The 2022 Peugeot 508 GT Sportswagon is the perfect excuse to leave the daily grind and get away from it all. Sharp lines that complement the tough athletic body, gloss black trims, and 3D effect full LED signature lighting make for French design sexiness.
Throw in lion fang DRLs, double chrome-plated exhaust tips and 19-inch Augusta two-tone finish diamond cut alloy wheels, and the 508 will have you traversing ‘Holiday Road’. Raised eyebrows indicated plenty of interest wherever we went too.
That quickly led to conversations about our gorgeous chariot. It’s a car with a genuine on-road presence that’s unmistakably Peugeot. Inside, there’s plenty of opulence, with full-grain Nappa mistral leather seat trim, and plenty of satin chrome.
Carbon fibre look and piano black trim accents feature, with electric, heated and multi-point massage function front seating. A ‘GT’ emblem is etched into the steering wheel, complete with Aikinite stitch detail.
We have gripes regarding the cluster and wheel combination though, and this car desperately needs a head-up display. The 12.3-inch Peugeot i-Cockpit digital cluster is a beautiful thing, with very pretty graphical transitions and a clear resolution display.
But size matters, especially when behind the wheel and trying to keep an eye on your speed. We found adjusting the steering wheel to a comfortable height, intrudes on cluster visibility, so it needs to sit in a lower position for an unobtrusive view.
That in itself is hard to get used to, if nothing else. Paired with a 10.0-inch HD touchscreen infotainment system, the latter delivers Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, phone mirroring, and a Wi-Fi hotspot, and looks mighty pretty doing it.
It’s easy to use, but the 360-degree camera system is next level sucky, and quite the let down for a vehicle of this calibre. There’s wireless phone charging, four USB ports, and 10-speaker FOCAL premium audio system with dedicated amplifier and subwoofer.
It’s the perfect setup to pump those all-time greatest road trip bangers (“Hey Siri, play Highway to Hell”). You also get DAB+ digital radio, voice recognition and 3D navigation.
The 2022 Peugeot 508 GT Sportswagon is powered by a 1.6-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol engine driving the front wheels, and producing 165kW of power and 300Nm of torque. That’s married to an 8-speed automatic transmission.
This package has the 508 boasting a claimed 0-100km/h time of 8.2 seconds. We’ll just take the brochure’s word for it. Equipped with a 62-litre fuel tank, the French car maker claims 5.5-litres/100km. We averaged between 7.2 and 7.9-litres/100km.
On the road, it looks the goods, with its aggressive lowered stance, and while you won’t set any pole laps at Bathurst, steering is light, precise and sharp. From a standing start, take off can feel a little laggy and sluggish, but once you clear 50km/h, it’s playful and willing.
Jump into Sport mode and you can feel a change in the steering stiffness, with firmer suspension. On some of Sydney’s more notorious roads, you really get to experience every nook and cranny of their surface, so spare a thought for your passengers.
You might also want to routinely de-activate Start/Stop functionality, otherwise its lag city, which encourages tooting from other road users. Our tester had squeaky brakes too, but that could be from all the rain we’ve had glazing them up a little.
You also get some flappy paddles for when you’re feeling ‘in the mood’, but a word of warning though, the left column of the steering wheel feels a little congested, with the indicators, paddle and cruise control all within an inch of each other.
It makes for a potential clusterf#$k for those blessed with bigger paws. Rear window visibility isn’t all that great either, and those back seat headrests just add to the restrictiveness.
Front seat headroom is average and the optional sunroof would be more suitable as a full-size panoramic roof. Driver knee space is hindered for larger drivers by the centre console. Rear leg room is again average too. The sloping roof doesn’t help headroom.
You do get dual air-vents and dual USB-A ports in the back though, which is useful. There’s ISOFIX anchor points strategically hidden under zippers too. Where the 508 GT Sportswagon shines is the 530-litre boot that balloons to 1,708-litres with the seats down.
Let’s face it though, none of the issues we’ve highlighted here are a deal breaker by any means, and the 508 GT Sportswagon comes with a 5-star ANCAP safety rating, so there’s that as a plus too.
On that front, you’ll find road edge detection, auto high beam, advanced driver attention alert, electric child locking functionality, speed sign recognition, among others. If you’re keen to get into one, you’ll need to spend around $71,000 drive away.
Our test vehicle came in Elixir Red, but there are five other colours to choose from. It comes with a 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty and roadside assistance. It’s bold, beautiful and bootylicious.
Whether it’s your daily commuter, weekend explorer, grocery getter or family uber, it will have you subconsciously taking the most scenic routes wherever you go, because it’s such a pleasure to drive.
You can find out more on the Peugeot Australia website, and as always, we recommend shopping around for a good deal. If you need finance, visit CreditOne.
Our test vehicle was provided by Peugeot Australia. To find out more about the 2022 Peugeot 508 GT Sportswagon, contact your local Peugeot dealership.
