welcome to another peugeot super mini and i say another because the french manufacturer
has been building these 2-0 something models since the 80s back then it was the 205 now
it's the 208 so you'd be forgiven for thinking that they might be starting to
run out of ideas actually far from it because this latest 208 is one of the best cars that
peugeot has ever made and don't just take my word for it because as you can see from
the sticker proudly displayed in the rear window this is the 2020 car of the year
so it's very clear then that after the okay but not outstanding 206 207 and first gen
208 models that peugeot isn't messing around with this one and nor can it afford to because
rivals include the vauxhall corsa the saya abitha the vw polo the skoda fabia the ford fiesta
it's a name but a few question is should you buy one of these
along with its striking styling and choice of exterior paint colors
the 208 also has a bold range of engines
unlike some rivals it still offers a diesel variant plus there's also an all-electric
version called the e208 that thanks to its 56 kilowatt battery gives a range of up to 217 miles
now small car makers have a very difficult job when it comes to the interiors on little super
minis like this because the design has got to be striking and exciting but it's also
got to be functional as well i actually think peugeot has done a very good job with the 208s
interior because you've got this kind of dual level angular dashboard design you've got the
central infotainment screen which is positioned towards the driver and the very unique peugeot eye
cockpit which i'll talk about a little bit more later as is the case with a lot of press cars this
particular 208 is the highest spec you can get it's the gt premium but that doesn't mean that
lots of the nice bits of this cabin don't exist in all versions of the 208 so across the board
you still get things like this nice carbon effect dash design you get the soft touch materials on
top of the dash and you've also got these nice piano style keys which aren't just very nice to
look at they're also intuitive to use as well as for technology we all know peugeot is very good
at putting lots of tech in its bigger cars but the good news is that the 208 has now been included in
that so across the range you get plenty of tech in this car and especially on the gt and the gt
premium models they're really packed with goodies so we've got this central infotainment screen it's
7 inches of standard and it's 10 inches on gt spec cars upwards and it's pretty good the graphics are
really nice they look very smart the software it could be a little bit more intuitive and it could
be a bit slicker when you're going through the menu systems and it has actually crashed on me a
couple of times i was using the apple carplay but teething problems i'm sure that's not something
which is going to be permanent it's worth pointing out as well that you can use the voice control
to do some of the functions on here which is good because there is the climate control switches
which are all integrated into the touch screen so unless you use the voice control you have to start
delving into it when you're on the move which of course isn't ideal the sat nav that's also worth
a mention because it uses tom tom live traffic updates which are in general very very accurate
and it lets you know where all the big jams are so you can navigate around them seamlessly
and this is actually one of the only small cars that i can think of that includes a top-down
view of the car for when you're parking and you can see it on the screen now and although it's
only 180 rather than 360 it is still quite handy if you're quite nervous about parking this thing
one thing that really sets this car apart and i've got to mention is the 3d digital instrument
cluster which is standard on the alert premium spec upwards and it's worth getting not just
because the instrument cluster that you get on lower spec models isn't anywhere near as nice
but also because of the amount of information that it shows you and the way it lays it out so you
can have your fuel range the speed navigation all that sort of thing displayed right in front of you
but it's done with this 3d effect which hopefully you'll be able to see on the camera
but you'll certainly be able to see if you take this car for a test drive
that means that it's really attractive to look at but it's in no way distracting either
it's quite hard to describe it so you need to see it for yourself but honestly it is
something that's unique and it looks fantastic if you need in-car storage the 208 has plenty of it
the wireless phone charging pad can be hidden away plus there's a large space
underneath for other items space under the armrest is ample while the door pockets are a decent size
it's only the pokey glove box that lets the side down owing to the placement of the fuse box
other things that are worth mentioning because this car is so high spec um so if you want it
you can have this panoramic glass roof it doesn't open but it does allow lots of light to come in
we've also got a massaging driver's seat which is quite good if that's the kind of thing that
you like and your little super mini one thing the passenger seat you only get the height adjustment
on that on the gt spec car upwards so bear that in mind and you also can't get lumber support on the
passenger seat at all which is a bit of a shame but you can get it on the driver's seat but it is
quite expensive climb into the back of the 208 and the bad news is that if you like the three-door
version of the previous generation car there's no more three-door it is five-door only which is
more practical the only thing is though is that these doors they don't open that wide so
if you had a say a child seat and or a child it might be a bit hard to kind of thread them
in through that narrow gap without banging your elbows but once you're in here it's not bad at all
it's quite competitive with rivals i've got enough headroom even though the panoramic roof does take
away some of that although it's only really in this forward bit where you notice the difference
and there's enough room widthways there's a couple of nice usb points down there i've got
a net behind the driver's seat and just about enough knee room behind my own driving position
um and as a reminder i'm five foot ten so about average height and it's not bad i think though if
you're a taller this hard plastic backing on the seat although it moves away to give you a little
bit more room if you did have your knees against that would be quite hard and uncomfortable um i
quite like these little touch button lights you've got up here which are quite neat and
a little bit better integrated than you usually get on cars at this price
and also isofix points on the outer rear seats and another one on the front passenger seat as well
the 208 boot space is reasonable at 311 liters yet it does lag behind cars such as the renault clio
seattle and vw polo there's also no adjustable height boot floor so just bear that in mind
what it does have in its favor though is the size of the boot is constant regardless
of whether you opt for the petrol diesel or electric version of the 208 and that's because
they made this car with all versions in mind from the beginning the peugeot 208 is far from
the only super mini in this sector so to give you a bit of context i've highlighted its three
main rivals first up is the renault clio the exterior hasn't changed much over the last decade
or so but the interior certainly has boasting a slick functional design packed with technology
next up is the ford fiesta one of britain's favorite cars it never ceases to deliver with
a brilliant drive and much improved interior finally the vw polo represents one quarter
of the vw group super mini range and gives buyers a taste of premium car characteristics
in a compact body shell so there's the rivals now back to the 208 and what it's like to drive
now the first thing i want to talk about when it comes to driving the 208 is the peugeot eye
cockpit design which i mentioned earlier because it is unlike any other brand of car currently on
sale because instead of looking through the gap between the center of the steering wheel on top
of the steering wheel to see the dials instead you look over the steering wheel so the steering wheel
sits down lower which is supposed to be less tiring on long journeys and it's also quite a
small wheel so it almost feels like you're driving a dodgem car now some people might not be happy
with this setup because it actually ends up with them not being able to see the dials before so it
is absolutely essential that you test drive this car before buying it i know that sounds obvious
but some people don't so you really need to take a test drive to make sure you're happy with
it but i gotta say i quite like it it is easy to drive it's a nice wheel to hold on to it's
a good size all around and i can see the dials really really clearly the only real complaint
about the driving position in this car or the view that i've got from where i'm sitting is
that the a-pillars are a little bit chunky so the blind spots are a little bit bigger than you might
think for a car of this size the engine in this particular car is the 130 horsepower 1.2 liter
pure tech three cylinder petrol and if you're swapping four cylinders for three cylinders in
your small car then this will sound quite unusual it's got a really rumbly wobbly engine sound
which is actually quite good fun and the thing i like about it from a refinement point of view is
that it never sounds like you're really thrashing it it's a very deep sound but
it never sounds like it's been absolutely caned so it's always actually fairly quiet
i'm currently doing mid-40s fuel economy so 45 miles per gallon which isn't too bad but actually
it was doing more when it was delivered it's probably just my driving when it was delivered
it was doing over 50 miles per gallon over quite a long distance on the trip computer and that
comes in spite of it having some surprisingly sprightly performance i mean 130 horsepower
doesn't sound all that much but actually this car has plenty of go when you need it
so all in all i really like this engine actually even if it is perhaps a little bit more powerful
than it technically needs to be what i'm not a hundred percent convinced about is the eight speed
automatic gearbox what's good about it is that you've got that eighth ratio which is more than
most cars of this size have so it's very good at cruising on motorways the engine's already quiet
but with that eighth gear it means it's turning over the engine at an even lower speed than normal
but it's when you start going at lower speeds or you start crawling around town that the gearbox
does sometimes get a little bit stumbly and it's not as responsive as perhaps you want from a car
that will often be driven in cities where you need that response right away i think it's probably
no more than a software issue which just needs ironing out but on this particular car yeah it
could be a bit smoother and i think a dsg box from the volkswagen group would do a better job and
actually unfortunately you can't get the six-speed manual with this 130 horsepower pure-tech engine
as for the rides and the refinement when we said the refinement of the engine is very good and that
actually goes for the whole car it's a sweep of wind noise but it's none more than you'd expect
for a super mini in this price bracket the ride well obviously this car's on the 17 inch alloy
wheels which is the largest alloy wheels you can get with the 208 because this is the gt
premium spec car and they do have an effect on the ride quality so at high speeds it's actually very
composed this is a really good cruiser for a super mini but at lower speeds and especially going over
sharp bumps and expansion joints in the road and manhole covers it can feel just a little bit sharp
and it can sometimes crash through them but on the whole it's not too bad there are sporty spec super
minis rival super minis that have got a firmer ride than this even with their larger alloy wheels
and actually talking of sporty super minis if that's what you're after then i'm not quite sure
208 will be for you because compare it with something like the fiesta or even the clio
and it feels more top-heavy and it's harder to feel where the grip is through the wheel and
i wonder if that's slightly to do with the unusually sized steering wheel but it just
doesn't quite inspire as much confidence and it doesn't feel like you can throw it around
as much as you would with the ford fiesta for example however the flip side of that is that
when it comes to driving this car around town and driving it slowly and doing slow speed maneuvers
it's very good indeed it's got a good turning circle and because the wheel is so small you can
apply lots and lots of lock without really having to do too much with your hands and i quite like
that it means it's an effortless car to drive you really don't have to try too hard just when you're
you know piddling around which is good it doesn't ask too much of you driver assistance on the 208
is also worth a mention not least for the sheer amount of big car tech available on
this little super mini semi-automatic parking assist blind spot monitoring
adaptive cruise control and high beam assist are all options while traffic sign recognition
active lane keeping assist and peugeot connect sos are all standard across the range if you are
looking to buy a peugeot 208 but you're not quite sure which version to go for then here is my top
three choices for the cheapest one available it's the 75 horsepower active premium spec
if you're a company car driver then look at the all-electric e208 or if you do more miles the blue
hdi diesel version finally if you're a performance car fan then the bad news is is that there's no
208 hot hatch anymore the gti will not be coming with this generation of car but i suggest you
look at the e208 electric version because that will surprise quite a few people off the line
there's no doubt that peugeot's latest super mini shows the french brand is back to its best
when it comes to making small cars with a strong diverse range of powertrains huge tech offerings
and knockout styling it's got more than enough to take the fight to the ever popular ford fiesta
the only thing i would say is that i think you need to be quite careful with the spec of this car
because this top spec 130 horsepower version is pretty pricey i think the best value comes
when you get the 97 horsepower 1.2 litre pure tech with the manual gearbox and of course this
pharah yellow paint which really stands out and then get it in either a lower premium or
gt spec if you do that i reckon you've got a very accomplished super mini on your hands
you