2021 Peugeot 5008 long term test: report 2

The car Peugeot 5008 Allure 1.2 PureTech 130 EAT8 S&S Run by Kiall Garrett, senior videographer

Why it’s here Will a large SUV cover all bases for a videographer who drives lots of miles and requires plenty of space?

Needs to be practical, comfortable on long journeys and not too expensive to keep running

Mileage 3857 List price £33,035 Target price £30,943 Price as tested £33,610 Official economy 46.0mpg Test economy 44.0mpg

19 October 2021 – Road trip

Nothing ‘breaks in’ a new car like a road trip, and so in the case of my Peugeot 5008, I took it and my partner to Leicester for the weekend to see some friends.

What did I learn? Well, this might not shock you; but the 5008 is massive.

Being a large SUV, I never really thought the Peugeot would struggle on the practicality side of things, but even so, I was amazed at how much I could cram in it.

With only two people in the car, I could stowaway the two rearmost seats to free up some extra room. Several bags of luggage slotted into the boot nicely alongside my tripods and other camera equipment, and I didn’t even need to flatten the middle row. 

Really, if I wanted much more space than what’s on offer in the 5008, then I’d need to get a minibus.

On top of all this, the four-hour trip to our destination breezed by thanks to the really comfortable ride you get in the 5008. It’s particularly nice and settled on the motorway. Knowing it’s so practical and so comfortable has definitely motivated me to plan some more trips away with it.

And it looks like I won’t have to be quite such a regular visitor to the fuel pumps as I was with my Mini Countryman plug-in hybrid. I reckon I’ll be able to squeeze 500 miles out of the 5008’s 50-litre tank, and given the recent fuel supply issues I’m lucky I haven’t had to inadvertently test that theory out.

If there’s one slight irritation to pick out so far, then it’s the stop-start engine system. In stop-start traffic it seems to turn itself off just at the point when I want to move away again.

Maybe that’s my problem and not the car’s, but I still think the system could be a little smoother – there are some mild hybrids around which have barely noticeable stop-start systems, but the Peugeot 5008’s is a little more dramatic. I’m tempted to just turn it off for good. But I’ll need to do a few more town miles to fully make up my mind.

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