Road test report -------- August 2010 -------- by Kevin Fenix.

Peugeot 308 CC

From a very early age I was fascinated by convertibles. Towards the end of the nineteen fifties (1957-1959), Ford in North America, produced a convertible hardtop model known as the “Skyliner”. I thought it was fantastic and the most desirable car on earth. Unfortunately it was discontinued after just three years, as apparently potential buyers thought that the roof took up too much luggage space, when lowered. I couldn’t understand this, as the Ford of the time had a large rectangular boot, while the roof was also large and rectangular, so left plenty of space inside the boot, even when the roof was lowered. The concept seemed doomed to oblivion, until Mercedes-Benz resurrected it again in the nineteen nineties for their SLK two seater roadster. About the same time Lexus also adopted the concept for their new SC coupe, which was a four seater. Then a whole lot of mass market manufacturers like Renault, Peugeot, Volvo, Opel, Volkswagen and others seemed to adopt the design. Whereas once I thought it was a brilliant concept, I started to dislike it, far preferring the traditional folding fabric roof, as provided by the premium brands like, Audi and Bentley. One of the reasons I dislike the concept, is that in all the current versions I have tested, the roof does take up most of the luggage space when lowered. This makes the car far less suitable for touring.
Imagine my surprise then when one day at the Frankfurt Motor Show some years ago, whilst going through the museum section, I discovered that the concept was actually invented by Peugeot away back in 1934 ! Why Peugeot then waited some sixty plus years, before returning to the concept, is anybody’s guess. In most of the current crop of four seater, hardtop convertibles, that I have tested, rear seat kneeroom is extremely confined to say the least. In many of the smaller models it is non existent, making this area a total waste of space.

In the 308 CC I can just fit into the seat behind the driver’s seat, when the driver’s seat is set to my requirements, but it would only be acceptable for short runs. I tend to have the driver’s seat fairly far forward, but with the backrest angled well back. Indeed some of my colleagues when sitting into a seat I have vacated, ask if I normally drive lying on my back ! The 308 CC could thus present a bit of a problem for four people, depending on their space requirements. This would apply, whether the roof is raised or lowered.
From a driving point of view, I thoroughly enjoyed the 308 CC. When driving top down, surely the only way to drive a convertible, that steeply raked windscreen sends the airflow well over your head, so there is no uncomfortable draught from that source. Even with the side windows lowered, I had no difficulty with side or back draughts. Like most manufacturers, Peugeot provide a mesh screen, which can be erected behind the front seats to prevent back draughts. In my experience, all these unsightly additions do, is to obstruct your rear view. Peugeot also have another gimmick, which is probably a whole lot more effective. Each front seat headrest has a vent that can supply warm air to the back of the seat occupant’s neck. I had no need to use this, as the weather was generally very pleasant and my windproof jackets usually have a suitable collar, which can be turned up, if necessary, to eliminate any cold back draughts. In strong cross winds, it may be necessary to raise the side windows for comfort. When you do this, the interior becomes very calm and pleasant, almost like sitting out in a glass conservatory, enjoying the warmth of the sun.
Irish weather is known to be unpredictable, so many people who have convertibles, drive them with the top up, even on a sunny day. What is the point in these people having a convertible, I ask myself ? Once you are driving at a reasonable pace, let us say about 30 kph (20 mph), even if there is a light shower, the airflow over the windscreen will send the moisture up and over your head. The raised side windows will also prevent any moisture entering from the side. The only difficulty arises if you are crawling along behind some slow driver, who thinks anything above 15 kph (10 mph) is dangerous, or if you are in stop/go traffic. Obviously if the car is not moving at a sufficient pace, there is no airflow, so the rain comes straight in. This is where suitable clothing comes in. A wind and waterproof jacket, will protect you from getting wet at traffic lights and crawling traffic and will quickly dry off once you get moving at a reasonable pace again. If the worst happens and you get a sudden deluge, the roof takes around twenty four seconds to raise into position and the car needs to be stopped to accomplish this. Just so that you know, you can get extremely wet in twenty four seconds in a heavy shower, so do think ahead. You also need to keep your finger on the switch all the time. Apart from these few minor annoyances, driving the 308 CC top down is almost like experiencing Heaven here on earth.

From a driving point of view, the instruments and controls are all laid out for comfort and convenience. The instrument binnacle contains four, round, analogue dials with white faces, black lettering, plus red needles and highlights. There is also a rectangular, digital information panel, located between the two larger instruments. The large dials also have sections with a black background in order to highlight any red warning lights that may illuminate. In the case of the speedometer on the right, this black background houses a digital information panel showing the trip and total distance recorders.
On the left there is the tachometer, with large, black, easy to see figures. Engine speeds from 4,500 rpm to 5,000 rpm have red divisions, while from 5,000 rpm to 6,000 rpm there is a solid red band. The two smaller dials are for the engine temperature gauge (left), and the fuel level gauge (right).
At the top centre of the facia, above the three circular air vents, there is another, rectangular, digital information panel, showing the time, the date and the outside air temperature. The audio equipment is located below these three air vents, with the CD slot at the top of audio panel. Immediately below is an open, rectangular, storage space. The dual zone climate control is below this space. It has two digital panels, one on either side, indicating the temperature selected, plus three round knobs for selecting the various functions and settings. The large knob contains push button controls for the selection of direction; feet, face and hands, or roof. Around its perimeter there are four curved push switches for rear window heating, windscreen demisting and other similar functions, Twisting this knob controls the distribution fan’s speed. There is a further open storage space, below the heating/ventilating unit and ahead of the gearlever.
Between the two front seats there is an armrest with a covered storage box below. In this area, ahead of the armrest, there is a switch to raise or lower the roof and another to raise or lower the four side windows in one operation. Controls for the electrically operated exterior rear view mirrors, as well as the individual electric windows and the central locking, are in the driver’s door armrest. Switches for the warm air neck heating are in the centre tunnel in the vicinity of the gearlever, while the controls for the heating of the front seat cushions, are on the lower, outer corners, of the relevant seat cushion. The seats themselves adjust for reach, height and backrest angle. They are comfortable and well bolstered, with integral headrests.
Under the steering wheel, on the left hand side, there are stalks for the lights and direction indicators, plus an operational pad for the cruise control. Another stalk on the right looks after the washers and wipers. The steering wheel itself adjusts for both reach and height.

Although the seats are upholstered in leather, the sides of the front seat cushion, next to the centre tunnel are covered in cloth. Leather is the only sensible material for a convertible, as inevitably, it will get wet from time to time. Leather can be wiped dry with a cloth or chamois, whereas cloth absorbs the moisture.
The two rear seats are narrower than the front pair and although bolstered, are not nearly as generously proportioned as the front pair. They too have integral headrests, but the look alike warm air vents, are only there for decoration. There is a folding central armrest between the two individually shaped seats, but shoulder room is very restricted. Headroom is similarly restricted and the backrests are in a much more upright position. Quite frankly they are far more suitable for young children and smaller teenagers, than they are for adults. Both are fitted with ISOfix fittings for child safety seats. When I sat into a rear seat, with the roof erected, my head was up against the rear window, which curves forwards into the roof.
Giving the interior a sporty ambience, the gear knob, door handles, steering wheel and other parts, are finished in a polished aluminium trim. The pedals are alloy with round rubber grips. The steering wheel is leather covered and has a good chunky feel, making it pleasantly comfortable. It is geared to give 2.8 turns from lock to lock. Finally the lower section of the rim is very slightly flattened. It all goes to make driving the car a very pleasant experience, especially with the top down.

On the road the car rides and handles well. The ride is comfortable, while the steering has a pleasantly direct and positive feel. The brakes always seemed to up to the job in hand. Probably this is more to do with the fact, that four seater convertibles are generally driven in a more sedate manner, especially with the top down, by people out to enjoy the fresh air and great outdoors, rather than by boy racers more interested in making an impression on their admirers.
The two wide front doors, whilst making entry and exit from the two front seats, reasonably easy, can be a bit of a nuisance, as they require a lot of space on either side of the car, to avoid bashing the side of any vehicle parked alongside. Although they are very wide, they still make getting in or out of the rear seats, very difficult, especially for adults and even more so when the roof is erected.
To the best of my knowledge, the CC in the car’s model name, stands for Coupe Convertible, or Convertible Coupe. The idea was to save money by producing just the one body design, to satisfy two different sets of customer requirements. Personally I cannot see the rationale behind this thinking. The short rounded rear section of the roof, certainly does not impart a sleek, sporty, coupe look to the car, of the sort favoured by those who prefer a coupe. Also the cost of all the equipment needed to raise and lower the roof, adds unnecessary weight and expense for potential coupe buyers.
The same body shell, up to the lower window level could just as easily be used for both body styles, in the interests of manufacturing and production costs. A simple fixed roof could then be supplied for a coupe model, while a tailored fabric roof could be provided for the convertible version. Mercedes-Benz do this very successfully with their CLK model. This solution would also provide better luggage space for both versions.
On the other hand, there is a considerable body of opinion, which considers a soft roof to be undesirable in these times of widespread lawlessness and drug abuse. A folding hardtop gets around this difficulty, especially when the car is parked or otherwise unattended. That does not mean that people have given up on driving topless altogether, it just means they feel the car is safer when unattended.

When the roof is lowered, the 308 CC has 0.225 cubic meters of luggage space. While that is considerably better than most economy cars, it is well below the levels offered by most small cars. If you drive with the roof erected, luggage space improves to 0.405 cubic metres, which is actually better than many cars in the medium sector of the market. This means that touring with the top down is probably out of the question.

Below : Roof erected luggage space



Above left : Roof in lowered position, with storage space underneath
Above right : Roof down storage space under roller blind type cover

Power is provided by Peugeot’s highly respected 1.6 litre HDi diesel engine, driving a six speed manual gearbox. In this latest installation it is revised to comply with Euro 5 requirements. Part of this revision has been to replace the twin overhead camshafts with a single overhead camshaft, operating just two valves per cylinder. In revised form, as installed in the 308 CC it has exhaust emissions of 138 gm/km, allowing it to fall into Irish road tax band B, with an annual charge, at present rates, of 156 euro.
The six speed transmission has high gearing in the interests of good fuel economy. This means that in city and suburban conditions, you are hardly ever likely to be able to use fifth or sixth gear. You need to be doing a steady 80 kph (50 mph) in order to use fifth gear comfortably. In suburban speeds of 50 kph (30 mph), if you slow down for a speed hump in third gear, your engine speed is likely to fall to 1,000 rpm or lower, which is almost idling speed, so unless you change down to at least second, you can expect a noisy clatter from the tappets, as you try to accelerate.
On the plus side, the urban cycle fuel consumption is recorded as 42 mpg (6.6 lt/100 km), while on the extra urban cycle, this stretches to an excellent 61 mpg (4.6 lt/100 km). This gives a combined cycle average of 53 mpg (5.3 lt/100 km). In view of the absolute pleasure I enjoyed driving the 308 CC, I consider that to be highly satisfactory.

This highly satisfactory fuel consumption, is not achieved by delivering a snail’s pace performance. Top speed is 192 kph (119 mph), while the 0-100 kph acceleration time is 13.1 secs. Convertibles, as opposed to roadsters, are not meant to be driven like potential world rally cars. Their whole rationale, is to allow ordinary people to enjoy the great outdoors. Roadsters on the other hand are also designed to allow younger people to enjoy the great outdoors, but they must in addition provide a spirited and very sporty performance, so that supreme driving enjoyment goes hand in hand with a mighty adrenaline rush.
While I thoroughly enjoyed my test period with the 308 CC, I must admit to one big disappointment. The car came without a spare wheel ! True they do give you an air compressor that pumps latex into your punctured tyre, but while these gadgets do work in certain circumstances, being an old fashioned sort of bloke, I prefer the old fashioned full size spare wheel and tyre.

Technical data