When I wrote first impressions of the Peugeot 308 from France a while ago, I was very positive, writes Brian Byrne. After a reintroduction to the car yesterday at the Irish press launch, I don't see any reason to change my tune.
Right, I'll soon have a chance to give it a more extensive workout, and I'll reserve full judgement until then. But even without that, the customer reaction since it arrived in showrooms recently is tending to back up these first impressions.
It's lower and wider, and shorter. Better looking than its predecessor, certainly. There's a longer wheelbase, which allows for a bigger boot and a little more legroom for those in the back seat. Interestingly, the Irish distributor has decided to sacrifice some of that class-leading boot capacity to give us a real spare wheel as standard. And none of us will argue against that ... others should do the same.
Peugeot has wound up the quality feel lots of notches in recent years, and this is the latest of its models to get the treatment. A very smart interior design includes the i-cockpit theme of low small steering wheel and instruments close to line of sight. It works well. The quirk of the rev-counter operating in a visual reverse has attracted some negative comment among colleagues, but I have no difficulty with it. In all above the entry grade, the large central touch-screen allows management of almost every function that used to have a button or a twist-knob (the one they've kept is the radio volume, kind of curious as most of us use the remote controls on the steering wheel for this).
I like the driving feel, but more on that when I get a longer run and I'll see if it really challenges the Golf bench-marker among its 11 competitors. The 1.6 diesel in the launch car is one of the best in the business, maybe actually the best. I like the build quality, which runs all through the Peugeot brand now.
I have a small gripe about the gearshift, which has a metal knob that's very cold to the touch. That might sound a little precious, but if there's a leather cover option, I'd say take it. (There's a local knitting group to whom I might suggest wool covers as a project. Wonder if they can match the Peugeot colours?)
The base price with a 1.2 petrol engine is €18,990. The 'walks' to the different grades are €1,500. That's enough to know before you go in and try one. There's a good chance that you'll come away as one of the 900 or so owners of the new 308 in Ireland this year.
