By IOL Motoring Staff
Paris, France - Peugeot's all-new 3008 is not only its new player in the ultra-competitive SUV C-segment, it's the first of a whole new SUV range.
It'll be the star of the Peugeot stand at the Paris motor show, ahead of its global launch later this year and it will be released in South Africa in the first quarter of 2017.
The 3008 is not a van or a station wagon; it's intended to put the S back into SUV with a bluff, front end, a long bonnet, wide protective mouldings and a high waistline with a lower glass-house area.
At 4450mm long on a 2675mm wheelbase, it's 80mm longer than its predecessor, 62mm of which is between the axles. Its width is unchanged at 1840, and overall height has been kept to 1620mm, despite an imposing 220mm of ground clearance.
The new EMP2 platform enables a weight saving of about 100kg over the previous 3008.
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The cabin has been designed around the driver, starting with a high-tech flight deck based on a completely customisable 12.3 inch i-Cockpit display, which has four standard modes and a 'Personal' mode that can display navigation instructions, driver aids, engine parameters and trip data in practically any combination you can dream up.
The compact steering wheel has been redesigned with two flats to make it easier to grip, and all but the entry-level version come with full leather trim. Then there's an eight inch tablet style touchscreen at the top of the centre stack, together with six toggle switches giving direct access to the aircon, radio navigation vehicle parameters telephone and online functions.
But there's also a seventh switch, next to the toggles, that accesses a special set of functions called Amplify, allowing you to custom-tune the brightness of the ambient lighting and the colour of the screens, the audio equaliser settings, the multipoint massage embedded in the seats and the fragrance diffuser.
The 3D navigation display, featuring images of buildings and monuments, can be copied from the centre stack to the instrument panel at the touch of a knob on steering wheel, with TomTom Traffic for real-time traffic and route information.
Boot space is up from 432 to 520 litres, and the 2:1 split rear seat back folds to create a flat load-floor and 1670 litres of cargo bay. A two-position sliding floor makes for easy use of the boot space and at fold-flat passenger seat gives a load-space three metres long!
Nuts and Bolts
The 3008 will be available in Europe with a choice of three turbopetrol and five turbodiesel engines, starting from the 95kW 1.2-litre Puretech with six-speed manual gearbox in standard and very-low consumption versions. The standard version will also be available with a six-speed auto transmission. The top petrol version is the 120kW 1.6-litre THP, with six speed auto transmission only.
The entry-level oil-burner is the 75kW 1.6-litre BlueHDi with five-speed manual cogset, followed by the 88kW 1.6 BlueHDi with six manual speeds in standard or very-low consumption versions, or with six-speed auto in standard version only.
The range-topping two-litre BlueHDi comes with 110kW (six-speed manual) or 132kW (six-speed auto) mappings.
Standard safety kit includes switchable multi-mode traction control with five grip levels - Normal, Snow Mud, Sand and Off (you're on your own, buddy) - and hill descent control, which holds the car to a speed of as low as 3km/h for very scary downhills.
Driver aids include active safety brake and distance alert, active lane departure warning, driver attention warning, automatic adaptive headlight main beam, speed limit sign recognition and recommendation, active blind-spot monitoring, 360 degree all-round cameras, park assist and adaptive cruise control, with idle stop function on automatic transmissions.
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