One of the measures Peugeot claims to have employed in delivering the 3008’s average 100kg model-for-model weight saving is improved engine refinement, allowing it to use less sound-deadening material under the bonnet.
It’s a clever tactic – or it would have been if it had worked, because our test car didn’t show sufficient evidence to support the claim.
Refined enough in outright terms, the engine was reasonably smooth but sounded relatively loud and insistently tappety in the cabin – as if the car’s front bulkhead hadn’t quite been properly sealed.
The 3008 is just about swift enough in mid-range diesel form, and fairly flexible with it, although in both respects it falls short of the standards set by our current class champion, the Seat Ateca.
The engine responds with momentary but not overly frustrating hesitancy at low revs, pulling pretty stoutly and cleanly to begin with but ebbing away from peak torque from just 2000rpm and making something of a meal of overtaking and accelerating briskly on inclines and at higher revs.
The 3008’s pedals are reasonably well weighted and its brakes are strong enough. Both the fiddly shift quality of its six-speed manual gearbox and the oversized, cumbersome shape of its gearknob can trip up the driver on the way through the ratios, though.
We found that the gearlever could be obstinate when moving between shift planes and often sticky, lumpy or uneven-feeling when moving upwards and downwards through the gate.
On the road, traction from the 3008 GT Line’s 18in alloys and Michelin Primacy tyres is always decent, but it doesn’t seem particularly strong on loose surfaces. We suspect that choosing the Advanced Grip Control system, with its associated M&S tyres, would be advisable with any regular light off-road use in mind.
