THE one thing that stands out most for us about the 2019 Peugeot 5008 GT-Line is the fact the French car maker isn’t afraid to be different. It’s refreshing to drive a crossover SUV that isn’t the same as every other vehicle in the segment.
Under the bonnet, the 5008 GT-Line is powered by a 4-cylinder turbocharged motor, pulling 121kW of power and 240nm of torque. It’s a combination that never seemed to struggle, whether we were in the Sydney CBD, or cruising the NSW Central Coast.
It won’t win any races, and the power delivery is well, plain and unexciting, but it handles 110km/h on the freeway without batting an eyelid. Bolted to a 6-speed automatic transmission, the gear change process feels seamless every single time.
Fuel economy was a pretty damn good 6.8-litres/100km on the freeway, and 8.4-litres/100km combined. Not bad for the largest SUV in the Pegueot range. If you want more torque though, jump into the diesel GT spec. All variants are front-wheel drive.
The interior is typical Peugeot, and it is brilliant. The finish on all surfaces is quality, with plenty of chrome accents scattered all over the cabin. There’s loads of leg room for the driver, even for those of us that are over 6-feet tall.
Like most new vehicles, the good old hand brake lever is gone, replaced with an electric hand brake, operated by a switch in the centre console. The gear stick for the auto is beautiful and quite frankly, a work of art.
There is blue LED lighting in the door door trims, and the dash is also back lit by blue LEDs. The small nature of the steering wheel, a Peugeot design thing, is really small, and takes some getting used to.
It has all the switches and toggles of any modern steering wheel but because it’s so small, had an odd side effect. When we got out of the Peugeot, and into our other vehicle, it made the other steering wheel feel like it was too large.
Our other issue with the interior is with the lack of physical controls for the climate control system. There are no actual knobs or buttons for it. You have to access it through the infotainment system, in the middle of the dash.
This may not sound that bad, but it does take a few steps to get to it, and is probably not the best solution in an age where we are told to keep our eyes on the road. This author wonders if that could be a perceived safety issue.
The instrument cluster is full digital and sits quite high on the dash behind the steering wheel. It feels like the wheel has to be small so you can see the instruments. However, they are very clean and hold all relevant information needed.
The infotainment system is an interesting character though. Named iCockpit 2.0, opinion is divided on whether to love it or hate it. The SatNav can be quite jerky, lacks detail and can sometimes take a while to refresh.
Everything you need is available on the 8-inch screen, but it feels like a bit of a rabbit warren to find what you’re looking for sometimes. We found it difficult enough that we even had to pull over to the side of the road on one occasion.
It’s a 7-seat offering, so there is plenty of room in the front and second row for full grown adults, but anyone deemed large or tall may struggle in the third row. Shorter adults or children will find the third row quite comfortable though.
Both sets of rear seats fold flat, so you can cart things up to 3m long, and capacity for the rear is 780-litres with the third row folded, and 1940-litres with both back rows laid flat.
The 2019 Peugeot 5008 GT-Line stands some 1.65 metres tall and 4.64 metres long, making it a genuine mid-sized crossover style SUV. Sitting at the middle of the variant choices, the GT-Line is priced at $52,858 drive away.
Servicing, set at 12 months or every 20,000km, is capped for five years, at $474, $789, $474, $809 and $487 for each individual year, which from our thinking is pretty pricey. It comes with a 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty and 5-years roadside assist.
Our test vehicle was provided by Peugeot Australia. To find out more about the 2019 Peugeot 5008 GT-Line, contact your local Peugeot dealer.
Criticism is made of access to climate control interface as taking too may steps. That is incorrect as all you need do is press piano key toggle switch (with fan symbol) and the infotainment screen takes you straight there ready to select temperature, fan speed and airflow direction. Couldn’t be any easier.