Back in June I had the Peugeot 5008 on test in my normal Dublin city and suburban environment with more rural driving in the Fingal area of north County Dublin. I was tremendously impressed with the car at the time, so I decided a more extended test was required to really put the car through its paces. That extended test took the car on a much longer drive starting in Dublin, then taking in Wales and southern England. From there we went up into north eastern England and Scotland returning to Dublin via Northern Ireland. Why this longer test you may well ask ? Well a family car has a lot of demands made on it. There is the daily workday commute. Then there are all the weekend activities, which as any family motorist knows, can be many and very varied. Finally there is the family holiday, when you want to get away from the daily grind and get out to see and enjoy new places and experiences.

Above left Snowdonia mountains in Wales -- Below right Camberley in southern England

The Peugeot 5008 is a seven seater, which helps to make it the perfect family car, even if you don’t have five children. The centre row has three individual seats, each mounted on slides, just like the two front seats. All three are equipped with ISOfix fittings for child safety seats and the slides allow you to manage the space much better for children of varying heights and ages. All three seats are comfortable and well shaped, so are just as suitable for adults as they are for children. The two outer positions have the benefit of folding picnic tables, fitted to the backs of the two front seats. The two rear seats fold away into the floor, when not needed for seating purposes. They are comfortable, but headroom is restricted for adults of average height and kneeroom could be a problem if the centre row are right back on their runners. Thus they are better suited to teenagers than adults and they do not have ISOfix fittings, so are not suited to younger children. All seven seats are fitted with three point lap and shoulder seat belts as well as adjustable head restraints. The two rear doors are also fitted with sun blinds, which can be be very useful, especially if you have very small children asleep in their child safety seats. Access to the two rear seats is very convenient, as a lever on the top outer edge of the outer centre row seat backrests, when activated folds the seat cushion up into a vertical position against the backrest and lets the whole folded seat unit slide forward up against the back of the corresponding front seat. This gives an easy access to the rear seat on that side, for both adults and children.
If you have only three children, you may wonder why you would ever need seven seats. Well as the children get older they partake in many different activities like swimming, GAA sports, dancing and drama groups. Very often they go along with friends, which means you may need extra seating capacity to accommodate those friends in safety. Then there is the school run, where you may be part of a lifts club, taking your turn to do the necessary from time to time. Finally you may be visiting family or friends and if you go out together, it may be a whole lot more convenient to take just the one car.

Above : Three individual seats, each with ISOfix fittings and mounted on slides

Below : Reasonable access to the rear seat, through the rear side doors.

Besides being adaptable in their seating arrangements, a family car also needs to be both spacious and adaptable in its luggage carrying capabilities. If you are going on holiday and all seven seats are occupied, there is obviously very little storage space available for your luggage. In these circumstances, using the space under the two rear seats and the area between the seat backs and the lift-up luggage door, there is around 0.210 cubic metres of space. In these circumstances you may need to consider two options, a baggage trailer, or a roofbox. The 5008 will tow unbraked trailers of up to 750 kg, which gives you plenty of possibilities. One would be a sizeable baggage trailer, which is both easy to load and can be disconnected and parked when not needed. Another alternative is a roofbox and in this case you can carry up to 75 kg on the roof. Remember, however, that the 75 kg includes the weight of the box itself and the appropriate mountings. Then you need to consider the difficulty of loading and unloading a roofbox and the increased air flow resistance that it causes, which tends to increase fuel consumption. Personally I would favour the baggage trailer every time. If you are the sporting type you may want to tow a small boat trailer, which should be amply covered by that 750 kg limit, even if the boat is loaded with additional luggage.
A popular option for active families is to go camping and here the 5008 will oblige by allowing you to tow braked trailers of up to 900 kg in weight, which should cover a reasonable size caravan.
When only five seats are needed the 5008 has 0.679 cubic metres of space between the luggage floor and the underside of the roller blind type tonneau cover. If you remove the cover and load to the roof, this increases to 0.823 cubic metres of space. For those various jobs that need the maximum available space, like buying new furniture, garden tools and equipment etc., if you fold the centre row seats flat, the available space expands to a very satisfactory 1.754 cubic metres. This enabled me to carry two sections of the base of a new double bed, one section incorporating decent sized storage drawers. Unfortunately the luggage door was marginally too narrow to allow the mattress to fit in. So things like lawn mowers, pot plants, table, chairs, ornaments, ladders, carpets, tools and similar items should be no difficulty.
Below left : Family holiday luggage

Below right : All safely accommodated under tonneau cover

Below : Base of a double bed - no problem !

The 5008 has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that its ability to meet the vast majority of a family’s many and varied transportation needs is exceptional.

The instruments and driving controls are all well laid out, for comfort and convenience.
The instrument binnacle contains a large analogue tachometer on the left, with a matching speedometer on the right. In both cases the large white lettering is easy to see on the black background. Up under the curved hood, on the left there is an analogue engine temperature gauge, with a matching fuel level gauge on the right. Once again the combination of red and white lettering is easy to see at a glance whilst driving. Between the two large dials towards the lower centre, there is a digital information panel that gives a variety of different, selectable information, like the trip mileage, or the speed limit set on the cruise control.
Over in the centre console, below the two air vents, there is a shallow storage space, ideal for things like car park tickets, with the hazard warning switch on the left and a central locking/unlocking switch on the right. The audio equipment is immediately below, with a large rectangular digital information screen above the CD slot. When the audio is switched off this panel shows the time in large, clear, easy to see figures, the outside air temperature, as well as the day and date. Three large circular knobs immediately below the audio system provide all the functions of the air-conditioning system; distribution, fan speed and temperature. The open space below the gearlever provides access to the electric handbrake, while a large covered box between the two front seats provides a very spacious storage space for a variety of things like, food, cameras, keys and other items. Over in the driver’s door armrest there is a panel with switches for the four electric windows, as well as the controls for the electrically adjustable exterior, rear view mirrors and the childproof locks on the two rear doors. Each front seat has a narrow folding armrest on its inner side. The larger stalk on the left hand side of the steering column controls the lights and direction indicators, while the shorter one looks after the cruise control. Matching stalks on the right hand side look after the lights and washers and the trip computer. There is a 12v socket in the centre tunnel between the driver’s seat cushion and the electric handbrake, which may be used for a variety of plug in devices.

The leather covered steering wheel adjusts for both reach and height, while the electrically power assisted rack and pinion steering is geared to give 2.8 turns from lock to lock. Positioned within easy reach of the driver’s left hand the short gearlever has a smooth and precise operation. When you move off in either first or reverse gear, as the engine revs rise, the electric handbrake releases itself. You can hear it releasing and when it does so you can let out the clutch for a smooth take off. If you let out the clutch with too few revs, the brake holds which is rough and uncomfortable. When stopped at traffic lights, especially on an incline, the handbrake automatically acts as a hill holder.

Above and below : Front seating area

Sitting up that bit higher you have an excellent view of the road ahead and the scenery around you. It also makes getting in and out that bit easier. The suspension gives a smooth and comfortable ride over a wide variety of road surfaces with a subdued audible note to indicate to the driver the sort of surface you are travelling over. The car handles well on twists and turns, while manoeuvring in tight spaces is facilitated by the large clear exterior rear view mirrors and the large windows all round.

Above : Outside Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Gateshead, north eastern England

Below : The Angel of the North, Newcastle/Gateshead area of north eastern England

The test car was powered by Peugeot’s excellent 1.6 litre, direct injection, turbocharged, diesel engine. It is modestly tuned to deliver a specific output of 51.282 kW/lt. Exhaust emissions have been reduced to just 140 gm/km, so the car falls into Irish road tax band B, which at present rates, carries an annual road tax burden of 156 euro. Now that has to be excellent news for any family motorist in these depressing financial times ! Although the power to weight ratio is a very modest, 28.125 kg/kW, it in no way spoils the performance potential of this outstanding family car.
Potential top speed is 183 kph (113 mph), with a 0-100 kph acceleration time of 12.3 seconds. That is more than adequate for any family car. On UK and Irish motorways I was able to cruise comfortably at speeds between 90 kph (55 mph) and 130 kph (80 mph) depending on the traffic and speed limits. Generally speaking I was happy to cruise at around 105 kph (65 mph), but at times it was necessary to accelerate rapidly to pass slower traffic, or to cruise at higher speeds to avoid other traffic, mainly very large trucks who cruise at around the 105 kph - 112 kph (65 mph - 70 mph) mark.
According to the EU testing standards, the 5008 1.6 diesel is capable of 43 mpg (6.5 lt/100 km) on the urban cycle and 62 mpg (4.5 lt/100 km) on the extra urban cycle. This gives a combined cycle average of 53 mpg (5.3 lt/100 km). Of course these figures are obtained using set standards on a rolling road in laboratory conditions. Actual on the road conditions tend to vary very widely.
The tested commenced with a fair amount of Dublin city and suburban driving, before landing in Wales. Then once we had crossed over into England we encountered extensive delays at a variety of road works. In one particular section over two or three miles at the most, we were delayed for just over an hour. It wasn’t a case of stop and switch off, as the traffic stopped, then crawled along for a few yards before stopping again. Then in southern England the traffic was very heavy, with plenty of stops and starts. As a result, when I first topped up the fuel tank in Kent, our average fuel consumption worked out at 45.785 mpg (6.169 lt/100 km).
We did a fair bit of local driving around southern England, before heading for the north east. Our next top up was in Gateshead and for this second stage we averaged 53.9 mpg (5.242 lt/100 km). From the south to the north east, our journey was all done on motorways or roads of motorway like standards. This latter figure is very much in line with the Combined cycle average of the EU testing standards. That second fill up provided a lot of local driving around Gateshead, plus the trip to Edinburgh and then home via Glasgow, Stranraer and Belfast. When we arrived back in Dublin, we still had just over a quarter of a tank of fuel in the car.
I cannot imagine any family motorist being unhappy with that level of performance. I certainly, am delighted with it. Overall I loved the car, as a family car, my only concern is that it comes with a Spacesaver spare wheel, which is not one of my preferences.

Above : Ailsa Craig on the road to Stranraer

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