Peugeot 508 2.0 eHDI Allure: Slick, smooth alternative

The 508 drives like no other Japanese executive sedan: pointy, sharp, responsive and engaging.

MANILA, Philippines–The Executive Sedan segment is a shrinking segment. While more and more people purchase SUVs for better mobility in adverse road and weather conditions, this segment—traditionally a bastion of the upper middle-class—is slowly losing its allure. The reason? Big, bad and thirsty V6 petrol engines.

Indeed, this segment has seen technological innovations to help reduce the costly fuel-consumption issue. Honda has a variable cylinder management with their Accord V6, and Nissan utilized a tweaked CVT transmission so that you’re in the perfect gear regardless of load and vehicle speed.

But Peugeot has come up with its own formula for success: stick in a diesel engine with e-HDI (that’s Peugeot/French for CRDi, mind you) and a turbocharger into a stylish, unique executive sedan; add a sport-tuned suspension that rides noticeably lower and firmer than the typical Japanese offering; trim it with a well-appointed, somber yet classy leather-wrapped interior; then drape it in a stylish, slightly low-slung (for an executive sedan) and svelte body to make it stand out. The result is Peugeot’s 508 sedan.

First off, let’s get straight to the point: The 508 drives like no other Japanese executive sedan. It feels pointy, sharp, responsive and engaging. No wonder, considering the beautiful autoroutes in France that this car was designed for.

Built at Peugeot-Citroen’s Rennes factory in beautiful France, it also feels really tight and solid inside and out. The suspension utilizes a Macpherson front strut design while the rear uses a sophisticated multilink setup that gives the 508 amazing grace and stability even when maneuvering on tight, bumpy corners.

The brakes have that firm, well-modulated feel, which might seem a tad hard to those uninitiated in European car feel but pays dividends when driven hard. Through the winding roads of Antipolo all the way to the backside of Rizal province, the 508 never lost its cool, just like how the French are: slick and suave.

There’s decent space inside, but admittedly, this is the one area where the 508 loses out, particularly to Honda’s Accord, Nissan’s Altima and Toyota’s Camry, all newer cars but also significantly bigger. Legroom is decent but sitting three abreast in the backseat isn’t as comfortable as its Japanese rivals. Nonetheless, it helps keep the 508 from looking flabby.

More sophistication

Inside, it’s all leather of course, with a JBL eight-speaker HiFi audio linked to the multimedia system with Aux-in and USB connectivity. Piano black wood trim adds a sophisticated and classy feel with the half-leather dash and center console.

More sophistication comes in the rear and side rear window shades. An electronic parking brake frees up space on the center console, and the 508 has the latest push start system that allows you to keep the keyfob in your pocket. Walk up to the 508 and the driver’s door unlocks automatically when you pull on the door handle. Very helpful and convenient when your hands are full, not your typical snobby Frenchman.

The instrument cluster is bright and easily readable even at speed. There’s a center console-mounted multimedia control system, quad-zone air-conditioning, and a heads-up display too, which helps you focus yet again on the enjoyable task at hand: driving the 508.

Admittedly too, the roof is quite low relative to other cars in its class. Once ensconced, the three-spoke steering wheel, equipped with auxiliary controls for the multimedia system and cruise control plus paddle shifters for the six-speed automatic, adjusts for both reach and rake.

In the 2.0 Allure and 2.2 GT, the seats feature full electric adjustment with adjustable length for the legs and lumbar too. It’s firm but decently comfortable, and gets you in the mood for an exciting drive.

It’s also a pretty safe car with dual front airbags, side impact airbags and curtain airbags and an electronic stabilization program, dynamic stability control, ABS-equipped four-wheel disc brakes. A really nifty feature which should be standard in all cars, the hill start assist clamps down on the brakes for a few seconds to allow you to safely move off from an incline without the car rolling backwards or forwards.

LED daytime running lights help improve its visibility as well, making the 508 a 5-star winner of the Euro NCAP.

The trunk is surprisingly roomy. With the seats up, you get 497 liters of cargo space. Drop the 60:40 split-folding seats and this more than doubles to 1196 liters. The trunk can easily swallow three staff-sized 10.5-inch golf bags, and supposedly can swallow five smaller cart bags too.

Back to the drive. The 508 drives like any Peugeot; it’s deceptively fast, but doesn’t feel like a torque-laden monster on the road. It’s smooth and serene, but watch the speedometer rise and you realize that that velvet gauntlet is a very apt description for the 508.

Refinement is very impressive relative to speed and road conditions, even when riding on huge 19-inch alloy wheels shod with 235/40R19 Michelin performance rubber.

At night, the HID headlamps open up a path in the dark that will let you keep piling on speed nonstop. You get three engine options (1.6, 2.0 and 2.2) with the 508, all of them diesel.

I drove the 2.0 e-HDI Allure variant which develops 163 horsepower and an impressive 340 Newton-meters of torque. Mated to the aforementioned six-speed automatic, the 508 is (even if it doesn’t feel it) very brisk, topping out at 220 kilometers per hour and accelerating to 100 from rest in a manufacturer-indicated 9.1 seconds.

In last year’s Peugeot-sponsored Eco-Rally, a customer-owned and driven 508 managed an impressive 25-plus kilometers per liter from Manila to Subic Bay and back to Manila cruising between 90-110 kph, with the air conditioner on, and four adults on board. Impressive.

In real-world driving conditions, fuel consumption was roughly between 9.5 to 10 km per liter, almost double a typical petrol V6 executive sedan.

The e-HDI is Peugeot’s micro-hybrid technology: there’s a stop-start function in traffic to reduce fuel consumption, revised engine mapping to deliver improved efficiency and an automatic transmission that locks up faster to reduce drivetrain losses.

There’s also a highly advanced silicon carbide particulate filter, or FAP in Peugeot-speak, which traps almost all noxious fumes from the diesel engine and then burns them up at super high temperature, eliminating all hazardous chemicals.

Peugeot says it only requires servicing every 110,000 miles as tested in Europe, but our Euro II- or III-standard diesels means it clogs up this sophisticated filter faster. The dealership says it is actually an easy fix but you shouldn’t skimp on this particular inspection lest the clogging problem becomes more serious, which can cause snooty emissions, reduced power, lower response and poor fuel economy.

Now, this is a technology that should also be standardized in all cars, but until the infrastructure catches up (in 2016, all fuels should be Euro IV compliant or better as per the Clean Air Act), this will be an issue not just for Peugeots but for all modern premium luxury and performance cars.

The 508 is not for everyone. The looks are love-it-or-loathe-it, the interior space is on the small side particularly in the back, and the ride is also on the firm side, typical European.

But for those who take the plunge into French car ownership, the 508 is a really slick, smooth, confident and exciting alternative.