Peugeot 508 Touring Allure HDi 2011 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $45,990
Options fitted (not included in above price): Metallic paint $800, 18-inch alloy wheels $500, electric tailgate release $1000
Crash rating: Five-star (ANCAP)
Fuel: Diesel
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 5.7
CO2 emissions (g/km): 150
Also consider: Skoda Superb, Volkswagen Passat Highline

Traditional Peugeot enthusiasts will really like the new 508, but the great news (for Peugeot) is that you don't have to be an enthusiast to appreciate the car.

The 508 does revive memories of the company's more iconic models over the past 40 years: the 504 from the 1970s and the 505, which last sold in Australia during the early 1990s. These were larger cars renowned for being able to cover long touring distances in comfort. Peugeot's decision to name the replacement for the 407 with the leading number '5' is no accident, we would suggest.

It's a sophisticated car, but a lot of Peugeot purists will see the 508 as a back to basics model that dispenses with the large-air intake look of other models in the Peugeot range and previews a new corporate style for the future. That's gotta help the importer's standing in this country...

Without looking anarchic, the 508 retains some key styling traits from the past, but incorporates a higher bonnet line - to comply with European pedestrian safety regulations come 2013. In Touring (wagon) form, as tested, the line from the upper edge of the bonnet runs along the car's beltline to the rear, where the bumperless look takes a leaf out of the late-1990s Audi book of design. Overall the 508 Touring's look is at worst inoffensive, at best, clean and handsome.

It has been said that what impresses prospective buyers most after styling is the way a car's doors open and close. In the case of the 508, the doors close very softly - but securely - with the gentlest of nudges. It is one of those details that implies to buyers that a car is a prestige design, boasting core engineering qualities.

Peugeot has backed that up with the carefully specified (optional) powered tailgate at the rear to make life easier. If the powered tailgate were standard, rather than optional, it would deliver the 508 a real fillip against Volkswagen's Passat Highline wagon. As it is, the Peugeot's option price is actually steeper than the Volkswagen. Along with other options fitted, the 508 Touring's price-as-tested is higher than a Passat with broadly similar specifications.

Inside the Peugeot's luggage compartment are Mazda-style seat releases either side, allowing the rear seats to fold forward without having to open the side doors and physically manhandle them into a nearly flat position. Although you can do that too, and easily...

The boot space looks about on par with that of the Skoda Superb, but the 508 lacks the Skoda's astonishing rear-seat legroom. There's good kneeroom and the adult occupant can poke toes under the front seat, but there's not enormous room to stretch out. The Peugeot offers plenty of headroom, although the head brushes close to the cant rail above the door.

We liked certain features of the 508 Touring aft of the B pillars - including the blinds for the rear side windows and the simple to use cargo blind in the luggage compartment. Unfortunately, the B pillars themselves didn't delight as much. They proved to be quite wide and likely to obstruct the field of vision over the shoulder, when turning left from slip lanes or merging.

In the front the seats are not as flat as some Euro cars and there's a bit more bolstering and support to hold the driver and front passenger in place - during harder cornering for instance. They're still not as deeply contoured and cushy as we've come to expect of Peugeots in the past; in all the seating is more like something a German manufacturer might offer.

There's a combination of soft, quality materials used throughout the interior, complemented by bright-finish (metallic) and piano black decorative trim.

The whole dash looks stylish and the instruments are impressively easy to use. There's the highly visible start button on the right of the steering wheel, for example, and the controls for heating and aircon and audio don't require hours of study. In fact, the multi-zone climate control system is quite intuitive to use, with 'pie chart' switches to select the different modes. And there are additional climate control switches co-located with the rear-seat occupants' vents for their own settings.

Even the gearshift lever is attractively styled and is ergonomically designed to fit the user's hand in different ways. The indicator stalk is on the left of the column, but shouldn't pose much of a challenge given the car's automatic gear selection and electronic parking brake. Like its counterpart for the wipers, the stalk is nicely damped and feels durable and refined.

The driving position is comfortable and provides far more flexibility than we recall of some earlier (and current) Peugeot models. If there's one minor niggle in this area, it's the plastic shift paddles fixed either side the steering column. There's nothing terrible about them, other than feeling cheap and a bit tacky. They detract from the rest of the car's ambience.

The 508 offers a fairly spectacular light show when unlocked at night. External mirrors fold out, LED indicators blink rapidly and the puddle lights under the door handles illuminate. And Peugeot's interior designers have continued the spectacle in the cabin, with high-resolution graphics for the information display and bright white ambient lighting.

A full length glass roof allows natural light in from above for both rows of seats. We're guessing it could make things hot in summer, but there's a powered shade that can close off the skylight fully or in part.

The 508 Touring tested by motoring.com.au was powered by the optional 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine. As the smaller of two diesel engines available in the 508 range - and the only diesel powering the 508 Touring model - the 2.0-litre powerplant forms a great partnership with the six-speed automatic transmission offered by default.

Very quiet for a diesel and sporty sounding too, the engine won't run out past 4500rpm, thanks to the automatic, which will change up a gear even if the driver is shifting manually. Some French cars or vehicles with French engines will go hog-wild up to 5000rpm but in practice there's no need for that with the 508 Touring's diesel.

The engine delivers plenty of torque and can feel pretty lively in the lower gears especially. It will hold taller gears on a hill with the cruise control in operation and only lags a little from a standing start. There's some occasional torque steer, but the front end and the traction control do pretty well keeping everything in check.

For its part, the automatic operates more like a dual-clutch transmission than a conventional epicyclic box. Smooth during shifts, the transmission feels mechanically locked up in practically every forward gear, so it doesn't let the turbo fall off boost and is always in the right gear for the road speed.

Changes are responsive without being sharp and the ratios are generally well chosen for a diesel. First gear seems high, but in keeping with the diesel engine's performance characteristics.

On the road the 508 Touring rides well enough at lower speeds though it borders on overfirm. If there's an upside to the car's slight harshness over potholes and manhole covers, it's the 508's cornering grip, steering and handling. Steering is, without doubt, more communicative than the Passat's and the Peugeot will turn in quite promptly. Despite the firmer ride, the 508 would not be knocked off line by mid-corner bumps and tracked very accurately and consistently through corners, even when given some stick.

Overall fuel consumption for the week, according to the trip computer, was 8.5L/100km. That was based on mostly around-town work and some harder motoring up in the country. There was only a brief run at freeway speeds, thus we're mildly impressed. It compares very closely with our experience in the Volkswagen Passat 125kW TDI Highline a couple of months ago. It should be noted, however, that the VW features idle auto-stop/start which could be a factor for those more city-bound.

It also compares closely with that particular Passat for price. And here's our conundrum: the Peugeot is well equipped for that purchase price, but perhaps not as ultimately affordable as the Passat once options are considered. In its defence, the 508 is a credible rival and offers qualities such as its steering, versus the Passat's ride quality, for instance.

Different buyers will weight the scoring of each vehicle according to their personal preferences, but you know what is really intriguing? This comparison of the Peugeot against a car we've already observed is the benchmark for this market segment is a viable one. That says much for the French marque and its models coming through the pipeline over the next few years.

The 508 is plainly the start of something big for Peugeot.