Peugeot 3008 - Practicality, comfort and boot space

Under the 3008’s sharp exterior is Peugeot’s EMP2 platform. The platform is shared among the Stellantis brand to produce a whole family of family SUVs, including the Citroen C5 Aircross, DS 7, and Vauxhall Grandland.

Peugeot has clearly focused on balancing practicality with an upmarket feel, because the design, layout and material quality all feel a step ahead of rivals. It offers a degree of panache few can pull off at this price range.

The Peugeot 3008 is a five-seater only (if you want seven seats, you'll need to choose the 5008 instead), with the five-door layout that's normal for any car in this class.

Visibility is reasonable looking forward because the driving position is relatively high. Like most cars in this class, the rearwards view isn’t the best due to the small rear window. All models come with rear parking sensors and a reversing camera to help, but only the range-topping GT has front parking sensors. No 3008 has a 360-degree camera system.

A narrow-diameter steering wheel and digital instrument cluster sitting above it, rather than viewed through it, won’t suit all drivers, but with this second iteration of the i-Cockpit layout, Peugeot has refined the concept. It works much better with the raised driving position of an SUV than it does in a smaller supermini, such as the Peugeot 208.

The cabin layout is more sculptural than some rivals, so there isn’t quite as much versatile storage, but the Peugeot still features plenty of cubbies to store phones and wallets, along with a large central cubby that doubles as an armrest. 

Size

The Peugeot 3008 is just over 4.4m long and 1.8m wide (or nearly 2.1m with the mirrors included), which makes it a little longer than the Nissan Qashqai, SEAT Ateca, and Skoda Karoq, but shorter than the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.

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Leg room, head room & passenger space

Hop in the back, and you’ll find that the 3008 has plenty of space. It’s slightly longer than a Qashqai, so there’s plenty of legroom in the back seats, and headroom shouldn’t be an issue for anyone but the tallest passengers.

Occupants in the back benefit from a flat floor, which means the Peugeot is a comfortable choice if you regularly carry three passengers in the rear, because no one will be fighting for foot space.

Boot

Open the large tailgate of petrol, diesel, and mild-hybrid models, and a luggage area with a low load lip, wide opening, and cavernous 591-litre capacity greets you. It’s well-shaped and has a small amount of storage under the floor, which can be lowered for more space, or raised to create a flat base when the rear bench is folded.

The 3008’s boot space dwarfs the 430-litre load area in the Qashqai, and beats the 510-litre space in the Ateca. The Skoda Karoq only comes close with a 588-litre capacity when the back seats are slid all the way forwards. The advantage isn’t as great if you fold the rear seats down, but the Peugeot’s maximum 1,670-litre load bay is still ahead of its rivals.

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The boot also features a fully removable floor and a full-sized spare wheel, plus a handy storage net for keeping items steady in the back.

Do keep in mind that the plug-in hybrid models have a much smaller boot because the floor needs to be raised due to the battery pack living beneath the luggage compartment. This is the same for most PHEVs.

Towing

No 3008 is particularly suited to towing, with the 1.2-litre Puretech 130 petrol unusually being the best of the bunch, with a maximum braked trailer weight of 1,400kg. That goes down to 1,300kg for the 1.5-litre diesel, and only 1,250kg for each of the hybrids. 

If you want a car of this size that’ll easily tow any trailer or caravan, look at the VW Tiguan. In either 2.0 TDI diesel or 2.0 TSI petrol four-wheel drive form, it’ll pull up to 2200kg.