have been copying its ideas in recent times, and set off in a new styling direction.While the Peugeot 208 still has a large grille the focus isn’t on the complete grille, but rather on the central section. This is raised in what Peugeot calls a ‘floating’ manner, leaving the main segment of the grille in the background to frame rather than dominate the frontal appearance. Depending on which of the grades of 208 you select – Active or Allure – you get a different finish to the floating segment.The smaller, lighter body has more interior space than the outgoing cars, particularly in the back seat. You wouldn't want to cram five big Aussie blokes in this small car, but two plus a trio of kids will fit nicely.The 208 is marginally smaller on the outside than the 207 it replaces, but intelligent design works gives it even more safety in a crash. Peugeot is proud of the fact that its 208 is the first car in the world to score five stars in the recently toughened-up European NCAP crash testing.On the road on a drive program organised by Peugeot in the Gold Coast hinterland we were able to sample the 1.2 and 1.6 engines, but only with manual gearboxes as imports are still pending. The 1.6 naturally aspirated probably has enough performance for most drivers, but interestingly our favourite was the little 1.2-litre three-cylinder.We like the willingness and character of three-cylinder units and the way they are happy to rev. Though it has to be said that the latter is a handy feature because in the interests of economy this engine isn’t designed as a high-performance powerplant. So you do need to use lower gears on any sort of a hill and keep in mind that on level roads the fuel consumption is going to be well down.Steering and suspension are brilliant and the feel through the tiny steering wheel is great. You really do get the feel you’re in a sports machine, not just a family hatch.In typical Peugeot manner the ride comfort is good despite this excellent handling ability.

There’s a lot riding on the small shoulders of the Peugeot 208. It follows in the long shadow of the iconic 205 that became the benchmark light hatch in 1983 and shone a halo bright enough to draw 15 million buyers to Peugeot 2-series cars – including the less-glowing 206 and dimmer 207 - since then. And the new baby has arrived in a cash-strapped household, forced to sell off a room full of shares to General Motors. But the 208 is dressed for success, and with the right spec and pricing should be able to help fill the family coffers.Warnings about reinventing the wheel have been dismissed with a Gallic shrug, and Peugeot has reinvented the one you steer with. It’s been shrunk to dinner plate size so the instrument panel behind it can migrate to the top of the dash. At 35cm wide and 32cm deep, the wheel feels immediately comfortable in the hands, and the new instrument position – viewed over rather than through the wheel - will probably take a couple of days to bed into the brain cells, but then start to feel natural. That idiosyncrasy aside, the 208 is the best looker in the city car field, with a chic little body and perfectly-judged amount of ‘jewelry’: a grille that floats in its surrounds, chrome accents, LED head and taillights … even the optional blue LED accents for the glass panorama roof look classy. The 208 is 110kg-173kg lighter than the 207 models. And it’s shorter, but Peugeot says there’s been no space penalty for legs or luggage – which gets 484 litres in the three-door, swelling to 811 with the rear seat down.Overseas markets get a range of 10 engines; five petrol and five diesel. We get four of those, starting with a 66kW/118Nm 1.2-litre three-cylinder manual but with a semi-automated transmission to follow shortly after launch.Above that sit the four-cylinders: a 88kW/160Nm 1.6-litre VTi in manual but with auto option, 115kW/240-260Nm 1.6-litre turbo manual and 86kW/230Nm 1.6-litre e-HDI diesel manual (with stop-start).The 208 will arrive with three- and five-door bodies in three spec levels – Active, Allure and Feline. Spec and prices will be announced closer to the October launch, but Peugeot Australia says the range will start sub-$20,000 for the 1.2-litre manual (an auto will arrive later). And while that entry level overseas is fairly stripped spec, it’s likely we’ll get some extra kit here, including the touchscreen and alloy wheels that start one level higher in other markets. And overseas, the CD player will be optional - acknowledgement that downloading is killing the silver disc - but a decision is yet to be made for our market.The base model is pitted against the VW Polo, Mazda2, Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta and Suzuki Swift as main rivals, with a strong second row from Hyundai’s Accent and i20, Holden Barina and Nissan Micra. But most buyers for Euro city style are in the premium light class segment – and Peugeot owns that field at 51 per cent, selling more than Fiat 500, Alfa MiTo, Citroen C2 (and all the rest) put together. The exiting 207 gets five ANCAP stars and with the 208 you can expect the same rating and similar safety equipment: six airbags, stability control and anti-skid brakes with electronic aids for panic stops and uneven loading.It might have a baby wheel but this is no Barbie car. The massive weight drop plus tweaks to suspension springs and variable-input dampers makes for much better handling than the 207. Cornering is grippy and nimble fun, and the steering speed and precision tips in for the party, but it feels remote and over-assisted - especially at higher speeds.We’ve had to ‘mangez le crow’ over our prediction that the 1.2-litre three-pot would be a dud. It’s got ample outputs to capably punt the light 208 around, although fully loading all seats will probably have it gritting its teeth for hillclimbs.That aside, the three-cylinder is sprightly and well-balanced, and there’s nothing wanting from it – except for it to come in the higher spec. It would be easy to picture it as a fully-dressed city mouse, twitching its chic little tail on the upmarket circuit.Of the three drivetrains we tested (the turbo we’re also getting wasn’t on the launch), the tiddler ended up being our clear favourite.The 1.6-litre diesel was quiet and smooth, and with the oiler ability to keep delivering torque through the range, it ate up the highway and could still overtake happily from 120km/h. The e-HDi’s six-speed manual transmission is smooth and precise, but the shift feel will be too firm for some.Following the diesel, the 1.6-litre petrol VTi up next felt underdone, but mainly suffered being undermined by a five-speed manual – we kept wishing for an extra cog on the highway. Cabins are well-trimmed across the range, and the grey plastics and fabrics of the lower spec suffer only in comparison with the premium look and feel of Feline’s top-spec fit-out.Clever packaging means there’s as much space in the 208 as in the larger 207 it’s replacing – which means still tight in the rear seat. And new sound-damping means wind rush around the A-pillar and along the seam of the panorama glass roof was the only irritant to invade the otherwise quiet cabin.It looks great inside and out, and with the right combinations of drivetrain, price and spec this is one that should be on every hatch shopper’s test drive list.