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CAP Blog > CAP Blog > Martin's Blog
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Apr
22
Written by:
Martin Ward
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Dubrovnik is on the southern tip of Croatia. It is an area that has had its troubles over the years, the last of which being the local war in the early nineties. Dubrovnik is a walled city with the only access being via the old gates and over a moat. There are no vehicles allowed inside the wall but once beyond it, it is just a labyrinth of narrow streets and historic buildings. In 1991 the city was shelled from the overlooking mountains and 78% of roofs on the buildings were destroyed. The area around Dubrovnik has a spectacular coastline with thousands of bays and coves, along with hundreds of small islands. It is a beautiful part of the world with much to see and do.
 When we picked up the 3008 at the airport we were warned not to stray into neighbouring Serbia about 3.5km away. Getting back into Croatia could have been a problem especially with a British passport and in a French registered car as there is still tension on the border. It took some German colleagues four and a half hours to ‘negotiate’ their way back over the border the day before we got there.
We drove along the coast for around 150km on a variety of roads; most of which were extremely good and fairly new. The roads signs to neighbouring countries on this stretch of road looked like the score board of the Eurovision song contest. The 3008 is very quiet, with very little road, wind or engine noise intruding into the cabin. It must be nearly as quiet as the new Golf and the Mazda3, so it is a very pleasant place to sit. The cabin is very unusual in that it is high off the ground, but the centre console, which incorporates the gear stick and other controls, is also higher than normal so you feel as though you are sat fairly low in the car. It is almost an optical illusion but it does work and it feels as though you are sat in a sports car. The 3008 shares the same platform and suspension as the 308 so it has been well tried and tested. That is where the similarity ends; in all other respects it is a very different car.
It measures 4,365mm in length which means that it sits neatly in the middle of its closest competitor as the table shows below. It is entering into a very competitive sector but one that is becoming more and more popular with regards to both the new and used market.
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Model Range
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Length (mm)
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Renault Scenic (old range)
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4264
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Peugeot 308 Hatch 5dr
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4276
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Nissan Qashqai
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4315
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Renault Scenic (new range)
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4344
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Peugeot 3008
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4365
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Ford C-Max
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4372
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VW Tiguan
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4427
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Ford Kuga
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4443
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Citroen C4 Picasso
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4470
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Peugeot 308 SW Estate
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4500
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The 3008 is a true five seater and is very comfortable for all passengers. The interior quality has improved dramatically over previous models and Peugeot can be proud of what they have achieved in this car. The fit, finish and materials used are of the highest quality. The interior has some nice touches including the multi-flex luggage area where the shelf can be placed in three positions and the rear seats fold flat to provide an enormous load area.
 We tested two engines and these are likely to be the most popular choices: a 1.6 litre THP 150bhp petrol and a 1.6 litre HDi 110bhp diesel. Both are coupled to a six speed manual gearbox. These engines were quick and quiet and had more than enough power. There would be very little reason to choose the 2.0 litre HDi over the 1.6 litre HDi, as it is more than adequate.
‘Head up’ display is available as an option on the 3008; it is very simple, but effective. A small piece of glass about four inches square pops up in front of the driver on the dashboard and acts in a similar way to a news reader’s autocue. On this is displayed very clearly, the speed and distance between you and the car in front in seconds. This alerts the driver if they are too close but does not slow the car down.
 The 3008 ‘Head up’ display – The ‘72km/h’ reading at the top is the speed the car is travelling at and the small reading at the bottom displaying ‘2.7s’ is the distance in seconds between the 3008 and the car in front.
Also offered as an option is the ‘grip control’ system. This allows the driver to turn a dial next to the gear stick and select snow mode, mud mode, slope mode or sand mode. The system detects which mode has been selected and puts power to the wheel with most grip. We did not get the chance to use grip control but were assured it did work. We were shown a video of a 307 with normal tyres and no grip control compared with a 3008 with snow tyres fitted with grip control and in a muddy field the 3008 performed considerably better than the 307. While it is a good system, customers would have to consider if this option is worth the expected price tag of around £200 to them, or if they would not really use this car in these conditions. One option that is worth the money is the 1.6sq metre glass roof. It really makes the car look light and airy and is full length so all the occupants get the advantage of it.
Prices and specification will be announced nearer its November on sale date but it is expected to be priced in between the 308 Hatch and 308 SW. This will make it look to be good value for money and steal sales from the 308 and get many conquest customers.
 The 3008 (pronounced three thousand eight) will be built in Sochaux on the French/Swiss border at the rate of 350 per day. Around 10,000 are expected to be sold in the UK in its first full year.
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