Peugeot 208 – a sophisticated city car

by Joanne Ahern • October 10, 2012 • Car Reviews, Test Drives

The new Peugeot 208 is available in a range of petrol and diesel engines

If you are wedded to your CD collection then the new Peugeot 208 is not the car for you as it does not concern itself with such old style technology. If, however, you’re in the market for a stylish little city car then you should definitely take a look.

The new Peugeot 208 is a very cute and compact looking super-mini with a mischievously smiling front grille and a written Peugeot badge that gives it a more luxurious look.

I previously owned a Peugeot 206, a car I thought was good looking at the time, but I think the 208 is much more sophisticated.

It is quite deceptive looking though – it’s smaller on the outside than its predecessor, the 207, but still manages to be bigger on the inside.

2012 Peugeot 208 interior steering wheel

One of the big talking points of the Peugeot 208 is its steering wheel, which is smaller than normal

However, while it is a five seater, where adults are concerned, it would be more comfortable as a four-seater. There is good legroom back and front though.

It also had a decent sized boot – which was quite deep and contained a full sized spare wheel.

The test car I was driving was the top of the range Allure model and it had a nicely styled interior, with a distinctly blue theme to it.

There were blue flecks in the upholstery, blue to black door handles, a blue light under the instrument panel and a blue overhead light. The surround on the instrument panel and radio was a glossy black.

It also had an interesting 7” touch screen infotainment unit, which dominated the dashboard. As well as the usual radio/USB options it also had an option for photo storage.

Sound quality was excellent. However, one little quibble I had was that there were just too many options on how to choose which radio station you wanted to listen to.

While the system didn’t have a CD player, it did have a USB port, which was well located at the bottom of the centre console, alongside the 12V socket.

The test car was a five-speed diesel manual model. One of the main selling points on this car is that cruise control is standard, even on the basic model.

The Peugeot 208 was a lovely car to drive. As it’s a city car, we stuck mainly to city and motorway roads for our test route.

The 208 performed really well. It’s very light and agile with a nice peppy little engine.

The cockpit of the Peugeot 208 is functional and stylish looking

While it wasn’t the quickest, there’s enough poke in it to get you away at the lights.

A small car, the 208 is very easy to maneuver and was very handy in city traffic and on narrow streets.

I really liked its smaller than usual steering wheel, which also made it very easy to handle. The design means that the instrument panel floats above the steering wheel rather than sitting behind it.

I was also impressed with the digital speed readout.

The model I was driving had cruise control/speed limiter, auto lights, auto wipers, air conditioning and Bluetooth.

While the Peugeot 208 is a small car, I really missed that it didn’t have parking sensors – perhaps I’m just getting too reliant on them. It also didn’t have a SatNav, which is available as an option.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Peugeot 208. A nice nippy little drive, it combines style with driving pleasure.

The Peugeot 208 is available now in a range of petrol and diesel engine models. Prices for the entry level 3-door Access model start from €14,495. However, having driven that variant during the summer I would recommend you upgrade to the mid range Active model for the air conditioning alone, with prices starting from €17,295. The top of the range Allure I was driving starts from €20,095.

Tech Spec:
Engine: 1.4 HDi 70bhp FAP (diesel)
Acceleration: 0-100km/h in 13.5seconds
Maximum Speed: 163km/h
Combined fuel consumption: 3.8l/100km
CO2 emissions: 98g/km
Annual road tax: €160 (Tax Band A)

Visit the Peugeot Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.