Added joie de vivre for French family car

Fraser Martin finds that the Peugeot 308 will not cause drivers to spontaneously combust.

This is the French car maker's first offering from a new generation of cars that will end their badge names with an ‘8' designation. It's a development of the outgoing 307, sharing to a large extent the platform and architecture of the outgoing model and therefore giving the new car more of an evolutionary feel.

The ‘semi-tall' style of recent Peugeots has been toned back a bit in the new car with a bit less height, but more length and width but at 4.27 metres overall, the 308 is no midget.

The bulk of the increase is in the overhangs front and rear, and whilst the 308 remains a very much ‘cab-forward' design, it appears a little nose-heavy from some angles.

This is part of the price that has to be paid to ensure that the new car scoops the highest crash safety rating in the class, with a resounding five points in the EuroNCAP tests.

Styling is promoted as being more ‘feline' in keeping with Peugeot's current design philosophy but I see the now traditional Pug nose, with the bumper splitting the deep grille, as looking more like the shark in Finding Nemo than any cat.

The 1.6-litre engines on offer, one with turbo giving 138bhp and one non-turbo with 118bhp, both have 16 valves and twin overhead camshafts and have been developed with the BMW Group to bring about a ten percent improvement in fuel economy over the outgoing engines in the 307.

Whilst five-speed manual boxes are available, the test cars were all fitted with fine four-speed sequential automatic gearboxes.

If criticism can be levelled, the 308 could usefully employ a fifth cog in the autobox.

In any case, the new 308 as launched, is not setting out to have buyers spontaneously combust. But there will be hotter versions and a convertible later.

Handling and roadholding are at least as good as the class average, and damping, particularly over speed bumps, is excellent. Steering is operated through a newly developed hydraulic-electro system giving constantly variable assistance and gives good feedback on cornering. The 308 is a good, comfortable, if unexciting drive.

The 308 is offered in five levels of trim - including a top-of-the-range leather and brushed aluminium option. Anti-submarine rear - as well as front - seats and up to nine airbags compliment the passive safety package, whilst ABS, Emergency Brake Assist, Electronic Brake Force Distribution and automatic hazard warning light switching are standard features.

Stability and traction control systems are available as standard on the upper models and as options on the cooking varieties.

Peugeot sold more than three million units of the outgoing 307 and with the 308 taking the best ingredients from that recipe, there is no reason to believe that the new car will not follow suit.

in the last six years, competition in this sector has increased 40 percent in Europe where over 50 percent of all production will be sold, and pricing on the showroom floor is all-important.