SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a short drive over a prepared course chosen to make the product look good. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.
Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday November 16, 2011
Few would argue: Peugeots are striking and stylish, well equipped and safe, comfortable and dynamic; quality time cars - but they did develop a reputation for being expensive to service and maintain. Steps taken by Peugeot SA, and indeed all other French manufacturers recently, will hopefully soon relegate such perceptions to the trash can of history.
“The arrival of the 508 reiterates Peugeot’s commitment to the SA market,” said Francis Harnie, managing director of Peugeot SA. “We have already emphatically addressed early concerns about parts pricing and availability across the Peugeot passenger car and light commercial vehicle range, and as our five-year/100 000 km maintenance plan on the 508 confirms, we also have confidence in the longevity of our vehicles,” he concluded. The talk is also being ‘walked’, with the introduction of fixed-price menu servicing charges for all models out of contract, from January 2012, and as many as four parts deliveries per day for Gauteng customers.
Pitched as a credible alternative for buyers seeking something different for around R300 000 or the low-400s for the range-topping GT model, the 508 is offered with a choice of one petrol engine and two diesels, across three trim levels. Entry level Active specification is available with a choice of 1600 cc turbopetrol or 2-litre turbodiesel engines, while the Allure package offers just the 1,6-litre engine.
Top of the range is a 2,2-litre GT with full leather upholstery and certain features available only as an option pack on the 1,6 Allure. It also boasts drop-link double wishbone front suspension for greater steering accuracy and superior rigidity, rather than the McPherson strut system offered on the others. Rear suspension is by means of a multilink setup on all models.
Active level includes 16” alloy wheels with a full-size steel spare, antitheft alarm, automatic headlights with ‘follow me’ feature, six airbags, headlamp washers, automatic wipers, ABS with EBD and EBA, ESP with hill start assistance and intelligent traction control, electric child locks, dual channel air conditioning, cruise control with speed limiter, RDS radio and CD unit with auxiliary and USB inputs and Bluetooth, steering wheel controls, dipping rear view mirrors, cloth upholstery and rear parking assistance. Transmission is six-speed manual.
The standard NEO (new efficiency optics) headlights are 30 percent more efficient than the usual offerings, with a more uniform and intense light pattern that improves lighting range and enhances visibility. At speeds up to 40 km/h, the front fog lamps turn with the steering, making nighttime manoeuvring easier.
Allure specification gains a six-speed automatic gearbox, 17” alloy wheels with alloy spare, keyless entry and starting, electrically adjustable combination cloth and leather seats, electrically operated automatic parking brake, a digital information display, four-channel air conditioning and side window blinds. The option pack mentioned earlier, includes WIP Sat satellite navigation linked to an improved audio system, a central controller and the glare-free, projected colour head-up display offered as standard on the GT.
Apart from the more powerful 2,2 diesel, GT specification adds 18” wheels, heads-up display, bi-Xenon headlights with cornering function, parking assistance in front and automatic headlamp dipping. Comprehensive mapping, with point of interest data for SA and neighbouring countries, is featured on the WIP navigation system. This is fitted in conjunction with uprated hi-fi sound kit that includes Arkamys digital signal processing. The seats retain their electric operation, but include a memory function. Seat heating and a massage facility for enhanced comfort during long-distance driving are included. Transmission is six-speed automatic.
Familiarisation drives, spread over two days from George airport to the Wilderness and back, showed the 508 to be spacious and comfortable, with beautiful fit and finish and very satisfying dynamics. Even the basic 1600 version moved the big 508 body easily, returning performance well up to most people’s needs.
The numbers
Prices:
508 Active 1.6 Petrol THP R 283 700
508 Active 2.0 HDi R 303 200
508 Allure 1.6 THP Auto R 306 700
508 Allure 1.6 THP Auto with SatNav R 323 700
508 GT 2.2 HDi Auto R 409 900
Engines:
1,6 THP – 1598 cc, four-cylinder, turbocharged
Power and torque: 115 kW at 6000 rpm, 240 Nm at 1400 rpm
Transmissions: 6-speed manual or automatic
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,6 seconds (m/t) or 9,2 seconds (a/t)
Maximum speed: 220 km/h
Fuel consumption: 6,4 l/100 km (man), 7,1 l/100 (auto)
2,0 HDi – 1997 cc, four-cylinder, turbodiesel
Power and torque: 120 kW at 3750 rpm, 340 Nm at 2000 rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual only
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,6 seconds
Maximum speed: 226 km/h
Fuel consumption: 4,9 l/100 km
2,2 HDi – 2179 cc, four-cylinder, turbodiesel
Power and torque: 150 kW at 3500 rpm, 450 Nm at 2000 rpm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic only
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,2 seconds
Maximum speed: 234 km/h
Fuel economy: 5,7 l/100 km
Tank size (all): 72 litres
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Maintenance plan: 5 years/100 000 km at 20 000 km intervals
Our review of the 2014 Peugeot 508 1.6 THP Allure can be found here
This is the 1600 THP Allure version
...and this is a 2.2 HDi GT
This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.
What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police. Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so I do actually exist.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8