Classifying a vehicle can be a testy affair sometimes, especially when you get something that doesn’t quite fit the bill of a particular genre, like Peugeot’s 3008. The company calls it an offering positioned at the crossroads between the likes of a mid-sized SUV, MPV, estate and a hatchback, which would technically make it a crossover.
Of course, crossover is a term that’s only starting to make inroads as a type designation, and so to avoid being vague and ambiguous about something that's attempting to be many things to most people, what the local Peugeot boys at Nasim have done is to badge the vehicle as a SUV, the reasoning being that it’d make for easier identification with and hence, acceptance here. It’s rather strange to hear that having the right type suffix would help suggest this, but well, whatever works, I suppose.
The crossover, sorry, SUV, which is being officially launched today, is a two-wheel drive offering sitting on the same PSA Platform 2 also used by the 308 vehicle series, 5008 MPV and the RCZ, with the double zero designation used to signify that it’s a new vehicle type which extends the Pug range beyond the classic offerings. The first 100 units of the model being sold are CBU units, but following examples will be assembled in Gurun.
Styling-wise, the 3008’s exterior does take some getting used to, visually – it's not quite the size of what you'd expect a SUV to be, and you’ll find an amalgam of SUV and MPV design cues in the mix of lines. Personally, the proportions of the 4.365m long offering look much cleaner in photographs than it does in the metal, with some elements looking a little bit out of place up close, though in fairness the overall shape does get easier on the eye the more time you spend with it.
It also grows on you, which is what transpired during the vehicle's preview drive to Kuantan last week. The cabin is quite a lovely place to be in; it feels spacious and airy, helped along by the choice of light grey interior trim and panoramic one-piece glass roof, which takes up most of the roof acreage – at 17 sq ft, it’s certainly sizeable.
The interior feels decently lush too, and the accoutrements feature good texture to sight and touch, and gives the 3008’s cabin a rather upmarket feel (though how long the light grey leather seats will be free from scruff marks and dirt is a question as good as any).
In terms of presentation, the design theme is aeronautical-based, in that it’s all supposed to feel like an aircraft cockpit. The row of aviation-like toggle switches on the centre console and a rather flash-looking retractable head-up display screen, which offers both speed and cruise control information, obviously helps with getting a bit of that feel. In all, it’s a pretty classy cabin.
The HUD is definitely serviceable in use, though offering only display of speed and cruise control information. The front seats offer good support and are comfortable over an extended duration, though the mass of the centre console does tend eat into positional space if you’re in the driver’s seat - your left knee tends to take notice of it a fair bit. At the back, things are a little more pinched where legroom is concerned, and the firmness and angle of the rear seats can feel less than plush if you have to sit there for hours.
Of course, the 3008’s brief is that of offering versatility (you know, the SUV, MPV, car all-in-one thing), and what’s versatility if you can’t carry things? It’s here that the multiflex interior, as Peugeot tags it, is the bee’s knees. It starts with a split tailgate with a lower section that can handle 200kg, evenly spread, and a modular 512l boot offering three-level height adjustment, moving on to flat folding rear seats and a foldable front passenger seat back.
Get these folded down and you’re looking at a flat floor measuring 2.62m long, from tailgate to the front seat area. With the rear seats folded down, the cargo carrying volume goes up to 1,604l. A neat touch is the inclusion of a portable torch housed in the boot that offers 45mins of performance, recharging itself once you place it back in its housing.
Elsewhere, the glovebox is pretty much rubbish in offering any usable space, but the centre console box makes up for it, offering a cavernous 13.5l of storage volume. The only niggly bit about this one is that the cover opening is configured for left-hand drive, which means it opens towards you in the examples here, rather fun when you have such depths to plumb. And, aside from that deep console box, there are no other storage points for personal effects in the centre area, so wallets, mobile phones and other what-nots will simply have to go into the door cubby area.
The 3008 is powered by the same Prince 1.6l twin-scroll turbo unit found on the 308 Turbo, though here there are 16 horses more than on the latter, the THP 156 offering 156bhp at 6,000rpm and 240Nm of torque at 1,400rpm. The block is mated to an AT6 six-speed auto gearbox, which is a real treat in use; the new unit, co-developed with Aisin, effectively signifies the end of the four-speeder era.
In terms of performance, the THP 156 does an adequate job of moving the 3008 around. There’s not that much zip on take-up despite the additional ponies, but once you’re on the move the overall go is quite decent and linear, and chugging along, you can almost get to seriously fast easy and repeatedly. Considering that it has to haul 1,555kg of mass about, it’s definitely not bad at all.
As for ride, the suspension soaks up road imperfections quite well, and offers a taut, yet comfortable enough ride. There’s still a fair bit of bounce at speed over sudden dips, but nothing that’s too unsettling. Riding on low rolling resistance 225/50 17-inch Michelins, road noise levels are also decent.
Handling-wise, the 3008 is surprisingly nimble. Though the steering doesn’t offer much in the way of feedback, it is quite fast, and the rest of the car follows correspondingly to input, rather tidily at that. Short of being ham-fisted about things, the 3008 tackles corners quite ably and flatly, helped along by a Dynamic Roll Control system, which helps reduce body roll. Developed in collaboration with Kayaba, the passive hydraulic system - consisting of a central module hydraulically linking the rear left and right shock absorbers - is built into the rear suspension cross-member, and features a floating piston and hydraulic compensation reservoir, pressurised to 20 bar.
On the whole, the Pug 3008 has a lot of appeal. It’s an ample, versatile offering, and priced at a very competitive RM143,888 (on-the-road, with insurance), there’s enough vehicle for Nasim to confidently aim it squarely at something like the Honda CR-V, which it is pitching it against, crossov … SUV to SUV. While it probably won't eat too much into the latter's lion's share (pardon the pun), it does offer a winsome alternative to consider in the price segment, even if isn't exactly the same in terms of actual classification.
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