Peugeot 308

Stunning styling inside and out, with fun-to-drive dynamics help the new Peugeot 308 range stand out from the small car pack.

Does this hatch deserve more love in its segment?

For keen drivers who want a full-sized small car but can’t stretch to a full-tilt hot hatch, Hyundai and Peugeot offer ‘warm’ hatches for less than $40,000. We find out whether the i30 N Line Premium or 308 GT is the pick.

Returning to the warm-hatch segment is the limited-release Peugeot 308 GT. The sharp pricing is just the first thing to impress.

The new Peugeot 308 will be priced from $43,990 plus on-road costs, with more standard equipment across the range than the old model.

The first appearance of the 2023 Peugeot 308 in Australia signals another renewal plan from the under-performing French make.

Peugeot Australia's first electric vehicle is a van, due in showrooms next year – ahead of battery-powered passenger cars and SUVs at a later date.

The Peugeot 308 can now be had with petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid or now electric power, with the addition of the battery-powered, 400km-range e-308.

Claire is in the market for a new small hatch but doesn’t want anything too mainstream, so no Fords, Holdens, Hyundais, Kias, Mazdas or Toyotas. 

Who thought 400Nm and a gigantic rear wing were a good idea?

Since launching in Australia four months ago, the Peugeot 308 GTi has certainly garnered a lot of praise within the CarAdvice office. With this in mind, I swiped the keys to the entry-level 250 variant, and spent a week with the most affordable Peugeot 308 GTi you can buy.

European hot hatches square off to determine who builds the best GTI.

So, a little while ago here I posted a very glowing review of my 2008 Ford Territory TX – my first car. In March this year, though, a family discussion of my needs and the car’s age and resale etc. came up, and the decision was made to switch from the trusty, but aging Tezza. Ideally, the next car would be a direct replacement – a dog-mobile/tow car with preferably a diesel engine and lower mileage. A Ford Mondeo was given definite consideration, but the Peugeot 308 ended up being the winner without even having been previously considered. I simply walked into Australian Motors, asked what they had – they showed me the 308, and it was love at first drive. No towbar or dogs in this one though! Design In short, I’d say the 308 is understated but handsome. It’s the Active grade which means it scores LEDs front and back and 16” alloys, and it’s finished in beautiful Noir Perla Nera metallic black. Why they had to call the colour “Black Pearl Black” in two languages beats me, though. But, it’s got a nice low stance and a flowing, almost feline look to it. I like it a lot. The interior is also beautiful; its design is super-clean and shapely (more on that later) and the chunky steering wheel and symmetrical gauges are a sporty, but attractive combination. A classy, very French design. Interior First up, there isn’t as much space as the Territory had. Duh. But, for a hatchback, it’s really not bad at all. I’m 6’3”, and my driving position in perfectly comfortable. Sitting behind my seat in the back, the legroom is a little tight for someone my size, but fine for short trips. I’ve taken 5 people in it before, though, no worries. The boot, however, benefits from the small-ish rear seats with 435 litres of boot space – impressive, for example, when we compare it to a BMW 1 Series which has similar rear seat room but 360 litres of boot space. The interior quality is outstanding – for a sub-$30,000 car, the interior truly feels a big step above its price point. The tasteful application of piano black and silk metal trim combined with the suave design, good equipment levels and quality construction bely its price point. Add in leather seats, and you wouldn’t be disappointed with the quality if it had a BMW badge on it. The seats, particularly in the front, are great. Good bolstering, nice centres and quality padding and trim. Plenty of adjustment, including lumbar support and a cool design. The dash has a very attractive, clean design but there are a couple of situations where more shortcut buttons would be nice. Most essential functions are accessible from the steering wheel though. Equipment levels are impressive – dual-zone climate control, touchscreen, Bluetooth with audio streaming, cruise control, speed limiter, parking sensors, leather wheel/shift lever/handbrake and a quality stereo make the interior a very comfortable place to be. Performance This is, by far, the aspect of the 308 that surprised me most when driving it for the first time. I was told it was a 1.2 litre engine, and my stomach dropped. I thought that it could have been such a good car, until it would inevitably struggle with the uphill South Eastern Freeway in Adelaide. Boy, was I wrong. It’s got 96kW@5500rpm but, even better, 230Nm@1750rpm. The low-down torque is outstanding and it gets up the freeway in 6th with no trouble. Acceleration is spirited, and not just for a 1.2. It’s got easily enough merging and overtaking power from its 1.2-litre turbo triple, and gets going with surprising verve. Honestly, I expected it to do 0-100km/h in something like 11 seconds, but even now it feels quicker yet than its 8.8-second claim. And yet, I average 7.1L/100km driving between the Hills and city traffic – half of what the Territory used. Ride and Handling These two elements are also outstanding. The 308’s kerb weight of 1150kg is noticeable, to say the least. The fact that it feels almost rear-wheel-drive through corners is testament to its lightness and balance, and with its direct steering, sharp brakes and almost telepathic gearbox (I almost never put it in manual mode – ‘S’ mode, which I presume stands for ‘Silly’ mode, is absolutely brilliant) make it a properly fun car. There’s a surprising amount of outright grip, and it’s particularly confidence-inspiring in tight corners. The tighter you turn, the more grip you discover. It’s, frankly, an addictive drive. The ride is good too. For style purposes, 18” wheels would look cool, definitely – but that would sacrifice the supple ride and tight turning circle you gain from its handsome 16” alloys. The ride is not quite as soft as the Territory’s, but it is still absolutely fine, even in the Adelaide Hills where it remains compliant and settled. The rear suspension doesn’t love really big mid-corner bumps if you hit them hard, but it’s always a controlled and composed car, and a surprisingly talented cruiser. The noise and vibration are also genuinely impressive. The fact that Peugeot has made this car 1150kg while its competitors regularly break the 1400kg barrier almost confuses me – because I can’t tell what’s missing that makes the 308 so light. And this includes not skimping on insulation. It’s a quiet car, particularly with its Goodyear Efficientgrip tyres helping keep things smooth, and is a talented road tripper – and not just for a small car. My recommendation is this, then: if you’re buying a car for your family, you will probably like the new i30 or the Mk7.5 Golf for their bigger back seats, and other family-friendly aspects like rear A/C vents. But, if you’re buying a small car for yourself, and the driving experience, this car is an absolute winner and a fantastic driver’s car. The value equation (for mine at least) was pretty fantastic too - under $17,000 for a demo 308, with all its kit and new car warranty, I would say was a pretty awesome deal. I’m absolutely stoked with my 308, and until I (probably) get an XR6 Turbo in a few years, I’m very happy to call the little black Pug mine. All that remains now is to get a big sticker of Jeremy Clarkson yelling “Maniac!” on the back.

I brought my (what has proven to be) trustworthy 308 amidst all the usual small car options. I surveyed Mazda 3’s, the Ford Focus, and the CarAdvice all-rounder Volkswagen Golf. Due to the kilometers I travel, a diesel seemed like the best option. One thing that PSA have always done very well is diesel! I took the ‘risk’ of buying my first car, a ‘unreliable’ French car. Yes, before you ask, the fuses are mounted in the glovebox – it’s not the end of the world. After all, the French are known for their questionable ergonomics and designs. To me, it all adds to the quirkiness. You can’t compare the looks to anything else in a sort-of bizzaro way. Starting with the engine. I purposely opted for the 2.0 HDi, paired with the Aisin 6 speed automatic gearbox. The smaller 1.6 HDi was out of the picking, as it only comes with the automated manual option – riding in one proves that AMTs aren’t the end of the world, but the gearbox and transmission combo on higher specced Pugs is a winner for me. While power outputs are measly at just 100 kW, torque figures rival some older 4WD’s and utes on the market. 320 Nm at just 2,000 RPM means no matter a merge or a gentle acceleration, speed is more of a gradual change rather than a violent event. Put your foot down and it’ll thrash and scream. There’s a timed over-boost function, but I find it to be generally unnoticeable. Mid throttle acceleration is where this car performs best. It delivers power in such a way where you don’t really have to accelerate, you just watch the needle bounce around from 1,500-2,500 before eventually hitting a cruising speed. 2,200 RPM at 110 is a bit high, really it could do with a 7th gear, as did many of the TDI Volkswagens I also looked at. Steering feel is smooth and surefooted; I like the fact the steering has good weight without being lethargic. It irons out everyday driving, but can become unsettled along the poorer kept roads of Northern NSW. The back suspension appears to be on its way out, tending to sometimes crash and bump, but still has life left. I like the large steering wheel with grip bolsters and its leather trimming (even though it has all peeled off. I call it rustic French patina), the stalks that take place of traditional steering wheel controls are actually much easier to use once you get a feel for their placement. The cruise control allows you to jump up speeds in increments of 5 or 10 if so desired, a great feature for rapid speed limit changes as opposed to holding down the button and hoping the needle lands somewhere close to where you actually want it. Interior is tastefully furnished, a centre screen houses parking sensors, a configuration menu where you can adjust little things such as time for the automatic lights to turn off, a diagnostic log which shows you any faults, as well as full RDS text from the rather average single-DIN head unit and 6-speaker setup. Climate control is automatic, and dual-zone. There are also nice little touches such as auto up/down windows on all four doors (Seriously, why is this NOT standard on every car these days?) a rear vent for the backseat passengers, as well as a nifty trip computer that houses three different trip computers. Gauges take some time to get used to being incremental in odd variants, but this is just one of those typical French things. 50 and 130 km/h are highlighted red, as per French motorway limits. The front seats straddle the line between supportive and firm, despite the foam collapsing on the drivers side. Rear passenger legroom is very disappointing, and the clumsy collapsing seat system is terrible. 7 seater wagons have a much more practical MPV style seating system, however. Now, onto running costs. Fuel economy is this car’s main selling point. Unlike petrol engines which loose their economy when pushed, this thing will happily be driven by people like myself (A P-plater, and a delivery driver at that) and still return a combined 6.2 l/100 km. On the highway it’s easy to beat the claimed highway figures, I’ve recorded 5.0 at 110 km/h with AC, and as low as 3.9 during 90 km/h economy runs without use of any interior niceties. Servicing is cheap, provided you hunt parts online. I order my parts from eBay, generally parts are easy to find due to the wide application of PSA engines. I service the car every 20,000 km and have had no issues in doing so since I purchased the it at 100,000 km. 83,000 km later and the car is still running fine. Replaced parts are as follows; A main engine mount at 150,00 km. A $50 crank position sensor (Which caused all sorts of unusual error messages and OBDII codes), and a fuel pressure sensor was also replaced shortly after, which fixed the common “Depollution system fault” error, amongst other issues with stalling. This car gets driven hard, and arguably not as well looked after as some may prefer. Reliability for what is essentially a 200,000 km car is faultless. As no parts had been replaced prior to my ownership, albeit perishables such as tyres and bulbs. On the topic of bulbs (and lighting), my main MAJOR gripe comes with the appalling wiring within the headlight modules. It appears the electrical wiring in the rest of the car is surprisingly well insulated and non-French, whereas as soon as you get to the front lights, its de-ja-vous, constant blown bulbs and the occasional shortage. My next port of call will be eBay replacements, after I get sick of taping up the existing wires. All in all, I’m glad I took a risk with Pug, she’s been a fine workhorse, but also with great character and drivability. Provide you’re lucky enough to (like myself) NOT get a lemon, the Europeans have plenty to show for those wanting something just a little bit out of the box.

I have had my 2015 Peugeot 308 Touring wagon for a year and a half now, and really enjoy the car. Originally I was tossing up between a Holden Calais, the Subaru Liberty and the 308. I ended up going with the Peugeot because of the nimble handling and supremely light steering. The Calais by comparison was boat like, although I can see the benefit of the larger vehicle on the open Australian country roads. The Liberty never got test driven because of the insanely long wait times at their dealership. Once settled on the 308, I opted for the 1.6T Petrol Allure version with the Nappa leather seat option, plus 18 inch alloys. The exterior styling is conservative, but slightly less boxy than the VW Golf or Passat. Inside, the first thing that you note is the Go-Kart like steering wheel that sits beneath the dash display. Apparently, some people have issues with dash display visibility due to that setup. I prefer a higher driving position so have never had that problem. The tech inside is pretty good with a touch display for controlling everything. It's a bit clunky sometimes, but overall ok. The GPS lady is not very clued up and will advise you to drive off cliffs or other means of certain death routinely. The reversing cam is sharp and bright which is helpful. The things I really love about the 308 are the seats, which are basically super comfy (as long as you're not Andre the giant), the steering which is just super light and responsive, the smoothness of the engine, the stability and sure footedness of the ride, and the spacious boot space in a small form wagon. That 1.6T 110kw engine is nicely powered, but torque is a little on the light side, which might be more noticeable if your foot is of the leaded inclination, or if you have a load. But the engine and transmission are very nicely matched and super smooth. There's no paddles for the gears, but putting the auto in manual mode gives you everything you need. Occassionally there is a little turbo/acceleration lag, this can be particularly noticeable at roundabouts and you need to alternate between braking and acceleration quickly. The car is best suited around town, but also sits on the open road nicely at low revs. One main disappointment of the car is the fuel economy. 6.5 litres per 100km combined is claimed, but that is a pipe dream. I get 8.5-9.0 around town and the best ever was a road trip where we averaged 6.4. The engine requires premium 95 octane which means that difference is magnified. The other notable shortcoming is the console (one drink holder only) and glove box space (fuse box), which is partially caused by the LHD to RHD conversion. However, overall I have been very happy with the purchase. There's been absolutely no issues with the reliability of the car and customer service at the dealer and service centre have been spot on. The pricing given the tech and engineering of the vehicle is great value, and a great alternative to the ubiqitous VW.

When I bought the 2013 Peugeot 308 Sportium Touring wagon, space enough to fit two bikes standing in the rear instead of plonking them on the roof or rear mounted rack was the main requirement as was the ability to load large Ikea flat-packs. This car is versatile enough for all this as all rear seats( 5 of them) can be removed. The compromise was uncomfortable thin seats - unusual for Peugeot- and taut ride(bum numbing in fact), fine as it's a Sportium you say? A strong diesel engine which pulls superbly up climbs matched to a smooth, seamless 6 speed gearbox and great economy (5.4/l Melbourne to Brisbane). Replacing the tyres to Pirelli P7's, has improved the ride and handling immmensely. Poor turning circle will frustrate as will lack of front sensors, dipping side mirrors, paddleshift, rear camera standard on German cars for around the same money. Bluetooth phone works well but the GPS requires some getting used to as are the out of date maps. Service costs are reasonable but the goalposts shifted in the course of ownership beginning at $299 every 20Km on purchase but now $339 every 15Km two years later?? If you want a strong pulling, space wagon with matched quiet diesel and gearbox this is it, as long as you don't mind 3 point turns all the time and hitting bottom over gutters at the front. Would I own another? If I was a family man, the combinations of space, diesel economy, and good looks would win me as long as more standard features were included for the same money.