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With a small engine and a vast boot, is the Peugeot 5008 family nirvana?

What is it?

It’s the smallest engine in one of the biggest Peugeots - with a starting price of £32,995 in our second-level trim (or £31,145 in base Active Premium), the Peugeot 5008 offers an awful lot of space for not a lot of outlay.

The engine is Peugeot ’s 1.2-litre three cylinder turbo’d petrol, here producing 129bhp and 170lb ft, tied to a six-speed manual. Those figures are behind rivals like the Skoda Kodiaq, but the Pug has to make do with 300cc less. And besides, both cars’ 0-62mph times are within a whisker of each other.

The headline acceleration figure will be helped by the 5008’s relatively svelte 1492kg kerbweight, an impressive figure given how much interior space is on offer. Fold flat rear seats mean that in five-seat mode, 952 litres is available back there, a handy amount extra than the Kodiaq. With everything folded, that figure rises to 2042 litres.

The Peugeot 5008 was facelifted in 2020, bringing the styling into line with cars like the Peugeot 208 and Peugeot 508. Like those siblings, it’s one of the more handsome cars in its class, although our test car’s poo brown paint colour doesn’t do it any favours.

The interior gets Peugeot’s new i-Cockpit layout, with a 10.0in infotainment touchscreen (mercifully, with some physical menu buttons underneath) and a customisable 12.3in digital dial cluster.

7 Peugeot 5008 fd 21

What's it like?

Mostly relaxing. The engine isn’t the most dynamic, but it slots into the background softly and purrs away, only occasionally emitting a little bit of three-cylinder thrum if you really rev it. It’s certainly far more refined than the lumpy four-cylinder that’s in the Kia Sorento PHEV.

With a 0-62 time that only just sneaks under 10 seconds, it’s not rapid but there’s enough torque on offer that you never have to feel like it needs thrashing to make decent progress. Motorway journeys are its more natural home, where the long sixth gear means the car cruises quietly.

It’s a bit more effort on a back road, thanks to that upper gear. 50mph is just under 2000rpm in sixth, which means you need to change down to fifth to keep the petrol spinning in its happy place. The ‘box isn’t notchy, so it’s hardly a chore, but it’s not quite the relaxing wafter you’d hope for.

Nor is the ride. It’s mostly quiet and composed, but patters a bit too much over sharper bumps. It’s not unsettling, but again, isn’t quite what you’d expect in a big French family wagon.

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11 Peugeot 5008 fd 20

Should I buy one?

It’s the value for money that sticks in my mind the most. This is an awful lot of practical family car for a nudge over £30k, even if the fuel economy isn’t the greatest. It’s not dynamic but it’s mostly comfortable, and the price/looks combination make it an appealing wagon for your brood.

Company car users will want to look elsewhere, mind. Despite the little capacity turbo triple engine, this 5008 emits 145g/km so it’s in the 34% tax bracket. That would be a punchy monthly tax bill for a brown, MPV-cum-SUV family runaround.

15 Peugeot 5008 fd 10

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PRICES & SPECS

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Comments
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Mikey C 26 January 2022

I assume this is another PSA/Stellantis model with a torsion beam rear end, which is retrograde on a £33k car.

Jeremy 26 January 2022
Mikey C wrote:

I assume this is another PSA/Stellantis model with a torsion beam rear end, which is retrograde on a £33k car.

Show me a comparable 7-seat car for less than £35,000 with independent rear suspension and I'll buy you a virtual pint!

MaxTorque 2 February 2022
Jeremy wrote:

Mikey C wrote:

I assume this is another PSA/Stellantis model with a torsion beam rear end, which is retrograde on a £33k car.

Show me a comparable 7-seat car for less than £35,000 with independent rear suspension and I'll buy you a virtual pint!

scotty5 25 January 2022

...offers an awful lot of space for not a lot of outlay.

Reminds me of Staveros - the 'Loads of Money' characted played by Harry Enfield when he fist hit out screens. When people are complainging about heating prices rising, vegetables increasing by a few pennies per kilo and eveyone complaining becasue petrol prices have risen in the last year, we're being told £33k is not a lot to spend.

It'd be interesting to know what cars the team at Autocar have funded using their own money. Let's see if £33k is or isn't a lot to spend.

 

 

Ks_ingh 26 January 2022

Agree. This is a lot of money for what I feel is a very well masked MPV made to look like and be like an SUV.

I was looking into one a year ago, it was turning out to be almost £450 a month on PCP. I am glad I delcined and now ordered a Mazda CX-5.

 

Jeremy 25 January 2022

After reading the review I can't work out why this car only merits 3.5 stars? It seems the only fault the tester finds is the colour - highly personal of course, but I find it an attractive alternative to the uniform blacks/greys that you see far too much of on the roads these days.