Peugeot 508 – closeted in luxury without paying a luxury price

I suppose my fascination with buttons started with James Bond at a very young age. Back in the time when I haven’t even learned how to ride a bicycle, I thought wouldn’t it be great to have a James Bond car filled with buttons that does all sorts of things when fondled with. And in the new Peugeot flagship, the 508, I think I just found such a car that evokes that certain amount of stimuli that tickles all my senses.

:Launched on 18 October 2011, it was one of the most highly anticipated cars of the year. With a plethora of gadgets that guarantees an orgasmic drive for the geek in me, I equate this as a continental car’s answer to Kia Optima K5’s strategy of giving-you-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink without paying an arm or a limb’s price.

For RM169,888 (OTR with insurance), you get:-

EXTERIOR
Dynamic bi-xenon headlamps with headlight washers, auto height adjustment and smart beam function
18″ alloy rims
Front and rear park assist with audio and visual display
Available space measurement (ASM) aid – More on this below
Front and rear fog lights
Auto headlights
Auto wipers

INTERIOR
Intelligent keyless entry with push start button
Automatic quad zone air-conditioning system
Premium luxury leather seats
Driver and front passenger 8-way electric lumbar support
Leather trimmed steering wheel
Leather and chrome trimmed gear knob
Colour head up display (HUD)
Automatic electric parking brake
Rear seats and rear window screen retractable sunblinds
Slide adjustable front center armrest with storage
JBL Hi-Fi system with 10 speakers coupled with a 10 channel 500W surround sound amplifier
7″ high definition color screen World in Peugeot sound with USB & Bluetooth connectivity
Arkamys audio processing system
Steering wheel with audio, cruise control and paddle shifters
Auto dimming rear view mirror
On board computer
Premium 5 dial instrument panel with monochrome color display matrix

SAFETY
5 star Euro NCAP Safety Rating
Driver airbag
Front passenger airbag
Driver and front passenger side airbags
2 curtain airbags (extends to 2nd row)
Peugeot hill start assist
ESP
ABS
EBD
EBA
Anti-skid Regulation (ASR)
Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
Electric rear doors child safety locks
2 ISOFIX location points (2 row seats)
Auto illumination of rear hazard lights
Perimetric and Volumetric Alarm Security
Peugeot rolling code transponder immobilizer security

I actually went ahead and made a booking before the car was launched but sadly due to other investments, I had to cancel it. That didn’t stop me from having a few rounds with it and here’s what I found out:-

Performance

You’ll find the usual 1.6litre twin-scroll turbocharged engine here; essentially anything that has a turbo in Peugeot’s line-up uses the same engine. Since it’s introduction to the Malaysian automotive market in the form of the hatchback C segment 308THP, the engine has divorced its 4-speed AL transmission and found a more sweet 6-speed Aisin tranny. The change means smoother shifts, greater spread of ratios and improvement in fuel consumption.

The 508 features a true keyless push start; no slotting into some hole. Once the cabin detects the key inside it, the driver need to just press the brakes before pressing the start button. Upon firing up the engine, the needles on the speedo and tachnometer will do a little dance for you.

The electronic parking brake is also unique in the sense that it automatically disengages and re-engages when the car stops.

Having owned and drove a 308THP 4 speeder for 1 1/2 years, my test drive was somewhat colored by the 508’s smaller sibling. In terms of straight line acceleration, it doesn’t glue my back to the seat as much as the 4 speeder. Ok, pitting a ligher, different segment 308 against the 508 isn’t an apple to apple comparison so how is it compared to my recent test drive of the D segment Volkswagen Passat? Not as good, I have to say. Peugeot claims the 508’s 156bhp Prince engine sprint to the century mark in approximately 9.2 seconds. The Passat does it in 8.5 seconds …. the difference of almost 1 second difference is noticeable.

Ride and Handling

However, most buyers of this segment is looking for a cruiser, not a bruiser and a cruising is what the 508 does very well. And if you’re looking for some occasional entertainment around twisty B roads, the 508’s stiffer suspension eats tarmac well enough …. just make sure you don’t crash onto bumps too quickly; if your other half happens to be sitting behind, the back of your head will be filled with daggers coming from her eyes as reward from disturbing their ride.

The car has 240Nm of torque, in all its full glory from a low 1,400rpm. Drivers certainly won’t say the car is underpowered and pulling away from traffic is a breeze.

Cabin Convenience

As I have said, buttons is the middle name of the 508. In the center console between the center air vents, you’ll find a 7″ colored high definition screen that shows compass, date & time, radio station, audio USB information and a whole range of other information.

Interesting enough, the 508 comes with a GPS module …. uninteresting enough, there isn’t a map for countries on this part of the world and till now, we don’t know if Nasim is ever going to make it available and retrofit into the car on a later date.

In the middle, you’ll find …. yeah, more buttons. It may look as complex to operate as rocket science but it’s not. The controls are intuitive and labeled clearly.

Typical French flair …. even their headrest is elaborate. Both front seats are 8-way adjustable electric so finding that comfortable sitting position is not an issue …. but if you swap cars often with another driver (say, your other half who has body dimensions very different from yours), you’ll have to hunt for your sweet spot setting again since the seats does not have memory.

Quad zone airconditioning. For once in a car within this price range, rear passengers can set how chill they want to be behind.

What was surprisingly not impressive is the rear legroom. With my 6′ colleague sitting in front, I barely have enough legroom behind. For a D segment, rear legroom and headroom is abysmally claustrophobic.

All cabin lights are white LED … more class

The only let down in terms of aesthetic appeal is the rear cup holders found in the rear center arm rest. So …. common.

The HUD is a practical way of seeing critical information such as speed and cruise control info without moving your eyes too far downwards.

Now we come to the interesting part: The 508 comes with Available Space Measurement. What it does is …. ermm, measure parallel parking spaces for you to see if your car would fit. By activating this function and signalling either to the left or right (like you would when parking sideways), the system would give you an audio and visual signal to see if it’s ok to fit the car in:

Boot space is huge, offering 545litres of space. Naturally, the rear seats can be folded down if more is required.

Specifications

Against the competition, here is how the 508 stands:-

If it’s gadgetry you seek, the 508 has loads of it. Go for a test drive …. better still, go test a few rounds and I’m sure the Lion will convince you that luxury need not necessarily be expensive

Updated 18 June 2012: Peugeot has launched the full range of 508s. Please visit the following link to get more updates:

http://www.kensomuse.com/full-range-of-peugeot-508-launched-beyond-first-class/