Peugeot 3008 review

All versions come with a height adjustable driver’s seat and a reach and rake adjustable steering wheel. These allow enough variance to get a good driving position.

Peugeot’s i-Cockpit dashboard design works well in the 3008. Instead of looking at the instruments through the steering wheel, as you do in most cars, the dials are high up on the dashboard with a small steering wheel below. In some other Peugeot models the steering wheel can block the instruments, but in the 3008 this doesn’t appear to be an issue.

The driver’s seat is supportive, and all bar the entry-level trim comes with electric lumbar adjustment. On either side of you, large armrests add welcome support.

Most of the controls are sensibly positioned, although you have to go into the touchscreen menus to bring up the climate functions, including the temperature controls, and the cruise control buttons are completely hidden behind the steering wheel.

Seeing out of the 3008 is, in the main, as easy as it is in other small SUVs. The thick windscreen pillars create a blind spot around roundabouts and a small rear screen doesn’t help when reversing. However, from mid-spec Allure trims upwards front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera are standard equipment.

Allure models also come with a blind spot warning system to highlight cars lurking to your side, and dusk sensing lights and rain-sensing wipers are standard throughout the range.

You have to upgrade to GT Line trim if you want super bright LED headlights, or add them as an option on Allure models.

All 3008 versions get DAB radio, Bluetooth and a digital instrument display, which you can configure in a number of ways. It displays a wealth of information directly in your field of vision and its read-outs are clear, but they’re not quite as configurable as Audi’s similar Virtual Cockpit, as found in the Audi Q3.

The main 8.0in touchscreen is positioned high up on the dashboard. Its screen is of decent definition and the conventional buttons below it – for swapping between the main functions – are easy to use. Complications arise, though, when you use the sub-menus; some of the smaller icons are tricky to hit on the move and there’s often a delay while the system processes your commands.

Even entry-level Active trim gets Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Mirrorlink so you can use your smartphone’s sat-nav through the touchscreen. For a fully integrated sat-nav, with Tom Tom Live updates, you need to jump up a level to Allure, which also adds an SOS function to call for assistance in emergencies. Wireless phone charging and a premium sound system are some of the optional extra choices available.

While other cars in the class are just as solidly built, none, except those with premium badges and price tags to match, equal the 3008 for upmarket feel.

Most of the surfaces are soft to the touch, and those that aren’t tend to be hidden low down. There’s an eclectic mix of materials that work harmoniously to enhance the ambience, including chrome highlights around the centre console and, depending on which trim you opt for, attractive cloth or wood inserts across the dashboard and on the doors.

At night the cabin is bathed in the cultivated glow from the all-round ambient lighting, if you choose all but the entry-level trim.