Peugeot 5008 review - Interior, design and technology

This second-generation 5008 is radically different from its predecessor, with Peugeot repositioning the car as a full-sized seven-seat SUV to meet the growing demand from car buyers.

As part of that transition, the car has moved to the scalable EMP2 platform that underpins the smaller 3008 and cars from sister brand Citroen, such as the C5 Aircross.

The upright grille, detailed headlights and tail lights, the steep windscreen, raised ride height and hidden C-pillars all give the 5008 a distinctive look, and it’s a similar design to the closely related 3008. Cars like the Skoda Kodiaq have a more traditional look, but the 5008 certainly has a distinctive style, and a facelift in 2020 brought further stylistic tweaks to help freshen things up.

On the inside, it’s all good news, as the 5008 has the same high-quality interior as the 3008. The dashboard wraps around the driver, incorporating Peugeot’s infotainment system – an 8.0-inch touchscreen for entry Active versions and a larger 10-inch screen for all other specifications.

The small steering wheel and high-mounted instrument cluster remain, and you get Peugeot’s latest 'i-Cockpit' display, with a 12.3-inch digital screen behind the wheel. Like Audi’s Virtual Cockpit, you can change the layout of the dials, choose what is displayed (and how) or show the sat-nav instructions in front of you if you have an Allure trim model or above.

​Apart from some lower-quality materials on the bottom of door cards and the fiddly touchscreen controls for the air-con, the 5008’s interior is among the best in its class. It’s great-looking yet functional. What more could you ask for in a seven-seater car?

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Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

Peugeot’s 12.3-inch dash display and central infotainment touchscreen look snazzy, and all models get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Mid-range Allure trim upwards features sat-nav with six months of live updates, providing up-to-the-minute traffic info, local search and weather forecasts.

The facelifted 5008 introduced a larger 10-inch touchscreen – the previous eight-inch unit is now only fitted to base Active trim. The new setup uses much of the same interface, but the screen is larger and has sharper resolution. It’s fairly responsive, but doesn’t load as rapidly as we'd like.

We feel the 5008’s setup is let down by Peugeot’s resistance to using physical climate controls. Adding large panels on either side of the screen to display temperature settings seems like a poor solution. These panels can never be minimised, reducing the size of the rear-view camera display so that it isn’t as clear as it could be. It makes the system feel cheap in an otherwise special cabin. There’s a USB socket in the front, but middle-row passengers only get an extra pair in GT trim.