The Peugeot 508SW is a proud member of the executive estate family. Extremely sophisticated, superbly equipped, it rides in exemplary comfort and is up to date even after modernisation. It boasts an economical plug-in hybrid powertrain, but what impresses you most is obvious at first glance…
Nobody will miss the Peugeot 508SW on the street, even if it does have a rather inconspicuous Platinum grey paintwork. It has a distinctive lion-like face, a sleek profile backed up by frameless windows, plus you can have it as a station wagon, which is almost a rarity these days.
In our country, the flagship liftback and wagon is sold in a total of three variants, with six engine options, and the biggest attraction of the upgraded model in particular is an even more stylish design and more modern multimedia equipment.
With the508’s new design innovation comes a new lighting signature. The original model was the first Peugeot ever to feature the distinctive “lion’s teeth”, as designers nicknamed vertical daylighting. The more modern styling introduces a new larger grille with a new daylighting system featuring a trio of vertical LED lines with a three-dimensional effect. The latest motif is officially called “lion’s claws”.
Even from the back, the Peugeot 508 doesn’t look sedate and boring as a wagon. The black strip with PEUGEOT lettering, complemented by Full LED headlights with three differently bevelled red lines (but here no longer symbolising lion’s claws), widens the car considerably. The spoiler located on top of the fifth door and the black-painted diffuser complemented by two honest exhaust tailpipes also catch the eye.
The absolutely essential new feature, then, is the extension of the basic equipment for the entire model range to include headlamps with non-dazzling Matrix LED technology for the main beam. The design of the 18″ Epherra wheels is also new and customers can now choose from a total of seven paint shades, including three all-new ones – white Oceanite, blue Eclipse and grey Titanium.
There’s not much design news on the exterior and we’ve only seen subtle improvements on the interior. Peugeot continues to base its design on the traditional i-Cockpit architecture, with specific ergonomics, no head-up display and a driving position that unfortunately doesn’t suit everyone. The basis is a more compact flattened steering wheel with a higher-mounted digital instrument cluster.
The 508 now features a new 12″ configurable digital instrument cluster display, as well as a 10″ touchscreen display of Peugeot’s state-of-the-art, enhanced i-Connect Advanced infotainment system. The more advanced interface features TomTom online navigation, voice control, remote wireless updates (OTA) and connectivity with two mobile phones connected via Bluetooth at the same time.
I like that Peugeot has retained one of the defining features of this model- controlling quick access to the most important settings in the infotainment via classic piano key-inspired buttons. Gone, on the other hand, is the original auto selector joystick, which is replaced here by the newer minimalist e-Toggle switch. On plug-in hybrids, it also features a miniature and hard-to-reach button for engaging “B” mode, which triggers more powerful regeneration.
The facelifted Peugeot 508SW has come to us for a test in top GT trim. Key specs over the base Allure trim are standard adaptive cruise control with stop & go, parking cameras monitoring the 360-degree space around the car, comfortable front seats with AGR health certification, heating and massage, and the Driver Sport Pack with digital engine sound underscoring and adaptive power steering sensitivity in Sport driving mode.
The hybrid drive system doesn’t restrict passenger space, but you can load less luggage than with a combustion engine (62 litres less). The boot has lost its double bottom and the 468-litre figure is slightly below average in this hybrid segment. The boot is also partially affected by the petrol tank, which has shrunk by 19 litres (to 43 litres) and moved up behind the batteries.
The range of engine options has been simplified following the upgrade – you can either have the frugal 130bhp 1.5 BlueHDi diesel mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, or the petrol plug-in hybrid, which promises a 1.3l/100km (1.3mpg) table-topping fuel economy.
The 1.6 PureTech with 133kW (180k) and the 81kW (110k) electric motor adds up to a very interesting 165kW (225k). Peugeot promises up to 49-58 pure electric kilometres on a fully charged battery, but the reality is somewhere around 40km. In hybrid mode, it uses electricity for longer distances to reduce consumption.
You can charge from a conventional 230V socket (full charge takes about 4 hours) or from a wallbox with 3.7 kW (charging time is reduced to 2.5 hours). This is quite sufficient for home or work charging, but if you want to charge more often on the public network, you can pay extra for the more powerful 7.4 kW on-board charger and a full charge will then take only an hour and a quarter.
So why should I get a plug-in hybrid instead of a diesel? Because it can save quite a bit of money on running costs. A full charge of the battery costs something like €2 on the home network (from a home charger in a cheaper tariff zone), so one kilometre will cost you €0.20-€0.30, roughly a third of what a diesel will run for.
But it only makes sense if you only drive around that 40km daily and ideally in and around the city. For regular long motorway journeys, a diesel is still best, as the plug-in hybrid runs over six litres without electricity. Plus it’s some +-€8000 more expensive, so you have to calculate very well that it makes sense for you. Average consumption with daily charging at 100% and a daily range of approx. 100km, was 4.7l/100km and 17kWh/100km of electricity at the end of the test week.
So the technology of the Peugeot 508 Hybrid is still the same after the upgrade, but thankfully the pleasant driving characteristics remain. Even on the largest 19″ wheels, the chassis is surprisingly comfortable and incredibly compliant on rutted roads. The Peugeot 508SW Hybrid 225 e-EAT8 is a car you’ll really enjoy driving dynamically on the more technical twisty stuff.
The big wheels work willingly, and the optional active chassis eats up bumps with grace, so the 508 doesn’t bounce anywhere, even in rough corners. A small steering wheel and steeply geared steering also help the sporty driving experience. And the fast ambition is underlined by a willingness to accelerate out of corners, backed by an electric motor that means the hybrid doesn’t operate with the now-common emissions lag of the latest powertrains. What’s more, the 508 won’t make you feel uncomfortable on the motorways either, as it develops a top speed of 250 kilometres per hour and can travel at speeds of up to 135km/h on pure electric power. and accelerates from zero to 60 in 7.9 seconds.
In today’s market crowded with dozens of crossovers and SUVs, it’s a joy to see a truly stylish liftback or wagon, which together are some of the most beautiful cars of our time. Nor is there the classic affliction of hybrids with the absence of a box to store charging cables, because under the boot floor there is a box exactly for the 230V charging cable and another for the AC charger, so they don’t take up space in the boot. Perhaps the biggest negative is that the stylish frameless windows take their toll in the form of increased noise at motorway speeds…
