By Sala Masindane

Often the under dogs are just that – under dogs. That’s not the case for all of them and Peugeot is one those exceptions. The French manufacturer was once the pinnacle of the motor industry in the republic but just like most brands it faded with time. Fast forward to today, Peugeot is once again a contender in most segments, but it still wears the underdog tag. This is very often unjustified based on the recent iterations of 208, 308 and 2008 SUV. However, we think the 3008 has raised the bar to the next level. Since its release in 2017, the 3008 has accumulated a couple of awards including 2017 European Car of the Year award. Locally it was a finalist at the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards. Recently we spent time with the diesel version of the Peugeot 3008 SUV in the form of the 2.0 HDI Allure and we continued to be impressed by the overall offering of the 3008.

Exterior

The 3008 SUV designers took their time with it, this is seen especially at the back where there’s a squared off detailing that includes LED taillights that are standard (front as well), the floating roof design, the metal trim on the roof and how gorgeous front carries on the side profile. This has possibly moved the game to another level. The design of the 3008 is no short of a daring.

Interior

On the arrival of the 3008, we thought the exterior was all it had going, and it could not get any better. We were wrong, the interior is just as daring as the exterior. There are some interesting features that we have enjoyed, especially the I-Cockpit that compromises of interchangeable 12.3 head up digital display panel that can be personalized to different views, the combination of a 8.3 touchscreen and buttons for those that still prefer old school things in a modern vehicle. This is all rounded by a compact steering wheel. It’s no love at fight sight with the steering wheel but we enjoyed using it. Rounding up the beautiful interior is the two-tone theme on the dash, seats and door panels which is a slick move by the French manufacturer.

It’s not only looks but there is ample storage space in the car. The opening of the back door is wide enough and you will not struggle with a car seat. The head and legroom are decent, because the floor at the back is flat and passengers will not be fighting for legroom there. Three adults can sit comfortably there.

The drive

Okay, it’s not as quick as the GT line but our diesel 3008 SUV is powered by a 2.0-litre turbodiesel automatic with 110 kW of power and 370 Nm of torque. More than enough to battle city traffic and most importantly, to confidently ferry your family or friends and their luggage on a trip to the coast. The 3008’s engine has enough power to comfortably carry the body of the vehicle and gives the driver enough power to quickly overtake even on an incline without struggling. We managed a good fuel consumption of 5.7 l/100km which is not a far cry from the claimed 5.0 l/100 since most our trips were stop and start. With comfort features like cruise control, active blind spot detection and lane departure warning safety is also taken care of. Besides the obvious beautiful and daring design, the 3008 HDI Allure is worthy of your thoughts the next time you are shopping for an SUV. The 3008 is priced from R378,900 which includes a four-year/60 000km service plan and three-year/100 000km warranty.