Peugeot 308 SW Turbo 1.6 Glass Roof Review
A French tale

Story and pictures by Jeremy R. Chua. Additional pictures by Azfar Hashim
11 Jun 2009

Peugeot shows us that having your family in tow doesn't mean you'll have to cramp your style

Peugeot 308 SW

Once upon a time, car manufacturers could make their cars as beautiful as they wanted them to be. Designers did not have to worry much about safety regulations, and some cars didn't even come with bumpers.

Cars of that era might have looked great, but they were hardly the last word in safety.

As time passed and the number of vehicles on the roads grew, so did the number of fatal accidents. Both carmakers and governments began to realize the importance of vehicle safety - governments began passing new safety regulations, and automakers got into crash testing and used the results from those tests to engineer safer cars.

So as time wore on, designers could no longer pen the cars they wanted to. If an initial design looked good but compromised on passenger safety, the design had to go back to the drawing board. And the end result might not be what the designer had in mind in the first place.

Thus the saying: "They don't make ‘em like they used to".

Must stylishness be sacrificed in the name of better engineering? The French (and the Italians, of course) would certainly beg to differ...

Looks and styling

"Bon jour!" and "Welcome!" comes to mind upon seeing this wagon for the first time. That wide air dam and its shiny mesh sure remind us of a huge, friendly and toothy grin.

The front fascia looks intricately sculpted, with little curves here and there. The fog lamps are really something else - they look more like jewels which adorn the car's front bumper than anything else.

Then there's that familiar V-shaped bonnet. It works well here, and it also seems more like the "nose" on the car's face. We felt that this car could actually do without the Peugeot badge - since its placement at the tip of the bonnet spoils the look somewhat. This front end, by itself, already defines the car as a Peugeot...no badge required.

The flanks are well-defined by the rising shoulder line which extends towards the rear. Looking at the car from this angle, we found it hard to believe that an MPV could actually look this good. There's even the subtlest hint of a roof spoiler at the rear.

Speaking of which, the rear end was a bit of a let-down, considering how good the car looked from every other angle. The small, curved windscreen (which is reminiscent of the Renault Megane hatch) and the rather flat rear hatch look quite ordinary compared to the rest of the car.

Next Page - The inside tale

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