The attractive 3008 no longer has a diesel option, and its replacement is this new petrol 1.6-litre turbo variant

Photos by Azfar Hashim

Earlier in the year, Burnpavement reviewed the diesel-powered 3008; and yours truly here came away impressed at how well equipped it is, and just how much of a joy the car was to drive. The shade of blue the test car came in made it all even, well, lovelier.

But oh how cruel the real world is: With new policy changes kicking in, the diesel 3008 will make no sense for consumers. Hence I am not at all glad to report this particular variant has been taken off the local line up.

In its place, however, is this petrol-powered version.

The focus here is how the car drives in this guise, so to begin with, lets see the numbers: Power output is 163 bhp, while maximum torque some 240 Nm all courtesy of a turbocharged 4-cylinder 1.6-litre engine that is paired to a 6-speed automatic ‘box. It takes 8.9 seconds to reach 100 km/h from standstill, and for the curious, hits a maximum 206 km/h.

Using the word ‘fun’ sounds rather inappropriate for an SUV, but the amount of, erm, fun it provided left me wondering - several times - whether I was driving a hatchback or an SUV: Being a front wheel drive, traffic light grand prix is one of its fortes, made even livelier thanks to the ‘M’ button that lets you select your own gears via the standard paddle-shifters (you can pretend to be Sebastien Loeb, of course). This in turn allows the engine to spin close to the redline, ensuring you squeeze as much juice as possible.

It pulls away rather quickly, shaming even bigger-engined naturally aspirated sedans while at it. Then while driven along the expressway, it has the very right to stay on the fastest lane, cruising at three-figure speeds with ease. However, wind and tyre noise becomes more obvious as you go higher up the speedometer. Thankfully, the standard sound system does a pretty good job of masking this.

Peugeot is known for producing some of the better handling cars, which comes to no surprise to see how the 3008 holds its own along winding roads; only the screeching rubbers informing you are almost breaching the limit. Like any other car this tall, understeer kicks in earlier than expected but to reaffirm what I’ve mentioned at the start of this paragraph, the steering corresponds well enough to keep you updated and, importantly, manage your confidence.

Body control is both good and predictable. The brake does its job, but if you somehow get into trouble, there is the usual army of active and passive safety devices to help out, starting with traction control, ABS and EBD.

Equipment wise, you get digital display in the cockpit, wireless charger, rear air-con blowers and a large glass/sunroof combo. The rear seats are definitely comfortable for family road trips up North, with the backrest able to be tilted at several angles; a good and thoughtful touch on Peugeot’s part.

In a nutshell, the 3008 retain its image as a purposeful SUV with an upmarket look; and now in petrol guise, will potentially see more - largely dieselphobe - local consumers look its way.

But here’s a disturbing thing: The equally compelling Tiguan 1.4 TSI has a more attractive price tag. Oh, so does the Qashqai 2.0…