Isaac Bober’s 2018 Peugeot 5008 Review with pricing, specs, performance, ride and handling, safety, verdict and score.

In a nutshell: Peugeot has transformed its 5008 MPV into an SUV via its modular EMP2 platform, has priced it at the top of the segment and gone heavy on the standard features.

2018 Peugeot 5008

Price From $42,990+ORC Warranty five years, unlimited km Safety Not tested Engine 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol / 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel Power 121kW at 6000rpm / 133kW at 3750rpm Torque 240Nm at 1400rpm / 400Nm at 2000rpm Transmission six-speed automatic Drive front-wheel drive Dimensions 4641mm (L) 1844mm (W) 1646mm (H) 2840mm (WB) Weight 1473-1575kg Towing 1550kg braked / 1350kg Boot Space 780L-2060L Spare 18-inch steel / Puncture Repair Kit (GT) Fuel Tank 56 litres Thirst 7.0L/100km

WITH THIS 5008 it’s very much a case of out with the old and in with the new… or, giving the people what they want… or, something like that. See, the old Peugeot 5008 was a traditional seven-seat people mover. It was the sort of thing that only those with far too many children would go near and, so, it wasn’t very popular.

Peugeot is hoping to turn that around with this new 5008 which it’s calling an SUV instead of an MPV. It’s still go seven seats, and they’re clever seats too.

What is the Peugeot 5008?

Well, we’ve already kind of answered that in the paragraphs above, but let’s go a little deeper. The world is going mad for SUVs and Peugeot, at least OS, has been doing very nicely thanks to its 3008. The interior has fashionistas and families pleased and the looks are certainly like none of the other vehicles you can buy in the same segment. And that’s a good thing indeed for a brand that, according to new local boss, Anouk Poelmann, wants to trade on its “Frenchness”.

And, so it should. She also went on to say that the Peugeot 5008 won’t be chasing a price point with the 5008 range starting from $42,990+ORC for the Allure, $46,990+ORC for GT Line and $52,990+ORC for the flagship GT. There’s no entry level Active model (no-one buys that variant in this type of vehicle, says Peugeot) no all-wheel drive and that means the 5008 is up against the likes of the Nissan X-Trail which is much cheaper $32,490-$38,590+ORC, Hyundai Santa Fe which is more or less an AWD line-up and tops out at $57,090+ORC for the Highlander variant, the Kia Sorento 2WD SLi lists at $46,990+ORC, then there’s vehicles like the Honda CR-V VTi-L seven-seater at $38,990+ORC and even the Mazda CX-9 which, in top-spec Azami trim lists for $60,790+ORC. Some will argue the Skoda Kodiaq should also be on the list of contenders.

The announcement this week that Peugeot and Citroen has introduced a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty on all MY18 plated vehicles is a good sign of confidence in the product and should help the vehicle and other Peugeot and Citroen product find greater traction here.

But, ignoring the cars on that list, Peugeot believes it will win-over buyers from both Mazda and Honda. “We want to reengage with customers looking for a premium product,” Poelmann said at last week’s launch of the 5008. Indeed, like the 3008, Peugeot says the 5008 is a global product and, as such, will sell all around the world hence the need for an SUV rather than an MPV.

The 5008, as mentioned, is based on the 3008 and 308’s EMP2 platform which is a good starting point, both those vehicles have scooped awards in Europe for design and driving 2017 and 2014 European Car of the Year, respectively). But the similarities are more than just skin deep, see, park the 3008 and 5008 side by side and you’d be hard pressed to pick them apart; from the back of the front door forwards they’re essentially the same machine. It’s only when you get to the back where you see the benefit of a modular platform, allowing for a stretch here and there (16.5cm) for more passenger room and boot space.

Despite offering seating for seven, the 5008’s length of just 4.64m means it’s classed as a Medium SUV, yet its wheelbase of 2.84m rivals some of those in the Large SUV segment.

Take a closer look at what each model gets…

ALLURE Standard Specification:

• Automatic Emergency Braking
• 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine, six-speed automatic
• Folding tables on front seatbacks
• 18” alloy wheels (space saver spare)
• Keyless entry and ignition
• Driver Attention Alert and Lane Departure Warning
• Speed sign recognition
• Auto headlamps and windscreen wipers with Magic Wash
• Auto-dimming rear view mirror
• Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop function
•  ‘Visiopark 2’ 360-degree camera + F/R park sensors and City Park
• Halogen headlamps with fog lights
• Privacy Glass
• Alloy roof rails
• Door mirrors: electric/heated/folding/LED
• Automatic bi-zone air-conditioning, rear air vents
• Full digital instrument panel
• Central touchscreen with 3D navigation, DAB, Mirror Screen, voice recognition, smartphone wireless induction charging
• Three individual middle-row sliding seats, two fold-flat third-row seats and folding passenger seat
• Eight airbags including third-row curtain airbags
• Blue ambient interior lighting
• Sun blinds on second row windows
• Black front fender trim with chrome edging
• LED Daytime Running Lamps

 GT Line adds:

• Handsfree, foot-operated electric tailgate
• Driver Attention Control and Active Lane Departure Warning
• High beam Assist
• Active Blind Spot Monitoring
• Full LED headlamps
• Front LED foglamps with cornering function
• Reverse gear-activated door mirrors with integrated ‘Peugeot Lion’ image projectors
• ‘GT Line’ floor mats
• Black Diamond roof
• i-Cockpit Amplify
• Exclusive front bumper and radiator grille
• Chrome exhaust tips
• Satin Copper ‘GT-Line” monograms on front fenders and tailgate
• Perforated leather steering wheel

GT adds:

• 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel, six-speed automatic
• 19” alloy wheels (puncture repair kit in lieu of spare wheel)
• TEP and Alcantara trim
• Electrically-heated front seats
• Eight-way power adjustment and multi-point massage function (driver’s seat)
• ‘GT’ floor mats
• Chrome exterior rear-view mirror shells
• Satin steel chrome dashboard and door panel edging
• Extended wheel arches
• Satin Copper ‘GT’ monograms on front fenders and tailgate
• Anti-theft wheel nuts

What’s it like on the inside?

Looks and discussing them can lead to debate of biblical proportions but, for what it’s worth, I kind of like the exterior styling. You want a bit of pizzazz from a French brand and the 5008 certainly delivers that. That it follows the brief laid down by the 3008 means the French car maker has the chance to define a style that becomes instantly recognisable. Moving on.

It’s on the inside where Peugeot truly nails its colours to the mast with an interior that oozes cool against key competitors that err on the side of bland. Peugeot calls its interior design, i-Cockpit, and the feeling is very much of being sat in the cockpit of a fighter plane, even more so than many hot hatches and sports cars. The central mounted touchscreen (offers Apple and Android connectivity and is relatively simple to use) and the climate controls, etc are all angled towards the driver, with the whole dashboard essentially sweeping and effectively cutting off the driver and their instruments from the rest of the cabin.

The build quality is good, and I crawled all over three different vehicles (the three different variants) and the materials are excellent. Yes, there’s soft-touch stuff strewn around the cabin, harder stuff where you want it (read: door bins) and material inserts on the dash. And then there’s the diamond-pattern stitching on the leather seats… that sort of thing would cost you a bomb to option on a vehicle from the German Three.

The good thing about the cocooning driving position is that it doesn’t take away from a sense of space in the cabin. In the front of the 5008 there’s as much room as there is in the 3008, with decent storage and wireless phone charging. The seats look great and are comfortable too, but the seating position itself can feel a little odd, see, you’ve got to adjust your seat in such a way that you can see the instruments over the top of the small flat-top-and-bottom steering wheel; and quite often even doing that isn’t enough, with the driver having to resign to the fact they’ll need to crane their neck to properly see the instruments. This is possibly a design step too far, but something we’re becoming used to from Peugeot, so at least it’s consistent, as both 3008 and 308 are like this.

The back seat is split into three, so, really should be called the back seats with each individual seat able to be slide fore and aft and reclined. The seats are comfy and there’s good head, shoulder, knee, leg and foot wriggle room. There are air vents and seat-back pockets as well as door bins. I tried the seats pushed forwards and then all the way back and was comfortable in all positions. For those with three little ones, there are ISOFIX mounts on all three second-row seats as well as top tether anchors. The second-row seats fold down but not totally flat, but because the passenger seat can be folded too, there’s a heap of through-storage with all the seats folded (up to 3.2m).

I set up the third-row seats and clambered in (pretty sure I’m the only journalist that did… just saying) and while the seat is comfortable and well-shaped, my head was touching the roof and my feet were wedged under the second-row seats and knees hard up against the seat back. As you can see by the pics I was stuffed in tight, but I wasn’t as uncomfortable as it might look… I’d have been happy to have travelled in the back like that a short distance, but the third-row is just for occasional use or for younger kids who’ve outgrown a booster seat. The great thing about the third row is that they can be removed entirely from the vehicle revealing even more storage space. The seats only weigh 11kg and are easy to remove and then re-fit.

What about the boot itself? Remove those back seats and you’ve got 1060 litres of storage space which is huge, and a low sill height of just 676mm makes loading and unloading easy. There’s 780 litres of boot space with the second-row seats pushed all the way back and 952 litres with them pushed forwards. This grows to 2060 litres up to the height of the parcel shelf with all rows folded. I’m not sure of the storage space in litres with all rows in use, but there’s enough for a soft bag or two behind the third row.

What’s it like to drive?

Luckily for me, the launch of the 5008 was on the exact same roads that I use for testing, meaning those out the back of the Blue Mountains and the nice twisty road that dives down into the Megalong Valley from Blackheath. So, while my stints behind the wheel were only short, I reckon I got a pretty good handle on the 5008. That said, my time in the diesel-powered 5008 was very short… literally the drive back up to Blackheath from the bottom of the Megalong Valley. Moving on.

There are two engines available for the 5008 and they are a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol for the Allure and GT-Line and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel for the GT variant. The former makes 121kW at 6000rpm and 240Nm of torque at 1400rpm while the latter offers 133kW at 3750rpm and 400Nm of torque at 2000rpm. Both engines are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission running the same ratios. In other markets, a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo is available but not here.

The launch roads took no prisoners (which is why we use them for unravelling test cars) and I reckon it was a brave move by Peugeot to use them. The short stints revealed the 5008 has been tuned for comfort and is happiest lopping along at about seven-tenths or the speed most of us would drive the thing with the family on-board.

However, get a little bit frisky and drive the thing at the speed it’s quick steering suggests you can and the 5008 loses its composure, especially those models on 19-inch alloys which tend to thump about a bit more than the Allure running 18-inch alloys; the extra bit of rubber making all the difference. As mentioned, my stint in the diesel variant was very short, but there’s no doubting it’s got plenty of grunt but, like its petrol siblings, the throttle can feel a little spongey. Press the Sport button though and there’s a noticeable tightening and weighting up of the steering, the throttle and the gearbox. Why Peugeot didn’t make this the standard tune and do away with the need for a sport button is beyond me; it makes for a more engaging experience.

The petrol variants might be down a bit on grunt compared with the diesel but if it’s just the family on-board then progress will be comfortable and smooth. Up and down hill, the 5008 Allure I spent the most of my time in felt good and despite my criticisms, felt more engaging and fun than, say, a Honda CR-V or anything from Mazda’s SUV range.

There’s plenty more to explore with the 5008 and I need to spend more time with it before giving my definitive response, but first impressions were, on the whole, good. There was only one vehicle fitted with Peugeot’s Grip Control which allows you to dial around to various terrain settings, like Snow, Sand, Mud, Normal, etc. If you do stump up the $200 for this option then you’ll also get 18-inch alloys and all-season tyres. We’ll hopefully be able to test out Grip Control once the vehicle’s been through the PM garage but for $200 you’d add this functionality, wouldn’t you?

What about safety?

The 5008 hasn’t been tested by ANCAP yet but the its get a full active safety suite as standard, including autonomous emergency braking which works between 5-140km/h, lane departure warning, active lane keeping assist which is a little too intrusive (it’s an option on the Allure and I’m not sure I’d select it), driver attention warning, high beam assist, park assist, 360-degree surround view cameras, speed sign recognition, and more. There are six airbags with curtain bags reaching all the way into the third row. Beyond that there’s also traction and stability control as well as cost-optional grip control.

So, what do we think?

In a sea of bland SUVs, the Peugeot 5008 is a stand-out if more for the way it looks on the inside and out than for the way it drives. It’s comfortable to drive and won’t challenge the segment leaders in terms of handling, but for interior practicality, a more important measuring stick than handling, the 5008 out-points just about anything else in the segment. The interior is ultra flexible and comfortable for a family and the boot is huge.