Price at S$136,888 with COE, the crossover SUV has new LED lighting and a restyled face that complements the car’s economical 1.2-litre turbo engine

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SINGAPORE  

The seemingly relentless rollout of new seven-seaters in Singapore continues with the updated Peugeot 5008, even as the COE quota reduction is making its presence felt with the steep increase in recent COE prices. 

Similar in concept and execution as the smaller, five-seater Peugeot 3008 that was updated earlier this year, the bigger 5008 gets a new frameless grille at the front, and the front headlights have also been redesigned. They now feature new LED light signatures with three-claw tail light motifs at the rear and scrolling indicators.

The 12.3”-inch digital instrument panel and 10” high-definition capacitive touchscreen infotainment system in the car is just about identical to the one found in the 3008, which we found to be one of the classier designs currently out there, and equally easy to adapt to quickly. 

A 1.2-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine drives the car’s front wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It’s the same engine found in the Peugeot 3008, and also in the new Peugeot 2008. 

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It’s the only engine variant that we are getting in Singapore, as we will not be getting the 1.6-litre turbo engine available in some other countries. The reason is simply down to our unique COE system that automatically pushes any car with more than 130 horsepower into the Category B ‘large car’ class. The Peugeot engine’s 129 horsepower just squeaks into the Category A COE bracket, making the 5008 one of the few seven-seaters available here with a Category A COE.

The other obvious competitor with seven seats, SUV styling and a Category A COE is the Mercedes-Benz GLB 180 which costs around S$50k more than the base variant of the Peugeot 5008. Here’s what we thought of the larger engined GLB 200.

In this age of 180+ horsepower MPVS like the new Kia Carnival, the big question is of course will the little engine have power to properly move a fully loaded 5008? You’ll have to wait for our full test drive to find out, but from our impressions in the 3008 it’s a very torquey and punchy engine so should manage the extra baggage of the larger car quite well. On paper, the car’s 0 to 100km/h acceleration time of 10.2 seconds is decent but not quick, and it also claims a not-too-shabby fuel economy of 5.2l/10km. 

The car’s interior is largely unchanged but that’s a good thing to us because the current-gen Peugeot cockpits, with the compact steering wheel and well-placed controls, make plenty of ergonomic sense from the driver’s perspective.

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The 5008 hides two seats in the third row that fold away, expanding the boot from 780 litres to a massive 1,940 litres. The middle bench features three individually adjustable seats, and Peugeot claims that with all seats folded and the front passenger seat tipped forwards, objects up to 3.4 metres long can be safely carried in the car. 

It’s also packed with a wealth of active safety features including Lane Departure Warning and Driver’s Attention Warning.

Order books are already open, and the way we see it COEs are not going to get any lower in the next couple of months so if you’re shopping for a premium level seven-seater but without the luxury car price tag and fuel bill, the Peugeot 5008 is one of the cars worth checking out.

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