The all new Peugeot 308 is now available, roaring its way through, hoping it will reinstate the glory of the volume to hit the ever popular VW Golf TSI. The 308 in the C-Segment hatch guise, looks luxurious, but...hmm...beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. To claim this is a hatch, the rear of the 308 makes it more toward a station wagon feel and in fact, looks kind of dull when compare to the predecessor that it replaced. Well, if you want a good looking hatch, at similar price zone (the 308 is asking for about RM133k), do give the Mazda 3 a look. But if you are a boring person, the 308 could be the right fit, especially who could resist the alcantara seats!
Still, in the heart of the lion, the familiar "One for all" 1.6-litre THP Prince engine continue to soldier on, albeit being tuned to produce 150hp/240Nm of power, mated to a 6-speed Aisin torque converter gearbox. The latest Peugeot's PureTech engine will not make it to our shore any time soon, which could be caused by the fuel quality issue.
The interior of the 308 is the most luxurious C-Segment around. With a minimalistic design of the center console, leaving only few buttons accessible where the rest of the functions are now control via the 9.7" touch screen. Brilliant design! However, to those that like to have their own AV system, it is now impossible, and you are left with the 6-speaker Arkamys-tuned system, which should be good enough for most normal ears. Parking brake is electronic controlled now, as well as the cool Push-Start button located behind the gear stalk. As with Peugeot design language with its small car, the 308 adopted the similar small little steering wheel, where one needs to look over it for the meter cluster. Most of the time, the steering wheel will block the view and Peugeot ought to listen to Asian customers as we are mostly not as tall. Peeping carefully to the RPM meter, it spins from right to left defying the norm. Geeks will defintely like to have something different somehow. In our hot weather, the owner better tint the panoramic roof as dark as it could before the sun start a bush fire on your head. The built-in blind will not do any good to block it off for you as it is a thin mesh of white cloth.
A continental car always win with ton of safety features and the 308 is not an exception. It has 6-airbag, ABS, Traction control, rear-view camera, 5-star NCAP rating, LED lights, Emergency Collision Braking (Self braking), and Dynamic Cruise Control that could maintain a safe distance from the car ahead. And, yes, the 308 is a lot pricier than the previous model, but with all the new technology included, on an all new EMP2 platform which shave 140kg off, and able to give you 800km on a full tank of petrol, this 308 means business. Only the Alcantara seats will set one at least RM10k extra if it were offered as an option.
So, is the new 308 a station wagon or hatch? You decide! The previous 308 brings Peugeot brand back alive in Malaysia, but its glory has been overtaken by the 208, thus, Naza could afford to offer a luxurious 308 now, but the volume could drop significantly when there are other choices out there!
