2012 Peugeot 508 SW FULL ROAD TEST

There was a time when choosing a new car was simple, mainstream manufacturers such as Ford offered four sizes, a supermini (Fiesta), a small family car (Escort), large family car (Mondeo) or an executive (Scorpio). Take a glance at most car ranges today and its astonishing how many models there are to choose from all aiming to offer something for different buyers tastes from crossovers to the vast array of multi-purpose vehicles that have flooded the market in recent years. 

During this insurgence of choice there has been one market that has felt the squeeze and now struggles to hit the sales charts, I’m talking about the family car sector. In their heyday a growing family’s default choice was a large family car which offered an excellent blend of passenger and luggage space, reliability as well as motorway refinement. 

Now more than ever cars such as MPVs and SUVs are becoming much more attractive to potential buyers as they can offer families more due to their clever packaging offering more space, versatility, safety, economy and comfort in a neat design that often takes up less space on the road than your average small family car. 

The result is that many manufacturers have dropped their family car offering from their line-up namely Renault and Nissan. Despite this Peugeot is still confident that it can compete in this shrinking sector with its recently launched 508 which has been tasked with replacing not only the 407 but the larger, executive 607 in the range. Peugeot have made this possible with increased dimensions and moving the new car further upmarket in terms of quality and refinement in a bid to poach buyers from premium brands.

I find out whether the 508 meets Peugeot’s expectations and is worthy successor to the unloved 407 and 607 whilst competing with established models from Ford and Volkswagen

What is it?

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The Peugeot 508 is tasked with replacing the 407 and the 607 executive saloon in the range and is built upon the same platform as its Citroen C5 cousin. Available in both Saloon and SW (station wagon) body styles the range kicks off at £18,450 for the Access model up to an eye-watering £30,275 for the GT SW model we are testing here. There are a number of petrol and diesel engines available.

Rivals; Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Insignia and Volkswagen Passat

Technical Data

Price as tested: £30,275

Engine: 2.2 16v 204bhp - 0-62mph: 8.4 secs - Maximum Speed: 144mph -

Economy: 34.8 mpg (urban) –60.0 mpg (extra-urban), 47.8 mpg (combined) - Emissions: 154g/km (Band G) - VED (12 months): £165

Dimensions: Length: 4813mm - Width: 1853mm - Height: 1476mm - Wheelbase: 2817mm

*data from Peugeot UK

Key Features

Sloping roof line and twin exhausts at the rear

• 19" alloy wheels
• Quad zone climate control
• Front and rear parking sensors with parallel assist
• JBL Stereo
• Bluetooth hands free connectivity
• Sat Nav
• Automatic lights and wipers
• Colour Head up display
• ABS, EBFD, EBA, ESP, ASR, CBC

stylish 19" wheels 

The 508 marks the start of Peugeot’s new design language making the car very different from any Peugeot launched in recent years, gone is the controversial gaping mouth grill and over sized headlights replaced by a more delicate, well thought out design. At the front the 508 has a much smaller shield shaped grill with well-proportioned led headlights and a neatly integrated bonnet edge that leads into the pronounced waistline. The side and rear of the 508 could easily be mistaken for any premium offering from Audi which isn’t really a criticism but is more the sign of how much more cohesive and well-proportioned the design is. Our test car is the top of the line GT model in SW (estate) form and sports a sleek tapering roof line with plenty of chrome highlights and fat 19” alloy wheels. Overall the 508 is a handsome beast and is everything that the 407 predecessor wasn’t

508's cabin is beautifully built and supremely comfortable with plenty of equipment in GT spec.

Quad-zone climate control

Inside the 508 it’s easy to see where Peugeot have really excelled in creating a cabin that is as luxurious as it is sumptuously appointed. The dashboard is dominated by a wide centre stack with piano black plastic and neatly laid out controls for the superb JBL stereo, quad zone climate control and large navigation screen. The leather covered steering wheel feels great to hold if slightly overloaded with cruise control buttons and clear, easy to read, chrome ringed dials that blip every time the ignition is switched on just like a sports car. The star of the show has to be the ultra-modern head up display that slides out of the dashboard in front of the driver and projects information such as speed, sat nav instructions and cruise control speed directly in the driver’s eye line which is said to increase safety as the driver can pay more attention to the road. Everything on board feels well screwed together and the choice of soft touch materials used is outstanding easily matching the class best Volkswagen Passat and even rivalling the likes of the BMW 3 series. We particularly liked the way the cabin is bathed in luxurious orange ambient light in the dark around the door handles and down on the centre console. Interior space all round is also very good, rear legroom is particularly generous and the leather seats of our test car are perfectly shaped and offer excellent adjustment and support and we loved the massaging driver’s seat.

Easy access to 512 litre boot with useful luggage net

As you would expect boot space is generally good although quite a way of that of a Ford Mondeo at 512 litres expanding to 1598 litres with the seats down due to the fact that the SW is only 21mm longer than the saloon 508 and that tapering roof line places style over function. The boot opening is very wide and has no lip and the load bay is usefully shaped and we found the simple mechanism for dropping the rear seats really useful by just pulling a handle on each side of the boot. Standard equipment is very generous as you would expect of car with a list price of £30,275 with key less entry, automatic (dipping) lights and wipers, electronic parking brake with hill assist, cruise control, park assist, satellite navigation, 8 speaker JBL sound system and full length glass sunroof. One feature that really did blow us away was a function that enables you to program the car to warm up in time for your journey on cold mornings or cool the cabin down using the air conditioning in summer.

Rear leg and headroom are both generous with easy access via wide opening doors

Peugeot’s of old used to be really great drivers cars with supple suspension, communicative steering and class leading agility but this was lacking in the previous 407. With rivals such as the Ford Mondeo offering a near perfect blend of all of the above the 508 really has to be good. We are happy to report that overall we weren’t disappointed. Our lavishly appointed GT model has a unique front suspension setup that differs from the rest of the ranges McPherson struts with a more sophisticated double wishbone setup usually reserved for luxury cars which aims to offer greater turn in, steering feel and an even better ride.  The GT model is only available in 204bhp 2.2 HDi form mated to a silky smooth 6-speed automatic gearbox with steering wheel paddles that is miles better than the dreadful electronically controlled manual (ECG) gearbox we sampled last year. On cold mornings there is very little evidence that you are behind the wheel of a diesel with almost all engine noise muted helped by the acoustic front windscreen, on the move refinement is top drawer with minimal wind and road noise which is particularly impressive when rolling on 19” alloy wheels shod with 235 rubber. The automatic gearbox is perfectly suited to the HDi engine and with 450lb ft of torque on tap acceleration is strong with an impressive 0-60mph time of just 8.4 seconds and top speed of 144mph. There is also a sport setting that improves performance further by holding onto each gear for longer but we rarely felt the need for this. Ride quality is generally very good managing to smooth out rough road surfaces well enough although the GTs sportier setup is firmer that we would like but it is still very comfortable. Luckily there is an upside to a firmer ride – superb handling. The 508 is a really great car to drive on twisty country roads with a sharp turn in, direct steering with just enough feel and bags of grip which really inspires confidence and enables the driver to make full use of the power on offer. The brakes are also excellent with a good progressive action and great stopping power. Fuel economy whilst in our company fell short of the official combined figure of 47.8mpg, we managed a miserly 29mpg but this was mainly due to our short journeys and spending far too much time in  stop-start city traffic.

Words and Photos by Rob McSorley 

The Verdict 4/5

Peugeot should be applauded for the effort that has clearly gone into the development of the 508. Once again they have returned to producing good looking cars that drive as well as the class best. We found the 508s build quality very impressive and its cabin as luxurious as many much larger cars, on the road the blend of superb body control, comfort, performance and refinement are really appealing and we feel that you couldn’t ask more of a car in this sector. Whether the GT is the best model in the range remains to be seen as it is expensive and its running costs could be better, one of the lesser powered diesel engines in the range would be perfectly adequate but we would recommend the automatic gearbox as it suits the cars character well.

You will like

• Build quality
• Refinement
• Superb Handling
• Sophisticated Looks

You won’t like

• Poor in-town economy
• Firm ride
• Expensive in GT spec 

Special Thanks to; Peugeot Motor Company PLC, Pinley House, 2 Sunbeam Way, Coventry CV3 1ND