2023 Peugeot 308 review: First drive

UPDATE, October 2022: Australian pricing for the new 2023 Peugeot 308 has been revealed at last.

Get all of the details for the Australian line-up of the 2023 Peugeot 308 hatch and wagon at the link below.

Story continues: Peugeot 308 first drive

The Peugeot 308 is all-new, available as a plug-in hybrid for the first time and pushing upmarket to challenge premium cars such as BMW’s 1 Series and the Mercedes-Benz A-class.

Confirmed for Australian launch during the first quarter of 2022 as a five-door hatchback that will be followed by the SW wagon a few months later, this review covers the hybrid and petrol engines.

Push upmarket!

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Truth be told, Peugeot has long benchmarked Volkswagen’s Golf on materials and quality, but this model sets its sights even higher.

How? The exterior design mimics the long nose/cab-backwards proportions of a 1 Series, the new touchscreen looks slick and acts pretty quick, there’s a ‘Hey Mercedes’-style voice assistant to change the air-con or radio station, and lots of driver assistance technologies.

The cockpit is, without doubt, a classy place to spend time. The layered dashtop cascades forward like a wave, overhanging lovely aluminium or fabric sections, accented with welcoming LED lighting (from second-tier Allure trim level).

GT and GT Premium trims also bring a digital driver’s binnacle with a 3D effect designed to bring key info to the front, though it’s a bit of a jumble unless on the sparsest setting.

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Truth be told, Peugeot has long benchmarked the Golf on materials and quality, but this model sets its sights even higher.

The standard 10-inch touchscreen is underscored from Allure trim up by a bank of ‘i-Toggle’ shortcut switches, which you can customise with your favourite functions and respond with a buzz of haptic feedback.

On the hybrid, I pulled in the Energy function, to keep an eye on the drive system's operations.

The graphics are nice enough but not in the wondrous league of a Mercedes, and the touchscreen peskily plays for time between selections with an animation that brings to mind Moses parting the Red Sea.

UK engine range spec details

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Peugeot is simplifying mainland Europe’s broad 308 line-up for British customers, with only the higher-powered 95kW combustion engines offered, and just the eight-speed automatic transmission at launch. It follows that Australia would receive similar, although the BlueHDi diesel is less likely to arrive Down Under than the Puretech petrol.

Both plug-in hybrid derivatives – badged 180 or 225 badged after their joint petrol-electric power outputs in metric horsepower, which respectively equate to 132kW and 165kW) – will be offered in Britain, with Australia seeming more likely to get the beefier of the two.

These combine a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an 81kW electric motor sandwiched against the EAT8 automatic transmission. The new 308 is strictly front-wheel drive and rides on McPherson struts up front with a twist-beam rear suspension.

While the Ford Focus, Merc A-class and others may confuse customers by offering posher independent rear axle on upmarket models, Peugeot has a one-size-fits-all approach to cut complexity and save weight, says engineering chief Jerome Micheron.

UK prices start at £24,000 (AU$45,390) for a Puretech 130 in Active Premium base trim. Standard features include the touchscreen, digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rear parking sensors, 16-inch alloys, black mirror caps and ‘claw-effect’ LED rear clusters.

There’s also a generous helping of driver safety aids: lane-keeping assist, speed sign recognition, driver attention monitoring and auto emergency braking (with the system able to see pedestrians and cyclists in daylight).

Okay, let’s get driving

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We start in the Hybrid 180, which costs from £33,000 (AU$62,400) in Allure Premium spec and is a VW Golf GTE rival. This has a 12.4kWh battery good for up to 60km of pure electric range, and it meters that out to good effect over our test route. The 308 automatically switches between electric, petrol or both, depending on your speed and traffic conditions.

It’s by far the quietest 308, given near-silent electric running and an extra portion of compensatory sound-proofing. When the 110kW four-cylinder petrol engine strikes up, it’s a muted, ghostly murmur in the background. The 308 hybrids cruise quietly on the carpet-like autoroutes around Cannes in the south of France, with some wind noise around the windscreen the most obtrusive sensation.

Push a rocker button to switch from Hybrid to Electric mode and it feels neighbourly to waft through 30km/h villages in quiet, zero-emissions mode, but the Hybrid 180 also surprised me by accelerating stoutly on a steep uphill motorway climb from 75 to 120km/h, without any need to call in petrol reinforcements.

How does the 308 hybrid handle?

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The new 308 continues Peugeot’s i-Cockpit philosophy, which combines those digital screens with a small steering wheel over which you peer at the instrumentation.

Combined with pretty quick steering, it’s designed to feel agile. With the steering wheel’s hexagonal shape, it’s a bit like turning a leather-clad 50 cent piece.

Its weighting is nicely judged, with a light, fluid feel at low speeds and quick enough responses off the dead-ahead.

On twisty mountain roads, you do get a sense of the hybrid’s extra weight (a whopping 312kg more than the petrol 95kW petrol automatic), with the Michelin Primacy tyres chirruping as they work hard to keep their line, the steering feeling a little stickier and accompanied by some noticeable roll.

The Hybrid 180 surprised me by accelerating stoutly on a steep uphill motorway climb from 75 to 120km/h, without any need to call in petrol reinforcements.

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The drivetrain’s twist action can trouble the front tyres if you launch it, and we found sufficient punch to overtake a dawdling Dacia. Most people won’t need the 225 version of the hybrid: it generates its 22 extra kilowatts (132kw in total) solely from the 1.6-litre, with the e-motor unchanged.

Carbon dioxide emissions are a little higher though: the 180 emits 24g/km on the combined cycle, compared with 27g/km for the gutsier model. On our 59km test route, the Hybrid 180 ran on electricity for just over half the journey and returned 3.5 litres per 100km according to the trip computer.

The hybrid takes an hour and 40 minutes to charge on a 7.4kW wall box or eight hours on a plug socket. You can undertake the customary remote charging and cabin warming/cooling via the Peugeot app.

Despite the up-front price, Peugeot reckons running costs will be comparable with a high-end diesel, depending on local plug-in hybrid tax breaks.

And how is the Puretech 130 petrol SW?

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We drove the 95kW 308 Puretech in the SW bodystyle (a £1200/AU$2270 premium), and it has a different character. The three-cylinder petrol engine is gruffly vocal under acceleration, the antithesis of the smooth hybrid. The EAT8 automatic transmission is a tad sluggish in some Stellantis group cars, but it works fine in both 308 drivetrains, responding sharply to kick down and anticipating your next move well.

Dynamically, the petrol car has an edge over the hybrid that keen drivers may appreciate. There’s less mass, so roll is better contained, with the front-end more eager and agile in corners. Both the petrol and hybrid ride pretty well (our test cars had 17-inch alloys), with urban potholes causing minimal intrusion and suppleness over high-frequency motorway bumps. The chunky seats are firm but comfortable.

Our petrol SW returned a respectable 7.2L/100km from some binary driving on mountain roads and motorway cruising; official fuel consumption is between 5.6 and 5.9L/100km depending on spec.

How’s the 308 for rear passengers and luggage?

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Even with the driver’s seat dropped down low, a six-footer sitting behind could just about slide his big feet underneath, and find an inch gap between knees and scalloped seat back. There’s decent headroom too, though the high-set, shallow glasshouse might make some passengers feel a little hemmed in.

Five-door hatches with combustion engines store 412 litres in the boot, though the hybrid’s rear-mounted battery reduces that to 361 litres.

The SW estate manages to maintain the hatchback’s style with its sloping shoulder line, chiselled tailgate lip and crisply folded flanks. But it’s plenty practical inside: a low sill enlarges into a practical, rectangular load bay accommodating 608 litres (or 548 for hybrids). You can drop the back seats using the load bay handles, which uncorks 1634 litres.

2022 Peugeot 308 verdict

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You won’t miss an oncoming new 308: its shimmering chrome grille emblazoned with the vast new Peugeot shield combines with the narrow headlamps for enormous road presence. Peugeot design is in a real sweet spot at the moment, and its latest model has more flair inside and out than its Golf nemesis.

On the road it’s a much tougher call, which will need a comparison test on Australian roads to decide the winner. But the 308 offers a strong range with the handsome but practical wagon, an agile petrol for eager drivers, a pure electric version from 2023, and plug-in hybrids at launch.

The 132kW Hybrid is the one to pick – so long as you can plug it in. Its refined, sophisticated air makes it the top cat right now.

A version of this article was first published at Carmagazine.co.uk

When will the new 2022 Peugeot 308 come to Australia?

There’s no word on pricing or which models we will get, but Peugeot Australia has confirmed that Australia will be getting the new 308, and its expected in the first quarter of 2022.

2022 Peugeot 308 Hybrid specifications