Peugeot 5008 long-term test

• The car Peugeot 5008 Puretech 130 Allure
• Run by Jim Holder, editorial director
• Why it’s here To discover if real life can find any holes in the armoury of our favourite seven-seat SUV
• Needs to Make family life easy with a touch of flair and deliver low running costs across the board

Price £28,780 Price as tested £29,885 Miles covered 2971 Official fuel economy 54.3mpg Test economy 33.1mpg Options Metallic paint (£525), Black Diamond roof (£280), 19in alloy wheels (£300)

27 September – Boot-iful

There’s no two ways about it: the 5008’s boot is massive, equating to 823 litres of space with the third-row seats down.

That translates to space for more than 10 carry-on suitcases or, in even simpler terms, a week’s worth of luggage for the four-strong Holder family, all with the cover pulled over the top, to hide it from prying eyes.

In the past month, I’ve driven the Peugeot 5008 about 2500 miles, on holidays and family trips from London to Exmouth and then London to Pembrokeshire. Usually this has been four up and with lots of luggage, and while the majority of mileage has been on motorways, there’s been plenty of driving on every other type of road too. More than enough, in fact, to know that, far from being a potential hindrance, this diminutive engine is a marvel.

It is true that it will never set the world’s race tracks alight with its pace, but let’s not forget this is a car developed to be a family carry-all. As such, its official 0-62mph time of 10.4sec is perfectly adequate and the engine is more than flexible enough to cope with everyday traffic situations with ease. Even pulling out of those difficult country lane turnings that you come across so often in Devon, typically with a lorry bearing down on you, proved no problem.

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