Review Of Peugeot 308

[Edco Haglund]

Thereis no better way of reviewing a car than living with it day to day for six months. I took ownership of my Peugeot 5008 not thinking I would enjoy living with an SUV, but the Peugeot joined the family and flourished.

Some of the best cars in the world are utterly ridiculous if you attempt to live with them day to day. The 5008, by contrast, is so easy to live with that you take it for granted. The comfortable cabin, the huge boot, the torquey 2.0-litre diesel all make it perfect for my daily needs.

With its novel source material and striking design elements, guest reviewer and automotive expert Vaderfan explores whether the Peugeot 9X8 is worth the US$199.99 asking price, or if you should look elsewhere within the competitive field of LEGO Technic sets.

The box has the usual all-black 18+ box design, with a nice lime green border at the bottom with Technic elements. The car is displayed at a 3/4 angle, with logos for LEGO, Peugeot, and the 24h of LeMans prominently captured.

There are a pair of vents behind the cockpit that have been replicated seamlessly here. Even better, if you look through them you can actually see some of the engine detailing underneath the body panels!

This gives you a closer look at the mechanical features, which were visible during the build process but covered up by the bodywork. You can see the large blue spring on top, which controls the suspension, along with a red gear attached to a differential for the front wheels.

The front half shows a better look at the gears and differentials linked to the front wheels, along with the hybrid motor simulated by a pair of Technic weapon barrel elements. You can also see the central axle (between the lime green beams) that connects the steering mechanism to the hand-of-god steering knob.

One thing I must commend the designers is their excellent job at using many existing Technic panel pieces to effectively recreate the shaping of the real Peugeot 9X8. Despite its tricky angles, the LEGO model looks very accurate to the real deal.

The first surprise is the axles. Normally, we get a standard style suspension with 2 vertical shocks on each side. In this car, each axle gets a single, horizontal shock absorber which is mounted differently for front and rear suspension. The shock absorber for the rear axle is mounted underneath the differential, while the shock absorber for the front axle is placed on top.

I was expecting the car to be similar in size to the 42154 2022 Ford GT which I built right before this review, but when the bare chassis is finished, the Peugeot has already surpassed the length of the Ford.

I did spot some small issues in the car. The area between the hood and steering wheel is very open and messy, leaving it in need of some coverage. Underneath the engine cover in the back we find some big gaps. And the front of the car seems to be too high, appearing to be lower in the photos of the real-life model found in the instructions. The front wheel archers are the correct height, but the hood area should be a bit lower. Maybe this compromise was needed to fit the engines in the model?

A huge thank you to all our patrons for your support, especially our 'Vibrant Coral' tier: Antonio Serra, Beyond the Brick, Huw Millington, Big B Bricks, Dave Schefcik, David and Breda Fennell, Richard Selby, Gerald Lasser, Sue Ann Barber & Trevor Clark, Baixo LMmodels, Markus Rollbhler, Elspeth De Montes, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Chuck Hagenbuch, Jf, Daniel Church, Wayne R. Tyler, Timo Luehnen, and Lukas Kurth of StoneWars! You folks BURP... I mean, rock!

The central console and dash wrap around the driver like you would find in a much more expensive model such as a Jaguar. The media screen is controlled with a line of matte silver paddles which took me a day or two to navigate and then I found simple. It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too.

The seats are very stylishly upholstered in woven houndstooth fabric, which is also used on the dash and door panels, bot only the edges of the seats are trimmed with pleather and, I'll be honest, as much as I enjoyed the beautiful interior I was VERY nervous of our daughter eating, drinking or doing anything in the car!

The reversing camera image at first seemed computer generated as it's so clear, and although I found it different at first I loved the various camera view angles available, especially the bird's eye view that made parking so easy because I could see my position in the lines (in the image below and in the video review there's a black box around the car in the image as I had a door open at the time).

The second-row seats in the 5008 all slide and move independently. There are top tethers for each one, all of which are clearly labelled in plastic guides on the back of each backrest, AND there is also ISOFix in the seat base of ALL THREE second-row seats, which is fantastic!

The third-row seats had a slightly different method of folding up and down that I hadn't seen before, in terms of how they come in and out of the boot floor. Their mechanism was nice and light and simple to use and I could sit comfortably sit in the third-row seats (I'm 162cm) with enough headroom and leg-room behind a rear-facing child seat AND there be enough legroom for me to sit in the driver's seat in front of that! However, I don't think there is enough space for a 180cm passenger in the first and third rows with a rear-facing child seat in the second-row.

Although the second-row seats slide forward, with child seats installed in the outer positions of the second row there is still not enough room for someone to squeeze through the gap. I found you would need to uninstall a child seat in order to access the third-row seats.

There are no top tethers or ISOFix in the third-row seats, so I didn't fit any in there, and I believe the 5008 is more of a great five-seater with a generously sized boot and the option of carrying more friends or family when needed, but probably not every day!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better there are also fold down tray tables in the back of both front seats, we found that our daughter in her child seat couldn't reach to use the tray tables as she sat too hight but the passengers that weren't in child seats could use them easily.

Storage was quite minimal in the 5008, in the front, there are two cup holders good for disposable and reusable coffee cups, the front door bins could hold a large refillable water bottle. A wireless phone charging tray in front of the gear lever and there was a space for a wine bottle in the central console box! No sunglasses holder though and the glove box was small, only room for my wallet with the manual. In the second row, there are just the small door bins and two net map pockets and the third row just has a cup holder on one side.

The Peugeot 5008 scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2016 and has six airbags as standard, dual frontal and side chest airbags and curtain head airbags for the second and third-row passengers. As well as seatbelt reminders for all three rows of seats.

Storage in the cabin of the 5008 was minimal but there are some great family friendly features! In the front there are two cup holders in the central console, they both fit a reusable or disposable coffee cup well.

Above both the map pockets are fold-down tray tables which are fantastic! I found my little girl couldn't reach them when she was up in her child seat, but other passengers enjoyed using them and she used them when we stopped on a long journey for a picnic!

I find myself so much more relaxed when there are windpw shades in a car because I know my daughter is shaded from the sun no matter which way I turn or drive that I don't need to worry about it. So many times on journeys we have constructed ridiculous shades out of cloths or towelsand trying to shut them in the window while hubby's driving along, or tying my jumper around one handle in the ceiling and across to another!!

Visibility isn't amazing out of the 5008, so I found the good cameras really helpful! The reversing camera has a great image that is so clear it almost looks computer generated. You can move between camera angles and I found the birdseye view soooo helpful when parking (in the image below and the video the blacked-out area is because I had a door open).

The 5008 has lane departure and blind spot warning too. The indicators are loud in the 5008, enough to make me want to avoid changing lanes unless I really had to when bub was asleep. I found the cruise control stalk was very closely tucked behind the steering wheel, so you have to alter it without being able to see what you are doing, which is probably fine after a month but when it's a new car I found I couldn't see to alter it very easily while driving.

I didn't find a simple way to mute the voice guidance, as you have to go in through a couple of menu screens to do it, which isn't easy to do while driving. Once you have set it as silent then, of course, it stays like that but it woud be helpful to be able to turn it on and off with a simple button.

The windows of the 5008 are pretty loud to open and close and I'd probably use them minimally if my bub was asleep in the back. The doors, however, are nice and quiet. I found you can come to a stop with the engine still running and get out of the car without sounding any alarms.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!

SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

If you open the driver's door when you are not in Park, then there is the craziest siren of a noise that blares out! I simply did it when my skirt was trapped in the door and WOW!! What a noise! That is definitely going to alert you and everyone else that the door is open and wake any little ones asleep!

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