Peugeot 308 (2014 – 2021) Review

The Peugeot 308 does really well in some areas, with a big boot, a posh interior and several engines that provide a brilliant blend of performance, efficiency and refinement. It’s pretty good to drive, too, with decent ride comfort and stable, assured handling. However, an awkward driving position, a fiddly infotainment system and tight rear passenger space count against it, as does the fact that more of the safety kit available should be standard-fit. A very solid choice when compared to rivals like the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra, if not the most well-rounded.

Looking for a second opinion? Read heycar's Peugeot 308 review.

The great British public loves a hatchback, and year after year, that’s proved beyond all doubt in the sales charts.

And when it comes to the humble hatchback, few firms have a history as illustrious as Peugeot. Cars like the 205, 106 and 306 are still held up as desirable classics today, while even the ones that weren’t quite as good - we’re looking at you, 206 - turned out to be smash hits in terms of the numbers sold.

It has to be said, though, that there was a period when the French manufacturer lost its way, especially with its midsize offerings. The 307 and the first-generation 308 were unutterably dull contraptions, especially considering what had gone before, with very few points of merit to mark them out against the legion of very talented - and no less affordable - rivals.

In 2014, however, an all-new 308 was introduced that changed the game for Peugeot. Here was a car with real glamour. Here was a car with real desirability. Here was a car that was interesting. And for all the virtues that rivals had, there weren’t many cars in the class that could make the same claim.

The reason? Well, the looks, mainly. For the time, the 308 looked smart and chic in equal measure, while on the inside, the mixture of unconventional minimalist design and impressively high-grade materials gave a hugely classy feel. We may be several years down the line now, but even by current standards, the 308’s interior still looks impressively sharp.

It did other things well, too. The engine range contained some absolutely stunning low-capacity petrol and diesel offerings that defied belief with their mix of performance, efficiency and refinement, while the boot was also (and still is) one of the biggest in the class.

It was pretty good to drive, too, with a comfortable ride and impressive all-round rolling refinement, although now it’s a bit long in the tooth, the 308 has been caught up - and in many cases passed - by newer rivals.

Granted, there were things it didn’t do so well. Many will struggle to get to grips with its unconventional driving position, while rear space is tight by class standards.

And while safety standards were fine back in 2014, there are several items of safety equipment - such as automatic emergency braking - that remain on the options list to this day that most rivals give you as standard. Still, at least most other luxury kit is present-and-correct.

Granted, it isn’t the plushest-riding car of its type - a Volkswagen Golf or Ford Focus will isolate you even better from surface imperfections - but you’ll still like how relaxed and civilised the 308 is. 

Bends are tackled with plenty of grip and predictable responses, so the 308 feels stable and assured along a twisty road. That said, though, it’s not the sharpest-feeling car of its type. There’s a bit of body roll, and although the tiny steering wheel gives you the impression that the steering is quite quick initially, it’s actually quite slow and rather numb.

Sporty GT models have a lowered suspension aimed at giving keener responses, but it doesn’t really make the 308 feel any sharper. The ride is slightly firmer, too, but it's not ruined. The GTI is different, though. With suspension that’s even lower, and stiffer, too, body control is tighter and it reacts far quicker to steering inputs, making it feel much more connected to the road.

Various offerings came and went throughout the 308’s life. The petrols ranged from a 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit with 82PS and turbocharged versions with either 110PS and 131PS, to a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine. In standard form, this had upwards of 200PS, while in the most powerful GTi version, it produced a whopping 262PS.

We never tried the entry-level one, but the 110PS version feels decently punchy at low revs. However, the stunning 131PS version is the one you want. It feels even fizzier and more responsive, making it effortlessly flexible, and you might be surprised by the turn of pace you get. The 1.6-litre choices are fast and frenetic, and fun for those who like their speed, but they’re much thirstier, too.

The diesel choices included 1.6-litre units of 100PS and 120PS, while the line-up was rounded off by a pair of 2.0-litre engines with 150PS and 180PS. Later on in 2018, the 1.6s were replaced by 1.5-litre units with either 101PS or 131PS.

It’s the latter of these two that’s the dazzler of the diesels. It’s hugely flexible, so you barely ever have to rev it beyond its mid-range, and even with such relaxed use, it feels brisk and responsive.

The car has achieved the maximum five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash tests. However, that was way back in 2013, and since the testing standards get tougher and tougher with each passing year, we doubt the result would be the same if the car were tested today.

Why do we say that? Well, because by today’s standards, the amount of safety kit that comes included in the price is pretty poor. You get electronic stability and traction systems, tyre pressure monitoring, a couple of Isofix child seat mounting points and six airbags, but more sophisticated driver assistance systems - things like automatic emergency braking - aren’t standard.

They’re offered, but you have to pay extra for them on most versions, including the most expensive ones. That’s pretty rubbish. The exception is the Tech Edition car, which has emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, lane keeping assistance, hill-start assistance and automatic high-beam assistance for the headlights. You also get a reversing camera and a system that’ll steer you into a parking space.

There’s plenty of space up front, but while rear headroom isn’t too bad, rear legroom is rather on the tight side. Adults will fit, provided they’re not too much over six feet tall, but nobody is going to want to stay crammed in for hours on end with their knees digging into the front seats.

Bulky child seats will fit, and you get a pair of Isofix mounting points with which to fix them, but the poor legroom means you’ll probably spend your days brushing mucky shoeprints off the back of the front seats.

There is an upside to the tight rear kneeroom, though, and that’s a big boot. It can’t quite match what a Skoda Octavia gives you, but it’s roughly the same as you get in a Honda Civic, which means it has the beating of pretty much everything else in the class.

The space is a nice square shape, too, although you do have to muscle items over a load lip. The rear seats fold down in a 60-40 split to let you carry even more cargo, but they don’t go completely flat.

Although catastrophic for ergonomics, the minimalist dashboard design and large central screen do give the interior a certain feel of sophistication, even when compared with many much newer cars, while the touchy-feely, high-grade materials on display back that feeling up brilliantly.

Yes, there are one or two surfaces that don’t quite match the rest, but these are tucked away out of sight so that the classy feeling is maintained. It’s still no Volkswagen Golf, but it feels posh enough next to other rivals. All versions get a leather steering wheel as standard, while Allure trim and upwards get part-leatherette upholstery that looks really convincing.

Whichever version of the 308 you go for, you’ll get the same touchscreen infotainment system. It brings together sat-nav, Bluetooth, DAB, a USB port, six speakers and Apple Carplay/Android Auto. However, you might find using the system rather frustrating.

For starters, it’s a touchscreen, and the amount of attention you need to invest in tapping or swiping exactly the right part of the display inevitably distracts you from the road, more so than a car with a traditional dial controller to scroll though the on-screen menus.

That’s another problem - the menus. There are loads of them, and they’re convoluted and illogically arranged, so finding your way around the system is more difficult than it should be. The worst bit, however, is the software. The graphics are dated, and everytime you prod the screen to register a command, there’s a long, frustrating pause before anything happens, and you begin to wonder if your command registered at all.

At the time of writing, prices for brand new 308s started at just over £21,000 for the 1.2 Puretech 110 Active manual, and rose to more than £30,000 for both the 2.0 BlueHDi 180 GT Auto and the 1.6 Puretech 260 GTi.

The one we’d recommend, the 1.2 Puretech 130 Tech Edition manual, came in at just shy of £25,000, while the cheapest diesel - the 100PS Active - cost £22,000, with our preferred 131PS version costing around £1000 on top. 

The Peugeot doesn’t cling onto its value as well as many of them, either, and this heavier depreciation means you’ll get that much less of your initial investment back when you sell the car on, although it will result in comparative bargains for buyers of used examples.

The shaky resale values won’t help in keeping monthly finance payments down, either, but check Peugeot’s website, and there are still deals to be had. At the time of writing, the 1.2 Puretech Active 110 was being offered for £279 per month on a four-year PCP following a customer of around £2800. That represents a deposit contribution from Peugeot of roughly the same amount.

Since the 308 was launched, the way fuel economy is officially measured has changed completely to be more representative of real-world driving conditions.

However, the tests are still laboratory-based, which means the figures remain on the optimistic side, so should only really be used for comparative purposes. Regardless of the testing standard used, the 308 has always outperformed many of its rivals in this area.

According to the latest figures, both the 1.2 turbos can better 51mpg, while both the 1.5 diesels can return around 63mpg and the 2.0-litre diesel does 52mpg. Even the GTi will do almost 40mpg. Those are impressive figures all round.

Insurance costs on the 308 will be very barely any different to those of most rivals. Insurance groupings for the car range between 9 and 29 on the mainstream versions (although the GTi sits in group 36), meaning premiums should be reasonably affordable, especially if you’ve got a decent no-claims bonus.

If you’re looking to minimise your bills in this regard, look to keep your choices modest on both engine and trim, because both factors make a sizeable difference. 

Many believe French cars to suffer from poor reliability, but this isn’t borne out in the various reliability surveys doing the rounds. In most of the ones we’ve seen, Peugeot puts in very solid performances indeed, while in the 2019 JD Power UK Vehicle Dependability Survey, the firm topped the manufacturer’s table outright.

Having been on sale since 2014, there have been minor changes to the trim structure and what you get at each level throughout the car’s life, but the main trim levels have stayed fairly consistent.

Active trim gives you most of what you need, including two-zone climate control, remote locking, alloy wheels, powered door mirrors, four electric windows, cruise control, a leather steering wheel, rear parking sensors and automatic lights and wipers.

Stepping up to Allure trim adds front foglamps, front parking sensors, front sports seats, part-leatherette upholstery, a panoramic roof and some extra chrome accents on the bodywork, while GT Line trim adds a body kit, a reversing camera and all-round LED exterior lights.

GT trim adds keyless go and part-leather-part-alcantara upholstery, while GTi trim adds massaging bucket seats and even more styling upgrades. Alongside the more regular versions, a Tech Edition was introduced later. This is roughly based on Allure trim, but adds all the driver safety aids we mentioned earlier, plus a reversing camera and alcantara sports seats.