Our cars: Peugeot 508 SW PSE

Practicality There’s plenty of room for luggage in the Peugeot’s 530-litre boot Premium? Is it an Audi? Is it a Mercedes? Is it a BMW. No, it’s a Peugeot. Sean has been quizzing family and friends, trying to get them to guess who makes the estate

Peugeot 508 SW PSE

SECOND REPORT Sporty estate makes the grade as Peugeot heads upmarket

Practicality

Boot (seats up/down) 530/1,780 litres

Performance

0-62mph/top speed 5.2 seconds/155mph

Sean Carson sean _ carson@autovia.co.uk

PEUGEOT’S push to go premium is working. The more time I spend living with this 508 SW Peugeot Sport Engineered, the more I’ m convinced of that – and it’ s not just me, either.

I’ ve given friends and family members rides in the car, both short trips and long journeys, and they ’ ve all initially remarked on the 508’ s styling. First impressions count, and on that front the PSE, with its sporty accoutrements, does well. Deep bumpers, big wheels, smart badging and a sleek rear, with a sporty spoiler and diffuser element in the rear bumper, complete with aero flicks, means this looks every inch the rival for premium fast German wagons. Its Selenium Grey paintwork also helps: it’ s a very modern, fashionable colour.

Then those I’ m driving get in and remark on the eye-catching but not intrusive bright green stitching, the tech and the quality of the materials. The seats are comfortable, and many front passengers are wowed when I say the PSE has massaging seats as standard.

When we move off in absolute silence they ’ re impressed with the refinement thanks to the plug-in powertrain, chatting away about how quiet it is; and when I can make an overtake or use the performance, the 355bhp on offer shuts them up again.

On more than one occasion when I’ ve covered the badge on the steering wheel, my friends and family, who are less well automotively educated, have guessed this is either an Audi, a BMW or a Mercedes. Of course, they ’ re all wrong. When I tell them – if they haven ’t already worked it out – that it’ s a Peugeot they ’ re pleasantly surprised.

Older individuals remember Peugeots of old catering for motoring for the masses. These were mostly good to drive, with a great performance icon or two thrown into the mix, usually wearing a GTi badge. The PSE moniker now replaces this.

Then comes the killer question: how much does it cost? And here ’ s where Peugeot’ s premium push might come just a little bit unstuck – according to my empirical evidence, at least.

When the inevitable game of ‘Guess the price ’ starts and I remind them of the power, the performance, the plug-in hybrid tech, the level of standard kit and the fact that, seemingly, many modern cars are on the pricey side these days, most people ’ s answers reluctantly start with a ‘four ’ . “Higher ” . Edging through the 40 thousands, quite a few are shocked when I tell them the 508 PSE’ s price tag starts with a five. But when we rest at £56,465 for this admittedly slightly pricier but wholly more practical SW estate model, everyone is flabbergasted.

While the majority of UK buyers purchase using finance, even with a £5,405 deposit on a four-year contract limited to just 6,000 miles a year, Peugeot’ s representative PCP example still comes in at £771 a month.

Personally, I actually think Peugeot can just about cut it, but it’ s only time with the PSE that’ s helped me get to that conclusion. I could see why you ’d initially not think the same. But Rome wasn ’t built in a day, and

this French manufacturer ’ s premium legacy won ’t be, either. Take a look at Audi; 30 years ago it might not have been considered a particularly premium brand. Over the past 20 years it’ s accelerated rapidly into that space, dominating sales. Peugeot is moving in the right direction and it is products such as the 508 PSE that will help change people ’ s perceptions of the brand (Skoda is another good example on that front). I’ ve certainly found this out over the past four months. Every time I get into the PSE it does pretty much everything I want it to do with the minimum of fuss, with the exception of the occasionally slow and frustrating infotainment. In my book, that mostly makes it a great car to live with. When you assess it like that, does it matter what badge adorns the bonnet, and shouldn ’t it come down more to what a car offers and how it feels? Judged by these criteria over my time with it so far, the 508 PSE is a success in my book. Just maybe not yet for my friends and family, it seems. “Rome wasn’t built in a day, and this French firm’s premium legacy won’t be, either”

Styling Sean reckons the PSE’s design is a match for premium German rivals, with the Selenium Grey paint looking very modern

P e t e G i b s o n

Essentials

Peugeot 508 SW Peugeot Sport Engineered

On fleet since: January 2022

Price new: £55,830 Engine: 1.6-litre 4cyl turbo petrol + 2x e-motor, 355bhp CO2/tax: 41g/km/£480 Options: N/A

Insurance*: Group: 41 Quote: £506 Mileage/mpg: 3,177/45.8mpg Any problems? None so far

WE LIKE We think the bodykit and aggressive stance look great. We prefer the PSE as an estate, too, even if its sleek style sacrifices some practicality

WE DON’T Premium feel is let down by lack of attention to detail in places such as the location of the phone charging tray. It’s so difficult to access

Second opinion

“I’m with Sean on the 508’s infotainment. The basic tech is there, but it needs to be more polished in its responses. In the modern market this is something that marks a car out as premium, and as we move towards full-electric driving this will be an increasingly important area of development for Peugeot to push upmarket. ”

Verdict

THE PSE is a great example of a car that makes more sense with time, as I’ve been preaching to my friends and family. They almost unanimously like everything but the price. But times are changing, and so is Peugeot. The more I live with it, the more I’m convinced that the PSE is the right product for the firm at the right time. 