2012 Peugeot 208 Overview
Despite its compact size, Peugeot’s small hatch is a huge car for the French marque. In fact, the outgoing 207 has held the mantle of number one in the premium light car segment in Australia, selling a little more than more than half of the market share in an eight-strong elite category. So the new 208 has much to live up to.
For now, the all-new range consists of three engine choices, two body styles and four spec levels. The five-door 1.2-litre 3-cylinder Active with a five-speed manual as standard costs $18,490. A five-door 1.6-litre four cylinder in Active spec with a four-speed auto costs $21,490, or in Allure specification it costs $21,990 with a five-speed manual or $2K more with the auto.
A 1.6-litre Premium version in auto only costs $26,490, as does the only three-door version: the six-speed manual-only Allure Sport with a 1.6-litre turbocharged four.
An added bonus is the fixed-price Assured Service Plan with capped price servicing of $270 a year for three years.
2012 Peugeot 208 Engine
The base five-door Active houses a tiny 1.2-litre three-pot VTi engine with 60kW and 118Nm, claiming a tiny 4.5L/100km. It is surprisingly agile and willing, and that characteristic three-cylinder hum only becomes obvious after about 4000rpm.
The five-door Active and Allure 1.6-litre four cylinder makes 88kW/160Nm, consuming 5.8L/100km. Ironically, it feels sluggish off the mark compared to the 1.2L, and still sings at 3000rpm at 100km/h. And the gearing – well, more on that in a minute.
The Allure Sport’s turbocharged version of the 1.6L, developing 115kW and 240Nm with a 20Nm overboost, is unsurprisingly the pick of the bunch. It also claims the same fuel figure as the nat-atmo 1.6L, with only 1g/km more CO2 at 135g/km.
There’s no diesel, but Pug Oz says diesel sales make up just two per cent of sales in the premium light segment, plus the HDi only comes with a manual transmission option, so they decided not to bring it in.
The $2000 auto option are also kept to the five-door nat-atmo 1.6L models, making the Allure Sport more, errr, sporty. With its sharper three-door profile and turbo, it will essentially fill in as a quasi-GTI until the real deal arrives next year.
The autos were not available to test. Apparently cars with this transmission won’t be here for another six weeks, but we suspect that Peugeot may be stalling for time in another way.
Currently, the autos are only a four-speed, and we know it to be sluggish and almost archaic – the journos at launch would likely have crucified it.
And is Peugeot holding out for an allocation of newer five- or six-speed auto 208s? We shall know soon enough.
2012 Peugeot 208 The Interior
Typically quirky without sacrificing too much function for form, the interior consists of wide panels and flat surfaces punctuated by gloss or aluminium highlights and a markedly changed instrument panel. The interior is superior to the 207 in its use of materials, and particularly in the front row it feels like a more expensive car than its pricing suggests.
Standard spec is high, with Cruise control, speed limiter, and a six-speaker stereo with steering wheel audio controls, Bluetooth, USB port and Auxiliary jack.
The Allure spec steps up with dual-zone climate control over standard air-con, a cooling glove box, and a big if slightly bulky multi-function 7-inch colour touch screen to control media, and car information. Its good in theory, but while the drag and tap touch-screen is easy to use at a standstill, it’s very difficult – not to mention a bit dangerous – to use while rolling. Also, a sat-nav won’t be available on the system for a few months.
Allure Premium and Sport specs add a funky moon roof with disco LED lighting along the sides to brighten the dark interior, which has lovely leather trimmings and excellent support from the bolstered seats.
Active and passive safety equipment includes six airbags, ABS, EBD, BA, ESP, rear child safety locks and accessible restraint anchorage points, auto hazards in heavy braking, and a full-sized spare.
The smaller steering wheel, which is better both ergonomically and visually, is designed to allow the driver to see straight over it to the heads-up style instrument cluster. First seen in the Peugeot cars in the 3008, the cluster with tacho, speedo, fuel and trip info is raised atop the dash, and the oval-shaped wheel allows the average driver to see straight over it to the cluster.
Unfortunately, this writer is not of average height, and my short torso made it difficult to see half of the dials no matter where the wheel was placed. And in the three-door, the lack of height adjustable seat belt also hangs around the collarbone for us shorties instead of across the chest, and there’s strangely no roof-mounted grab-handles.
The actual steering adjustment is excellent, with good rake and a lot of reach to play with, but you have to get used to the wheel being set a little lower than normal.
2012 Peugeot 208 Exterior & Styling
The 208 is slightly more compact than the 207, but offers a bigger boot and back seat. It is 7cm shorter, 1cm lower and 2cm thinner, but rear kneeroom has been increased by 5.2cm, and the boot is 15 litres larger under the parcel shelf with 311 litres all up, or 1152L with the rear seats folded.
The three-door is far more aggressive and sporty: more angular, with chrome highlights surrounding sharpened window and shoulder lines and a big crease from the lower sill, up the front door, and to the tail-lamp.
The five-door is more rounded, with fluid lines angling from the headlight and tail-lamps toward the centre of the car along the shoulder. Though next to the three-door, it looks deliberately blander.
The front of the car features Pug’s new ‘Lion” face, with LEDs atop the headlights and the company name stamped in chrome atop the grille.
The rear of the car in comparison is plain and understated. The rear bumper, radiator frame and fan are made up of 100 per cent recycled materials.
Standard fare includes remote central locking, electric folding door mirrors and electric windows all round, while Allure spec adds auto headlights and wipers, fog lights, parking sensors and 16-inch alloys over the 15-inch steelies.
Allure Premium and Sport bling includes 17-inch rims, rear privacy tint and cornering fog lights, while the Sport also gets dual chrome exhaust pipes and a pert rear spoiler.
2012 Peugeot 208 On The Road
Starting from just 948kg, the entry-level 208 1.2L weighs nearly 200kg less than the same spec in the 207 range, and this helps the little engine enormously. Fast starts and hills are its obvious enemy, but some forward planning and a simple downchange avoids stringing the engine out too far.
The wee 1.2L has been tuned for immediate throttle response, so first gear is only good for rolling off the line before second must be plucked, or you risk bunny-hopping on 20 per cent throttle.
But it has enough to tiddle around in second; third is tall but robust, and while fifth is high-revving on the freeway, this type of travel would likely be a rare occurrence for buyers of this engine.
Expecting less from the 1.2L gave it a surprising edge; expecting more from the 1.6L nat-atmo engine made its actual response a tad disappointing. Of course, it is far better off the line, and but its throttle response and torque seemed strained and a bit sluggish for its size, particularly after tasting it with a turbo.
The 1.6T weighs the same 1063kg as the nat-atmo and claims the same fuel consumption, but would be the frugal steer. With far more useable power and torque, plus a smaller and more slippery body, the turbo makes an easy meal of hills and highways. Plus it features Peugeot’s in-house MC six-speed gearbox, which is a newer and far more sophisticated transmission that the older five-speed MA ‘box in the rest of the range.
Granted, the 1.2L in particular would be downright annoying with six speeds, as the taller gearing is better matched to its small capacity engine and reduces the amount of changes required. But the long throw and mechanical gating of the fiver feels like you’re pulling the arm of a Pokie machine.
The Pug is suspended well enough for our inconsistent roads, though at higher speeds it tends to skip at the rear over bumps and lumps, and the front pushes and the body falls over its front a little bit through corners; acceptable in the lower specs; not so much in the Sport.
The brakes are light but good, and it lets you use them with the left foot along with the throttle when the twists get more involving without a slap on the wrist. In fact, the ABS and ESP are buried deep and not intrusive until you actually need them, which is nice.
The steering is light, and while it’s remote when there’s front-push, its pretty sharp. And the cabin is quiet, well dampened, and importantly offers a much higher quality feel than the car it replaces.
2012 Peugeot 208 Challenges
It’s hard to imagine this all-new and quite capable model with the aforementioned antiquated four-speed tranny. But imagine we must until it can be tested.
And it’s a shame that there isn’t an auto on the base model – or indeed, a three-door base model. A Stop/Start version of the 1.2 VTi, probably equipped with a robotised semi-auto gearbox, is slated for some time in 2013.
We will have to wait until then for the 208 GTI and the luxury XY three-door specification as well. The production version of the GTI will debut in Paris next week, and won’t make it here until May 2013. The XY has just debuted in Europe, and should make it here along with the GTI in May.
Also, there will be no CC (convertible) or Touring (wagon) in the near future - and probably not even in the distant future. The current 207 CC and Touring will continue until the GTI and XY arrive in May, then that’s it for the variants – the 208 will be hatch only.
2012 Peugeot 208 Verdict
Vast improvements in interior quality, matched to pricing and after-sales servicing that isn’t too greedy for a French-built import with flair. And it’s a solid, if not dynamic, offering.
But there are some big gaps that need filling - we must wait for the rest of the range and those auto transmissions to see whether the 208 will really shine for Peugeot.
2012 Peugeot 208 The Competition
Without taking anything away from Peugeot and its domination of the premium light segment, some of its competition are quite left field, such as the Fiat 500, the Alfa Mito, and the electric Mitsubishi i-Miev, which has sold only a handful of cars in Oz due to its ridiculous $49K price tag.
More likely combatants include the Citroen C3, Renault Clio, Fiat Punto, and the big-sellers, the VW Polo and Mini Cooper.
