Peugeot 308 SW review

Опубликовано 23 апреля 2014, 12:12

The Peugeot 308 SW works much better as an estate than a hatch - but is it as good as the SEAT Leon ST?

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The Peugeot 308 won the coveted European Car of the Year award at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year.

While the standard Peugeot 308 hatch can't quite match the Volkswagen Golf as a compact family hatch, the Peugeot 308 SW has every chance of becoming a class leader thanks to its enormous boot, range of efficient Euro Six engine and more space than its predecessor.

High-end Peugeot 308 SW models get LED headlights at the front and rear as standard, as well as big alloy wheels. Inside, all models get the same 9.7-inch touchscreen as the hatch that controls everything from the air-con, to sat-nav and the media system as well as a new range of connected apps.

The 308 SW is all about space, and Peugeot has certainly done its homework in this regard. It gets a wide loading area with a low-loading lip, which makes it easy to lift items in and out of the boot. It gets 610-litres of space as the 308 SW is 33cm longer than the hatch. What's more, when you fold the rear seats flat, you get a flat loading bay that increases boot space to 660-litres.

The Peugeot 308 SW gets four new engines over the hatch version -- two petrols and two diesels. The three-cylinder PureTec 1.2-litre petrol we're using on this test gets a direct injection turbo that makes 128bhp and 230Nm of torque. It's quite similar to the 1.0-litre Ford EcoBoost engine found in the Focus Estate.

The 308 SW's 1.2-litre engine is very strong and responds nicely and if you press the 'Sport' button on the centre console, it gives the car a sharper throttle response and weightier steering. In Sport mode, a read-out between the speedo and rev counter that works off the throttle sensor tells you how much you're using at any given time.

The six-speed manual gearbox fitted to the Peugeot 308 SW is a little bit vague and the handling is very similar to that on the hatch -- it's very comfortable on certain roads but a change to the wrong road surface can make for a choppy ride. It's also very dependent on wheel-size, so sticking to the 15-inch or 16-inch wheels is a safer choice than going for the bigger, prettier ones as the latter can thump around a lot over rough surfaces.

The Peugeot 308 SW works better than the hatch as it's mature, grown up and incredibly practical. What's more, the PureTech engine is a real highlight but it's still more of a cruiser than a GTi. The SEAT Leon ST pips it as a complete package, but at £19,000 for the flagship Active model, it's certainly worth a look if you're in the market for this type of car.