Peugeot 208: New small car series with three types of drive

The first impression : The new Peugeot 208 looks like Asterix after a pot of magic potion - small, strong and pretty brave.

That says the manufacturer: "The Power of Choice," as Peugeot product manager Guillaume Clerc describes the strategy for the new 208th "With us, customers can decide freely whether they want a petrol engine, a diesel or whether they are mature for electromobility. " Compromises would not have to be made, because there are no differences in the design or the space available.

What sounds like courtesy to the clientele, also meets the planners in the parent company PSA, admits Clerc. Because no one can currently say how the electric car sales will develop. "With our multi-energy platform, we are flexible and can live just as well with five percent electric share as with 30 percent," says Clerc. Although the current pre-orders the e-rate is 25 percent, Clerc expects a total of about 10 percent e-variants. "That is also the order of magnitude we are prepared for," adds Steffen Raschig, head of Peugeot in Germany.

photo gallery

12 pictures

Customers not only have a choice of drive, they are in some ways flexible in design. For the 208 is also so courageously upbeat and polarizing designed and allows such a futuristic interior, because he gets a - well, anyway, conservative cousin. Because on the same PSA platform with the identical engines also appears a new Opel Corsa.

We noticed that, like its sister brand, DS, Peugeot has managed to give the cars their very own, unmistakable character over the past few years. The 208 puts on it again. Because there is not only the chic keyboard with the central switches in the center console, the sensor fields and the touch screen and the unusually small steering wheel with the cockpit instruments moved far to the top. But the displays of the so-called i-cockpit now look three-dimensional through an optical trick.

With this unusual ambience, the 208 stands out from the crowd of small cars - and the choice of three types of drive is (still) unrivaled in this class, apart from the sister brands DS and Opel. Even with the 101-horsepower petrol engine from the middle of the engine range, the Peugeot attributed the largest sales share, one is more than sufficient motorized. In addition, the new platform for the 208 not only has become 30 kilograms lighter, but also stiffer and above all quieter due to the greater stability.

But when driving, the car is more common - whether as gasoline, diesel or battery. And the real pulse accelerator lacks the car's driving pep. For the steering is too indifferent and the chassis designed for comfort too much. All in all, driving seems almost negligible. The optically boring Opel Corsa brings - as it was at least in the test drives with the prototype - the blood a little bit more in the crowd.

Take a look inside the Peugeot 208 - with our 360 degree photo:

The rather sober driving is not the only criticism of the 208th Even with the so-called package Peugeot has a little messed up. Because as comfortable as the seats may be in the front and there is so much space there, there is nothing about the fact that the new 208 has been extended by about ten centimeters and now measures 4.06 meters. The knee room in the rear is moderate and the trunk has shrunk compared to the previous model by 20 to 265 liters. That also makes the identically long Corsa a little better and offers 15 percent more load volume.

You have to know: You can order the Peugeot 208 for a few weeks, to the dealers, he comes from November. While you can drive with the burners then immediately from the farm, the e-208 is delivered in view of the CO2 requirements from Brussels until the new year. The prices for the burner start at 15,490 euros, the e-model costs at least 30,450 euros.

There is a 100 kW motor and a battery with 50 kWh storage capacity. That's enough for speeds up to 150 km / h and WLTP standard for 340 kilometers range. With the burners, you have the choice between a 1.2-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine with 75, 101 or 131 hp or a four-cylinder diesel engine with 1.5 liters, which provides 102 hp.

Peugeot is particularly proud of the many assistance systems of the 208, which are usually offered in higher grades. There are, among other things, an automatic distance control with stop-and-go function and a guidance assistance with active steering intervention. However, all this costs extra - as well as the 3D cockpit. Even without an electric motor you can drive the price close to the 30,000 euro mark.

We will not forget that: The further developed i-Cockpit, whose digital announcements now gets a 3D effect by the projection on several successively staggered plastic discs. This not only looks unique, but is also easier to read according to research by the developer and saves so in the information recording half a second. At a speed of 100 you lay in this range back 15 meters.

vehicle registration