Peugeot 208 Review

Peugeot's smallest car now looks more aggresive and has an electric brother.

51w ago
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Let's start with the easy stuff. The updated 208 looks better than it predecessor. From the new ''fangs'' in the front, to the more muscular rear end, comparing it to the previous generation is like night and day and the baby Peugeot now looks more like its bigger, more expensive brethren.

The more aggressive design definitely bleeds into the car's interior. The now iconic Peugeot small and square steering wheel makes a return, but the optional digital dials now feature a 3D effect. While yes this is absolutely a gimmick, it's not distracting and it's interesting to look at, so they get a thumbs up from me. Unfortunately there isn't much personalization you can do with the digital dials, I'm unsure whether its worth the added cost. Moving to the center, the infotainment screen is available in 7 and 10 inch variants and now features CarPlay and Android Auto. Both screens look great and respond quickly to your commands, but are still not the easiest to understand. Luckily another feature that trickled down from Peugeot's bigger cars, the ''piano'' shortcut keys look and feel great and they make navigating around much easier. One of these piano keys also opens the now only single zone climate control menu because yes, Peugeot has gotten rid of physical A/C buttons in favor of a cleaner dashboard. The center console itself comes in two variants, the premium one seen above with an electronic parking brake, the sea of easily scratched piano black plastic and a central armrest, while the basic one features an old school handbrake for when you need to impress someone with a handbrake turn.

The old 208 valued comfort over rigidity and the new one continues this tradition. The suspension irons out most road imperfections, but also allows the 208 to roll more when you try to push it a little harder. It's much the same story with the optional 8-speed automatic. Smooth enough when driving around town, but it would often wait too long to shift, leaving you without power when you need it most. You can control it with paddles, but they aren't the fastest to respond. Another plus carried over from the last generation is the driving position. You can get as low or as high as you want and in conjunction with the small steering wheel it just works. What has improved dramatically is the sound insulation. You get some noise from around the mirrors, but even at highway speeds the car just feels a lot more refined than before. One big negative for this generation is rear visibility. The C-pillars create a big blind spot and the small rear window doesn't help when maneuvering around parking lots. Luckily the optional rear camera is good enough to the point where it didn't really bother me.

The 208 is now available with all of the safety systems you would expect in 2021. You can get adaptive cruise control that works well, but isn't always the smoothest, lane assist that you can only get with the automatic, road sign recognition and emergency braking. The big new addition to the lineup is the e-208. The electric version of the 208 features a 340km range from its 50kWh battery and a 100kW (136hp) motor that powers you to 100km/h in 8.1 seconds. You can fill the e-208 to 80% in as little as 30 minutes if you use the maximum 100kW DC charging power. All this electrification does of course come at a cost. While the petrol 208 starts at just under 14.000€, the e-208 starts at almost 32.000€ before government incentives. And while the electric version comes with more kit as standard, the high price point will likely scare many potential buyers off. For comparison, VW's ID.3 will start at 30.000€, feature a similar range and more standard equipment.

What are your thoughts on the new 208? Let me know in the comments below!

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