18/09/08

• Price18,245
• We like...soft ride, glass roof
• We don't...high price; not sporty

Soft-riding small estate has space for seven and a huge glass roof to let the sunshine in. It's steeply priced, though  

Seven seats, a big luggage carrying net, and a vast glass roof: the 308 SW packs a lot into a modest space. ‘SW’ stands for, yup, you’ve already guessed, ‘Station Wagon’, a name coined in the United States in the 1950s for a then-new breed of saloon cars given extra load-carrying capability.

Even with the extra seats aboard, the boot space is generous. But, pop ‘me out and it becomes vast, easily outstripping rivals such as Ford’s Focus Estate. The load area also has lashing points, bungee elastics to keep bottles upright and a sturdy to tie things down. All good stuff.

Those rearmost seats are a £495 option on our Sport model (though they’re standard on the top model, the SE) and although they are well contoured they are also too cramped for adults to spend long in them, while entering and exiting is a struggle unless you’re limber and fit. And with every seat used, the load space left is barely enough for a couple of shopping bags.

Space is more than generous for those in the first two rows, while mid-row seats fold individually on this model and slide to and fro to increase luggage space or legroom, according to need. And that big glassed roof adds to what already feels an airy cabin. Driving in the country on a clear night, you can watch the stars. Kids will love it.

For the driver, this 308 feels just like a hatchback to pilot, which is great if you’re no fan of the bus-like at-wheel posture that some mid-size seven-seat MPVs impose. You’re sat no higher than in other 308s, behind a dash lifted from the hatchback version. It’s a button-packed affair, especially if you go for the optional multi-media system and sat-nav fitted to ours (costing £1350 extra), and some are small and closely spaced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That aside, the SW’s an easy drive, giving a soft, loping ride known to everyone’s who’s ever driven a Peugeot. It’s relaxed and smothers urban bumps well before settling to a firm, level cruise at motorway speeds. The controls are light and well-judged, though the steering dsn’t say much about whatever the front tyres are up to.

The 1.6 HDi 110bhp engine also powers umpteen other Peugeots and hear it’s gutsy at low revs, if gruff. Its 139g/km CO2 output keeps road tax and company car bills sensible, while its 53.2mpg overall is excellent. The one thing this engine can’t claim is to be sporty, so it sits oddly in this ‘Sport’ model. That said, nothing about our car merited the badge – it’s good, but it’s no athlete.

The SW is well equipped – our mid-range model has alloy wheels, air conditioning and that big glass roof – but our mid-level Sport is stiffly priced at £18,245. The cheapest is the 1.4 petrol S at just less than £15,000, while the range-topping 136bhp HDi SE auto is a giddy £21,000.

Second-hand, you’ll turn to the car this replaces, the 307 SW, and these are available at prices starting from a few thousands of pounds.

 

 

 

 

• Engines1.6 HDi
• Power
• 0-60 mph12.4sec
• Economy53.2mpg
• CO2g/km139
• Insurance groups7E
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags6
• Seats7

Motors.co.uk value verdict: