Driven: Peugeot 208 1.0 VTi Active (2013)

Driven: Peugeot 208 1.0 VTi Active (2013)

Greetings once again, Pertolheads!

Today’s post regards my last rental car in Germany, the latest Peugeot 208. I must recognize I had high expectations regarding this car, partially because of the impressive Peugeot’s CV on this front (who can forget the stunning 206, or the legendary 205), partially because the PSA-group is now on a very fragile situation, so they can’t afford themselves a bad product.

Even so, they did. I’ll go straight on: it’s one of the worst cars I’ve driven lately.

After the (still) gorgeous 206, the 207 was already a downturn, but the 208 is on a class of its own. After spending an entire week watching Price Drop TV, their designers went straight to the drawing board and came up with this. It’s a prime example of what overdesigning is, the short size of the car enhancing even more this problem. And the designers didn’t stop on the outside either, because even the classic instrument cluster arrangement was thrown out of the window! Because the instrument cluster was moved upwards, the 208 has a small steering wheel, way smaller than normal. But you know what? Despite looking hideous, the truth is that the high positioning of the speedo and rev counter do allow for a dramatic increase in visibility, only surpassed by the head-up display that some more expensive cars have nowadays! And because the steering wheel is smaller, there is more free room and it’s easier to steer. Well thought!

The rest is far more conventional, every single plastic is hard and nasty in feeling, but at least it’s well screwed together. It’s not tremendously spacious, but a word of appraise must be given to Peugeot for making the 208 smaller than its 207 ancestor. Level equipments vary, but this intermediate Active has to make do with a plastic steering wheel, for example. It has got bluetooth connectivity, which didn’t always work, but when it did it was worth it. Even the telephone was relatively clear, despite some tragic speakers. What makes me laugh though is the price Peugeot asks for this very same car: over 14k € (in Germany) has to be the biggest joke in recent times.

The next focus of attention has to be the engine. For the 208, Peugeot have developed a couple of new 3-cylinder petrol engines, designed primarily for fuel economy, and this unit had the smallest of the pair – a minuscule 1-litre. I suspect the low power output has to do with Peugeot trying to push customers to the bigger, more expensive 1.2, something that, after a couple of months, I would definitely advise – even without having driven it. This engine is yet another example of the environmentalist-movement taken to the extreme, because I have to say: this car is almost dangerous.

It has the slowest response ever in a car I have ever driven, and I’m sure this programming has to do with fuel economy. Revving this engine is like taking a picture with an early digital camera: it will happen, eventually, but often just too much late. The practical consequences are easy to guess: it frequently stalls while driving off the lights, or on a slope, so even in the city it’s seriously compromised. The gearbox has very short gear ratios (third barely arrives at 115 km/h), as a way to compensate for this lack of energy, but it’s absolutely worthless. Revving the engine is mandatory in order to experience some sort of acceleration, but fortunately it’s not very noisy – and it actually has a sweet 3-cylinder thrum – and it’s smooth at the top end. The same cannot be said at low revs, because it vibrates as if it’s burning stones.

The only upside of this eco-obsession is that it’s economical irrespective of the treatment you give it, easily averaging 5,5 l/100km (51 UK mpg) driving on the open road – forget the official figures, they are utopist. Even on the autobahn it barely burned over 7 l/100km (40 KU mpg), while floored most of the time. That said, full throttle was 140 km/h (88 mph) while going uphill!

Handling is not great either. The 208 may be lighter than the old 207, but that said, it’s like calling the new Range Rover a sports car because it lost 400kg compared with its predecessor. It feels like a heavy car, body movements are well apparent, but it does grip in corners. Fun it is not, you can never feel the rear wanting to play (remember the 206?), the steering is lifeless and it has the worst gearbox in the whole of the history of the Automobile. Well, perhaps not quite, because I once drove a 307 1.4 HDI, which was just about the same. To give you an idea of how imprecise it is, I’ll give you an example: the gearlever moves almost the same in neutral or in-gear, so you have to look at the rev-counter to make sure you’re not in neutral. It’s also extremely noisy, and the amount of travel is also a joke. It takes some effort to accomplish such big rubbish, but unfortunately Peugeot succeeded.

So, the 208 is groundbreaking on the visibility front with that unconventional instrument cluster design, but otherwise it really is a case to say: Peugeot, what the hell were you thinking of?! This people make the gorgeous (pre-facelift) and (I’m told) brilliant to drive RCZ, but then come up with this pile of rubbish. If you want a small, economic and fun to drive Peugeot, try the 107: despite being 8 years old now, it’s just worse than the 208 on the instrument cluster area!

Verdict: Low-cost quality at Premium price.

Vital data:

Engine and transmission:

999 cc, inline-3 cylinder, 4 valves per cylinder (petrol)

68 PS (50 kW)/ 6000 rpm

95 Nm/ 3000 rpm

Red line: 6300 rpm

5-speed manual transmission

Dimensions and weights:

Length/ width/ height: 3,962/ 1,739/ 1,460 metres

Turning circle: - metres

Empty weight: 975 kg

Boot: 285 litres (5 seats)

Fuel tank: 50 litres

Tires: 185/65 R15

Official performance:

Top speed: 163 km/h (101 mph)

0-100 km/h (0-62 mph): 14 seconds

Fuel consumption (urban/extra-urban/average): 5.1/ 3.8/ 4.3 l/100km (55/ 74/ 66 UK mpg)

CO₂ emissions: 99 g/km

3000 rpm, 5^th gear: 92 km/h (58 mph) – GPS reading (shown: 93 km/h – 58 mph)

Main equipment: climate control, twin front and side airbags, radio with aux-in socket and bluetooth connectivity, trip computer, ABS+ASR+ESP, cruise control, electric wing mirrors adjustment, steering wheel controls for the Audio system.

German price in 2013: 14 400€.

Driven: May-June 2013, 2 500 km (1 500 miles); car left with 5 500 km (3 400 miles).

Rating: 9 out of 20