Peugeot 3008 "Car of the Year"?!

Peugeot 3008 "Car of the Year"?!

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MC Bodge

Original Poster:

21,552 posts

174 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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I drove a rental 3008 GT-Line diesel recently. The journey was on motorway and on moorland roads.

There was a sticker in the back window claiming that it had been "Car of the year".

I'm struggling to work out how it achieved this award.

The steering was feel-less through its tiny, square wheel.

The handling was OK, albeit with little feel, but the ride wasn't good over small, sharp bumps.

The controls were an ergonomic mystery. The dashboard and displays looked gimmicky. The Sat Nav kept switching to show service garages in the vicinity, but no indication of faults or service requirements.

The brakes were ridiculously over-sensitive (the most I've ever experienced) and devoid of any sort of feel. I got the hang of breathing on them to slow/stop (and heel-toe), but I could imagine that a lot of people would struggle to use them smoothly.

It was actually quite quiet and smooth at speed.

The space in the back wasnt bad.

The engine wasn't responsive, was slow off boost and turbo lag was signficant.

The "driver aids" were annoying gimmicks:

The lane change prevention feature was ridiculous. Crossing white lines without indicating (nobody to indicate to or in roadworks) resulted in the wheel resisting the turn.
The warning lights on the mirrors if somebody was on your left or right were a bit redundant as I could see vehicles in the actual (quite effective) mirrors all the way -and I'd do a shoulder check anyway.

The reversing camera and top down view was pointless and misleading. It's a fairly square medium sized car, not an HGV. Hardly difficult to park.

Nothing about this car was desirable to me whatsoever. Maybe I'm out of touch?

Ps. It was very, very similar to the Fiat 500X I had on holiday, although that possibly handled better, but had terrible outward visibility of the extremities(and no cameras!).

LuS1fer

41,086 posts

244 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
Car Of The Year is voted for by a panel.
It never had anything to do with it being a good car and many "winners" have been the dullest cars in history.

The cars in the hat have to have been launched that year and many get voted for by being interesting in concept, not always in execution. the 3008 seems to be proving very popular and has an ace in the way it looks, if nothing much else.

The 2018 winner is the Volvo XC40 (yawn)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/gallery/every-eur...

oceanview

1,511 posts

130 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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I quite like the rear lights but, just another dullard dad wagon.

heisthegaffer

3,347 posts

197 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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LuS1fer said:
Car Of The Year is voted for by a panel.
It never had anything to do with it being a good car and many "winners" have been the dullest cars in history.

The cars in the hat have to have been launched that year and many get voted for by being interesting in concept, not always in execution. the 3008 seems to be proving very popular and has an ace in the way it looks, if nothing much else.

The 2018 winner is the Volvo XC40 (yawn)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/gallery/every-eur...
Can you give us a few examples of dull cars vs their direct rivals at the time?

ManOpener

12,467 posts

168 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
I've got it's Vauxhall brother (Grandland x) as a hire car whilst they fish bits of the filter out of the oil system of my M140i.
It's got less than 70 miles on the clock and is absolute wk.
The completely shagged Mitsubishi ASX I had in Spain was infinitely nicer to drive.

jonwm

2,504 posts

113 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
I've got a 5008 at the minute and really like it, it's a 3008 just a bit longer.

Agree on the lane changing, It was turned off the first day, my sat nav also takes me to service garages every few months lol

All in all I think the set up of the screen is good, I quite like the small wheel and it's put together well and looks great at night all it up inside.

Not sure I'd buy one as this is on lease but certainly changed my opinion on pugs

LuS1fer

41,086 posts

244 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
heisthegaffer said:
Can you give us a few examples of dull cars vs their direct rivals at the time?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Car_of_the_Year

MC Bodge

Original Poster:

21,552 posts

174 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
ManOpener said:
I've got it's Vauxhall brother (Grandland x) as a hire car whilst they fish bits of the filter out of the oil system of my M140i.
It's got less than 70 miles on the clock and is absolute wk.
The completely shagged Mitsubishi ASX I had in Spain was infinitely nicer to drive.
Not just me then. Gadgets, baubles and remoteness from the road.

I jumped back into my wife's 12 year old Fiesta -with no driver aids or gadgets- and it was far more enjoyable to drive and is laid out quite well ergonomically.

Most of the rental cars I've had in recent years have been unappealing. The best have probably been the Mk3 Focus 1.0T (the later ones, not the early ones), although the boot was small, a battered Mk7 Fiesta on the Algarve (and a Duster in Iceland -for different reasons).

heisthegaffer

3,347 posts

197 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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LuS1fer said:
Doesn't tell me what comparative cars there are

Ian Geary

4,462 posts

191 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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I grew up being massively cynical of this bauble of an award.

I used to see it on occasional Fiats and boxy Citroens, and would ask my Dad (who knew everything, as Dads do) about it.

He just said: "look around, and see what everyone is driving." In those days, it was Escorts and Cavaliers, which in hindsight were equally as bad.

Having said that, I see their list of mediocre has some notable exceptions:

1998 - Alfa 156
1999 - Ford Focus

both of which I like, but for different reasons.


Ian

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
Ian Geary said:
I grew up being massively cynical of this bauble of an award.

I used to see it on occasional Fiats and boxy Citroens, and would ask my Dad (who knew everything, as Dads do) about it.

He just said: "look around, and see what everyone is driving." In those days, it was Escorts and Cavaliers, which in hindsight were equally as bad.

Having said that, I see their list of mediocre has some notable exceptions:

1998 - Alfa 156
1999 - Ford Focus

both of which I like, but for different reasons.


Ian
The Ford Focus was ahead of it’s time, it was brilliant to drive, excellent ergonomically, well styled, modern and safe. In 1999 it was infinitely better than the Escort - that the Focus, the MK4 Golf, the Puma and the E46 and maybe even the E36 led the pack ushering in the new generation of cars leaving ste like the Xantia, Escort, Omega in the dust.

S9JTO

1,913 posts

85 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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Tragic is all I can say.

imagineifyeswill

1,224 posts

165 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
The Fiat Uno, Renault 14 and Talbot Horizon are just three example of Car of the Year back in there day, all spectacular pieces of crap.

Whitean3

2,182 posts

197 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
Ian Geary said:
I grew up being massively cynical of this bauble of an award.

Having said that, I see their list of mediocre has some notable exceptions:

1998 - Alfa 156
1999 - Ford Focus

both of which I like, but for different reasons.

Ian
Then there was 1978 - Porsche 928
I think the only time non-mainstream car has won it. But I agree with the OP- Car of the year as voted is utterly meaningless to us Pistonheads

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

233 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
sleepera6 said:
Ian Geary said:
I grew up being massively cynical of this bauble of an award.

I used to see it on occasional Fiats and boxy Citroens, and would ask my Dad (who knew everything, as Dads do) about it.

He just said: "look around, and see what everyone is driving." In those days, it was Escorts and Cavaliers, which in hindsight were equally as bad.

Having said that, I see their list of mediocre has some notable exceptions:

1998 - Alfa 156
1999 - Ford Focus

both of which I like, but for different reasons.


Ian
The Ford Focus was ahead of it’s time, it was brilliant to drive, excellent ergonomically, well styled, modern and safe. In 1999 it was infinitely better than the Escort - that the Focus, the MK4 Golf, the Puma and the E46 and maybe even the E36 led the pack ushering in the new generation of cars leaving ste like the Xantia, Escort, Omega in the dust.
Don't think the Xantia or Omega could be described as "ste".

Willy Nilly

12,511 posts

166 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
ManOpener said:
I've got it's Vauxhall brother (Grandland x) as a hire car whilst they fish bits of the filter out of the oil system of my M140i.
It's got less than 70 miles on the clock and is absolute wk.
The completely shagged Mitsubishi ASX I had in Spain was infinitely nicer to drive.
It might be absolute wk, but at least it works, which is more than you BMW can boast.

MC Bodge

Original Poster:

21,552 posts

174 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
imagineifyeswill said:
Talbot Horizon
yikes

Nealio

307 posts

192 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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An Astra hire car I had recently had that steering resist lane departure thing on it, first time I've ever encountered it, made my hoop clench the first time that kicked in on the motorway and I wasn't expecting it.

Immediately got the passenger to find the button and turn it off.

MRobbins1987

509 posts

129 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
It’s probably crap to drive but styling wise it’s head and shoulders better looking than the majority of SUV’s.

Given that it’s mainly women who seem to drive these cars, maybe that’s the appeal. My wife certainly likes them.

MC Bodge

Original Poster:

21,552 posts

174 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
quotequote all
MRobbins1987 said:
It’s probably crap to drive but styling wise it’s head and shoulders better looking than the majority of SUV’s.

Given that it’s mainly women who seem to drive these cars, maybe that’s the appeal. My wife certainly likes them.
Sadly, you are probably right.

Reviews seem to suggest that it drives well and yet our old, relatively simple Mk6 Fiesta and Mk4 Mondeo both drive better and are more comfortable.

The quest for ever more gimmicks and excessive styling is just.. meh.

Ps. Is it an SUV, a Crossover or a tall hatchback?