- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
1.6T, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
121kW, 240Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 7L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
5 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2016)
2021 Peugeot 3008 GT review
Does Peugeot's mid-sized SUV justify the $48K asking price? We jump behind the wheel to find out.
- Great quality and comfortable interior
- Big dose of tech and safety
- Efficient, refined powertrain
- It's expensive, and is competing against equally polished top-spec competition
- That wonderful interior can feel pokey
- No option of all-wheel drive
It’s pronounced three thousand and eight, not three-double-oh-eight. Just in case you’re wondering. Who knows, perhaps the whole double-oh thing sails too close to the wind of a famous fictitious foreign agent?
Regardless of pronunciation, this French take on a medium-sized SUV wades into a segment contested by almost 20 separate offerings, prestige models aside (according to VFACTS), all vying for their own slice of that SUV pie.
So while this part of the automotive landscape is one of the most voluminous in Australia, it’s also one of the most hotly contested.
We’ve got a 2021 Peugeot 3008 GT, which is effectively the medium specification in the range. Priced from $47,990 before on-road costs, it’s got the Allure ($44,990) and GT Sport ($54,990) on either side.
More broadly, the 3008 sits at the pointy end in terms of medium-SUV pricing. Toyota’s best-selling RAV4 tops out at $46,415 for an all-wheel-drive 2.5-litre Cruiser, while Volkswagen’s new Tiguan 162TSI R-Line goes for $53,790.
Look further up the tree, and Peugeot’s offering sits considerably below the tip-in point of a Volvo XC60 ($64,990) or Lexus NX300 ($57,500).
The 3008 is smaller than other SUVs in the segment, but not markedly so. Measuring in at 4447mm long, most other medium-sized SUVs are a little longer. But other measurements, 1624mm of height and 1841mm of width, are par for the course.
Medium SUVs are a favourite choice for families these days, so it makes some sense to kick off our impressions from behind the driver's seat.
The second-row seats are comfortable, with a little bit of space on offer. The seat backs are scalloped out to help with leg room, which it needs. It’s a second row that is comfortable without being overtly spacious. You can fit adults and rearward-facing kid's seats in, but it might be tight.
In terms of amenities, there are air vents and power outlets, as well as fold-down cupholders in the middle.
You’ll notice that the hipline of the 3008 is high with relatively small windows. The black interior and roof lining, plus big shoulders on the seats, leave the 3008 feeling more cosy than spacious. It’s definitely not airy, but I also wouldn’t call it claustrophobic. However, in lieu of letting in plenty of sunlight, the 3008’s interior has plenty of quality in terms of materials and touchpoints.
Key details | 2021 Peugeot 3008 GT |
Engine | 1.6-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder |
Power | 121kW @ 6000rpm |
Torque | 240Nm @ 1400rpm |
Weight (tare) | 1390kg |
Drive type | Front-wheel drive |
Transmission | Six-speed automatic |
Power to weight ratio | 87.1kW/t |
Price (MSRP) | $47,990 |
The seating material feels and looks good with its trapezoidal stitched pattern, and the seats are plenty comfortable to spend time in. Worth noting, these nappa leather seats are an optional extra at $3590. The Ultimate Red paint costs $1050, but we've foregone the panoramic opening glass roof ($1990).
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That theme gets stronger up front, where the dashboard and buttons all help elevate the experience of the 3008 beyond the mainstream and into a more premium space.
The 10.1-inch central infotainment display is easy enough to navigate around, which you’ll need to do for climate controls. Importantly these days, the system includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and native navigation.
The gearshifter, kind of resembling a handbrake, feels quality to operate. And the storage in front and along the side works well for the day-to-day carriage.
Now, the steering wheel. Peugeot’s i-Cockpit set-up is polarising and potentially off-putting for some users. But if approached with an open mind, I reckon it’s not a bad thing. While the steering wheel feels like it’s down around your ankles, it works surprisingly well, ergonomically.
You get a clear view of the big 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and zero obstruction of the road ahead. In a way, it feels kind of liberating at first to drive and get used to. And after some time in the 3008, the steering wheel of anything else feels like it came out of an old Leyland bus.
The boot is also good. The VDA numbers measure 591L of space to the parcel shelf, but my testing found it to be plenty big enough for the application. There’s a flat load lip, light, and levers to drop down the second row (which frees up 1670L). And below the floor you’ll find a speed-limited space-saver spare wheel.
Making 121kW at 6000rpm and 240Nm at 1400rpm, the 1.6-litre engine gets along quite well in this application. The power output is good, with a peppy and responsive feeling through the ratios. It’s also quiet and smooth while logging impressive fuel economy. Against the 7.3 litres per 100 kilometres claimed on the combined cycle, we had an indicated 7.5L/100km with a couple of longer highway runs.
Worth noting is this engine requires more expensive 95RON fuel, which will increase your spend at the bowser compared to standard unleaded and E10 fuels.
The ride and steering characteristics are also good – even along some of the worst pockmarked country roads that wind through and around the New South Wales Southern Highlands.
I managed to hit one particularly large pothole, which I’d prefer to miss. But credit to this French car for handling rubbish Australian roads, because it took the hit well and didn’t really lose composure.
The small steering wheel is light in resistance, but gives easy control of the 3008 on straight highways and twisty roads alike. The steering ratio feels fast; something perhaps exacerbated by the wheel’s small circumference.
The new 3008 packs a good punch in terms of safety, with autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist with road edge detection, driver-attention alert, and speed sign recognition and recommendation. There's also adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, as well as high-beam assist and a '360-degree camera' which uses front and rear camera 180-degree camera and fills in the gaps at the side as you move.
Servicing is covered under Peugeot’s capped-price program for the first five years or 100,000km, with 20,000km service intervals. Each service bounces between cheap and not so cheap totalling $2936 for five years or six figures on the odometer.
At a glance | 2021 Peugeot 3008 GT |
Fuel consumption (claimed combined) | 7L/100km |
Fuel consumption (on test) | 7.5L/100km |
Fuel tank size | 53L |
Tow rating | 1550kg (braked) |
Boot volume | 591L / 1670L |
Length | 4447mm |
Width | 1841mm |
Height | 1624mm |
Wheelbase | 2675mm |
Turning circle | 10.7m |
ANCAP safety rating | 5-star (tested 2016) |
Warranty | 5-year / unlimited km |
Servicing cost | $1665 3yr / $2927 5yr |
Price (MSRP) | $47,990 |
Colour as tested | Ultimate Red |
Options as tested | Metallic paint ($1050), Nappa Leather and electric massage driver's seat ($3590) |
Competitors | Hyundai Kona, Toyota Rav-4, Mazda CX-5 |
Mostly, the 3008 follows the same rulebook as most other SUVs. The experience is different, yes, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it unique.
It seems almost cliched to look at Peugeot through that lens of typical French quirkiness and offbeat design. However, it’s not that simple any more. While Peugeot might not wield the same sort of prestige stick as other European makes, it certainly offers a premium experience.
And it needs to, because this isn’t a value-led proposition. Our tester competes on price with many top-spec mainstream rivals, and most of them offer the advantage of more powerful all-wheel-drive powertrains. The main problem for this Peugeot is that competition is lined up out the door, and duds are few and far between.
But if your budget extends as far as this Peugeot, it’s certainly worth consideration. Low popularity guarantees a form of exclusivity that some owners crave, and it’s well sorted in terms of safety technology and the driving experience. The interior materials and their execution are probably the 3008’s main strengths, however, and its best chance of wooing customers to this (slightly) left-of-field choice.
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