PEUGEOT 3008 GT Blue HDi 180: Style Plus Substance

PEUGEOT 3008 GT Blue HDi 180:

Style Plus Substance

People are wont to exclaim things about this car. Things like ‘Wow!’, ‘Cool car!’, and metaphorical references to canine anatomy. These are just passers-by in the street. Probably serial pedestrians. But there’s no denying that whatever ‘it’ is when it comes to the proliferating ranks of SUVs, the 3008 has captured it in the looks department.

‘All well and good,’ I hear you say, ‘but can it live up to it in the metal?’

And the answer is a resounding yes.

Even in a world in which we expect ever higher standards of build, safety, comfort and driveability, ten minutes in this car tells you you are in something special. The quality of materials is a leap forward in itself, the isolation of the passenger space from bumps, thumps and rattles usually engendered by lumpier bits of scenery is of a high order, although the 3008’s suspension remains taut and dynamic and, except when a technonumpty such as myself can’t find the vehicle settings menu, hews to your preferred line diligently and without surprises.

My surprises were mainly self-inflicted because I couldn’t work out how to disable the vicious lane departure device, which not only gives you notice, in the form of a distant beep or a gentle massage of your nether regions, that you are sound asleep on one of the bendy bits of the M25, but actually wrests the wheel from your enfeebled hand without so much as a by-your-leave.

In fairness, it will accept evidence that you are conscious to a degree, providing you indicate your intention to change motorway lanes to anybody who might be interested. This doesn’t work on proper roads on which you are often required or advised to cross the white line, in which case brute force and fast reactions (not necessarily in that order) are called upon.

I’m assured by a Peugeot spokesperson that it’s possible to disable the thing via the screen menu, though waving a shaky digit at an onscreen graphic is both distracting and often fruitless. Many years ago, when onboard screens began to be added to dashboards as a repository for ugly fingerprints during a cheapskate mission to eliminate knobs, I recall remarking that the most useful menu item on the then current Jaguar was the one that said ‘screen off’.

There are (clearly) all sorts of useful functions to be found in the bowels of the present example, though its new and glorious interior also boasts two rows of actual switches that can be familiarised to by touch. Unlike the test cars either side of the 3008 though, none of these has any influence on the wheelgrabber.

I even resorted to the unusual solution of consulting the owners’ manual, but threw in the towel after about eleven thousand pages. Lucky for any innocent bystanders that I didn’t throw the manual.

So, no other avenue presenting itself, I ventured into cyberspace just the once, following circular menus around and around, like a man with an eye-patch out of the 1980s.

There had been a map on the screen before I started. When I’d finished, it was no more to be seen. The only other result of my visit was that the instructions and information from then on were in French, while the temperature readings were now in Fahrenheit - even more mystifying to a French person than to someone who at least did degrees F at school.

Not all the technology is negative gain, however. A big tactile dial on automatic models can be used to remap the transmission to optimise its behaviour in the prevailing conditions. Turning the pointer to ‘snow’ tells the gearbox, differential, ABS and traction controllers what to do and what not to do to make the best of it. They have a lot more prevailing conditions in France than we do, so tend to be up on this sort of thing. There’s another setting for sand.

I looked in vain for a setting for chaussée deformée, but of course they don’t have them any more.

As well as all of the above, there are the now ubiquitous steering wheel controls leading to further menus and useful information. The wheel itself is not exactly square, but neither is it round. It has become common in recent times to flatten the bottom part in the straight-ahead position, which might be boon to those with elevated levels of embonpoint during entering and leaving exercises, but once on the road, it inevitably becomes necessary at some point to turn it.

As you righteously feed one of these misshapen things in actual driving, you don’t know what you’re going to be grabbing next.

I wound up setting off the Peugeot Assist button with my thumb during a tricky manoeuvre on the outskirts of Battle and, presumably since all the notifications had gone into franglais, I was telephoned by a French lady simulator who told me she was desolated not to be able to do anything about me at that distance.

Power in the test car came from the excellent 2-litre HDi diesel, which has been around in one form or another for twenty years. Taking on the mantle of the legendary XUD indirect injection turbodiesel, the HDi was the first common rail unit to hit the UK market and not-unnaturally was met with some qualms about its ability to match the old engine’s longevity while working at much higher speeds and pressures and incorporating such precision fuel control technology.

In the event, it has easily matched its predecessor, in one case I know of exceeding 400,000 miles.

During that period, ever more efficiency and parsimony has been squeezed from its 1998 cc and, in this top of the range GT model, it’s original 90 bhp has actually been doubled to 180 bhp, while the BlueHDi designation indicates that it now meets rigorous EU6 standards of cleanliness, while turning in a realistic 50+ to the gallon.

In our 3008 it was mated to an ‘intelligent’ six speed auto box which actually is. Unlike many of the breed, which change down when you’ve eased up before a corner and gently restore velocity, this one incurred neither criticism nor the need to resort to the ‘manual’ setting.

One stand out feature of  the car is its manoeuvrability. The only traditional drawback of front wheel drive was the limitation imposed on steering lock by the gubbins needed for final drive and the length of the transverse engine and gearbox between the wheels.

Without getting my hands dirty I can only suspect that the new Peugeot-Citroën-Vauxhall high front look is an ingenious solution to this, raising the said gubbins high enough to allow a better lock. However it is done, it is well done and makes a big difference in parking and U-turns.

The PEUGEOT 3008 GT BlueHDi 180  AUTO  is capacious, comfortable and as good looking on the inside as it is out. Its fixtures and fittings are convincing, its mechanicals are proven and powerful. It is everything it claims to be - a luxury sport utility vehicle. It’s not a mud plugger or 4x4 by reason of ground and water clearance and the absence of extra drive tackle that spends most of the year costing fuel, but it’s extremely economical to run and its clever electronics will see it confidently through anything resembling a road.

More info: www.peugeot.co.uk