Peugeot 5008 GT Sport 2023 Review

The petrol-powered 2023 Peugeot 5008 has been escalated from GT to GT Sport and, at $65,657 plus on-road costs, has copped a big price rise over the outgoing GT of almost $15,000

This is justified in part by the significantly uprated 1.6-litre turbo engine and adoption of an eight-speed auto transmission – employed since 2019 in diesel 5008s – which replaces the previous six-speeder.

The diesel-engined 5008 GT, at $66,770 plus ORCs, suffers a less painful price increase of around $7000 over the pre-update model and now sits only a whisker above the petrol GT Sport.

Helping to ease the pain of a big price increase is the upgrade of the petrol-powered 2023 Peugeot 5008 to GT Sport level, which means a more extensive standard equipment list including a panoramic glass sunroof, bigger 19-inch alloy wheels, an eight-way adjustable powered driver’s seat with massage function and Nappa leather seat trim.

This is on top of an already generous spec list which includes Peugeot’s elevated 12.3-inch instrument panel that sits above the steering wheel, a high-res tablet-style infotainment touch-screen, plus a nine-speaker sound system which factors in a thumping sub-woofer.

Our test car also has a hands-free tailgate, but Peugeot Australia has advised that this feature, along with wireless phone charging, were quietly removed from Aussie-spec cars from August and June 2022 arrivals respectively.

The Peugeot 5008 has a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty along with five years of roadside assist.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km – whichever comes first – and transferable pre-paid plans are available at $1100 for three years or $1900 for five, savings of $405 and $739 respectively.

No complaints about the safety technology in the 2023 Peugeot 5008 GT Sport.

High- and low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind spot monitoring, speed limit recognition, driver attention alert, lane keep assist with lane departure warning – augmented by lane centring and road edge detection – low-light cyclist and pedestrian detection, front and rear parking sensors and self-dipping LED headlights are all included.

The 5008 has the ability to park itself in parallel or 90-degree spots, though there’s no front or rear cross traffic alert or AEB in reverse.

ISOFIX points are included on both outboard rear seats.

Passive safety includes six airbags, though the head-protecting curtain airbags only cover the first two seating rows.

The Peugeot 5008 did have a five-star ANCAP rating, but as this dates back to 2016 (when the current generation was launched), it’s now deemed to have expired.

The technology offering on the 2023 Peugeot 5008 GT Sport includes sat-nav, smartphone mirroring, Bluetooth, voice recognition and a trip computer as you’d expect of any new car today.

The upgraded 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine in the 2023 Peugeot 5008 GT Sport combines with an eight-speed automatic to deliver some worthwhile advantages.

Power increases from 121kW to a meatier 133kW at lower revs – 5500rpm versus 6000rpm – while the torque gets a small uplift from 240Nm to 250Nm.

A few more revs are required – 1650rpm versus 1400rpm – but this is no big deal.

The updated driveline in the 2023 Peugeot 5008 GT Sport is responsible for improved fuel consumption, dropping from 7.0L/100km to 5.6L/100km, which is impressive for a 1521kg mid-size seven-seat SUV.

The quoted figures are better than the 5008’s cousin, the five-seat Citroen C5 Aircross, which claims 7.9L/100km, and the Renault Koleos at 8.1L/100km.

Interestingly, the 5008 GT Sport is claimed to return identical fuel figures to its lighter and slightly truncated five-seat Peugeot 3008 GT Sport sibling.

A cruising range approaching 1000km is well on the cards for the 5008 GT Sport.

The relatively minuscule engine in the 2023 Peugeot 5008 GT Sport punches above its weight.

The claimed 0-100km/h acceleration of 9.4sec betters the previous iteration’s 10.5sec and the four-cylinder is quiet, smooth and acceptably accelerative from the get-go.

The eight-speed auto is a bit inconsistent, often lumpy on take-off and feeling almost like a dual-clutch gearbox, a characteristic exacerbated by the stop-start system’s tendency to shut down too eagerly when the 5008 comes to a halt.

This often leaves the driver without steering assistance and with an uncomfortable wait for the engine to restart.

Underway, there’s no problem with kickdowns or accelerator response and the open-road performance is excellent – although, with a full seven passengers on board, things might be a little different.

The 5008’s steering is nicely weighted and has a tidy 2.7 turns lock-to-lock, factors which combine with the tiddly, almost hexagonal steering wheel to reduce the impression that it’s a reasonably large vehicle.

Meaty 205/55R19 tyres grip and respond well and the 5008 GT Sport’s ride quality and sound absorption have a traditionally French absorbency to them.

Packaging in just about any SUV, and particularly in a seven-seater, is a big deal and the 2023 Peugeot 5008 GT Sport is, or should be, a target for anybody who has a family or is not short of friends.

The problem with the 5008 is that its cleverness tends to get in the way of its practicality.

Set up as a five-seater there are absolutely no problems, but when the third-row seating comes into play it becomes something of a geometric nightmare as the perhaps too-clever French designers produce seemingly unsolvable problems arranging the seats.

With three separate centre-row seats, removable third-row seats and a set of strictures determining what goes where and when, the Peugeot is worlds away from the servo-assisted simplicity of some seven-seaters.

It’s complex and unergonomic to the point that it’s possible to see most owners avoiding the things the 5008 is meant to do. Even finding a place to store the cargo blind when the third row is in use is difficult. Ingenious maybe, but far from intuitive.

With the seven seats in place it might be just possible to find a spot for everybody, but this will be dependent on the size of the passengers and is compromised by the fact there isn’t all that much room to start with.

The space-saver spare wheel resides somewhere under all that, but heaven help anyone who might need to access it quickly.

The seat-folding arrangements are in the same vein as the 5008’s cruise control functions. These are located completely out of sight on a left-side steering column stalk and only become comfortable to use after a prolonged period of acclimatisation.

Every new 5008 owner should enrol for a special (Peugeot-financed) tutorial.

Putting that aside, the Peugeot 5008 GT Sport is quite luxurious with its lavish, quilted Nappa leather seats – particularly the massaging driver’s seat – as well as lime-wood inserts on the dash and doors, easily visible instruments, lengthy sunroof, fold-down tables behind the front seats and a sense of quality and style that is mixed with a dash of quirkiness.

And despite the configuration complexities, the 5008 fares well as a cargo carrier with a maximum of 1670 litres available with all seats folded.

Remove the rearmost seat and the space expands to a van-like 2150 litres, or 2042 litres when it’s in place (both of those capacities are calculated to roof height).

What with the large windows and slim pillars, in-cabin visibility is pretty good too.

With only 165 examples of the Peugeot 5008 sold in Australia during 2022, it’s clear that the French SUV is not for everybody.

Pre-facelift at $51,990 plus on-road costs, the (admittedly lower-spec) 5008 GT made a case for itself, but charging $65,657 plus ORCs for the 2023 Peugeot 5008 GT Sport is a big ask, even for a bordering-on-premium mid-sizer.

The main issue, however, is the Peugeot 5008 contradicts the very principle around which it was built – seating seven passengers in at least a reasonable degree of comfort.

Nevertheless, the Peugeot 5008 GT Sport is accomplished, individually styled and thus has a degree of desirability for those wanting something different from the mainstream.

2023 Peugeot 5008 GT Sport at a glance:
Price: $65,657 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 133kW/250Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 5.6/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 128g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2016, expired)