Peugeot 308 SW (2014 – 2021) Review

The Peugeot 308 SW is the latest in a long line of practical and appealing estate cars from the French manufacturer, designed to take on key rivals such as the Ford Focus, Renault Megane Sport Tourer and Volkswagen Golf Estate. It’s helped by the fact that the hatchback it is based on is a pretty car, and there’s an element of the ‘lifestyle ‘ estate about its design. It offers the same unusual i-Cockpit arrangement in the cabin alongside a range of modern, efficient engines. It may not be the best in class in every department, but the 308 SW holds a great deal of appeal.

With such a good base to work from, the Peugeot 308 SW had every chance of being an excellent estate car from the outset - and it doesn’t disappoint. The well-made cabin and impressive refinement of the hatchback remain, but with one of the more spacious and practical rear load areas offered on a family-sized estate car.

The load area itself is easy to access, with a wide opening and a low load lip. There’s a retractable, removable load area cover to keep 660 litres of load volume covered up – and if you have big items to carry there’s a simple one touch mechanism to fold the rear seats completely flat.

With the seats down maximum load space is an impressive 1,775 litres, considerably more than many key rivals and only beaten by the Skoda Octavia Estate.

In the back row there’s enough room to seat a pair of adults in comfort, with plenty of knee and headroom. Access is good, which is handy for loading and unloading child seats, although there are now only two Isofix mounting points for child seats – the previous generation model had three, which is a disappointing loss of a practical feature.

Not only is the 308 SW one of the most spacious cars in its class, it also has some of the most modern and efficient engines.

The entry-level petrol model is a 110PS 1.2-litre turbo which, despite its size, is perfectly capable and offers low emissions of 109g/km. This engine is also offered with 130PS, plus you can get a range of diesels. The range-topper is a 180PS BlueHDi, with strong performance alongside impressive economy.

Despite being bigger than the hatchback the 308 SW is no more difficult to drive. The cabin is quiet and the controls well-weighted, so in or out of town the car is easy to get along with. It’s an impressive motorway cruiser too, even with the smaller 1.2-litre petrol engine under the bonnet.

Just like the hatchback, the cabin benefits from a clear attempt to move upmarket. It might not qualify as a premium cabin, but it is distinctively designed and works well for the most part, and adds a sense of well-being that is welcome on longer journeys.

For those seeking a usable everyday estate car it’s certainly worth adding to the shortlist – but its competition from SEAT, Skoda and Volkswagen is very strong, while the Honda Civic Tourer offers a more flexible load area and cabin.

It has a 660-litre capacity with the seats in place, accessed through a wide-opening tailgate. The load lip is low and flat, so getting heavy items in and out is easy – plus it’s low enough for a dog to jump in and out of without difficulty.

Dropping the middle row of seats couldn’t be easier – simply pull the two levers in the boot and they flop forward, lying completely flat. With the retractable load cover out of the way and the seats down, load volume to the roof is 1775 litres, which is very impressive.

In fact it's not just good compared to rivals of the same size, but also next to cars from the class above, like the latest Volkswagen Passat.

The back row of seats offers enough space for two adults thanks to generous leg and headroom, while two Isofix mounts are provided. However, the previous 308 SW had three, so this is a step backward for the new car.

Build quality is generally very good throughout, while the materials used are impressive on the whole, with a soft touch dashboard covering and good quality seat coverings. Look a little closer and you’ll find some cheaper plastics, but it is a big improvement on the old car and is much closer to the best cars in the class.

Like the 308 and 208 hatchbacks, the 308 SW has a small steering wheel which you look over, rather than through, to see the instruments. It’s a little odd at first but feels natural fairly quickly. The rest of the dashboard is very minimalist, with few physical buttons. Instead, everything is controlled from a central touch screen.

The quality and the specification of the 308 SW’s infotainment system is impressive, and even amongst the better cars in this class it offers a significant advantage. All models are fitted with a 9.7-inch touchscreen including DAB, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, voice recognition and sat nav provided by TomTom, including three years of live services from new.

The graphics are sharp and the response of the screen itself is quick and accurate, but it can be awkward to use it for basic functions like changing the settings for the climate control when you are on the move.

Prices for the 308 SW start at £23,050 for the 1.2-litre Puretech 110 in basic Active trim, which is considerably more than most of its rivals which have entry points around £20,000. However, Peugeot would counter that it has a high specification as standard including the touchscreen system.

The cheapest diesel model is the 1.5-litre BlueHDi in the same trim at £23,690, also quite a bit more expensive than many alternatives.

The next trim up, Allure, starts at £24,350, with the Tech Edition starting at £26,270. The sportier GT Line starts at £26,570, while the high performance GT model is £31,395.

The standard specification Active model is actually quite generous and makes a sound choice, but we’d recommend moving up to the Allure model. The extra £1300 or so gets you front and rear parking sensors, folding door mirrors, an electronic parking brake, a panoramic roof, 17-inch alloy wheels and sports front seats.

As for used examples, the 308 SW has been on sale for quite a while so there are a good number of examples to choose from.

It also means that there are nearly-new examples with substantial discounts over list prices - a quick search of the classifieds turned up several examples like this, like a 2020-registered 1.5 BlueHDi 130 in high-spec GT Line trim with less than 5000 miles for just £16,500.

If you have a little less to spend, the earliest cars are now available for very little money. We found a 2015 1.6 HDi Active model with 90,000 miles for just £5000, or a 1.2 PureTech 110 in Allure specification with only 30,000 miles for £7500.

The 100PS and 130PS 1.2-litre engines have a claimed combined fuel consumption figure or 51.5mpg and 51.9mpg respectively, so 40mpg and above should be comfortably within reach as long as you don’t load it up too much.

The diesel options are even better; the 100PS 1.5-litre claims64.6mpg combined with claimed 62.7mpg for the 130PS version, which should mean that 50mpg is achievable on a regular basis. The more powerful 2.0-litre and automatic-only 180PS diesel claims 52.5mpg combined.

The 308 SW can be a relatively cheap car to insure, although the insurance groups it appears in vary significantly depending on which engine you choose.

Go for the least-powerful 1.2-litre in basic Active trim and it falls into group 14 or 15; the same engine in 130PS form is in group 20, while the 1.5-litre diesel is group 17 for the 100PS version and group 21 for the 130PS version. The 2.0-litre diesel is significantly higher again, falling into group 24.

The 308 SW has smooth, precise and well weighted steering, a light clutch and a reasonably smooth gearchange – although it isn’t as slick as the transmission in a Volkswagen Golf Estate.

Around town the 308 SW doesn’t feel particularly bulky or difficult to drive, despite its size – but it is more at home on A-roads and motorways. Impressive refinement means the 308 SW remains quiet and relaxed even at 70mph, regardless of engine.

Find a twisting road and the 308 SW keeps its composure well, with little body roll and a sense of safe, surefootedness – precisely what you want from a family car. It’s not what you would call fun though – for that kind of estate the SEAT Leon ST is a better bet.

The 308 SW has a diesel-focused engine range, but there is a petrol-offering in the form of a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo, producing either 110PS or 130PS. It might sound too small to propel a big estate, but it’s actually very good.

There’s a lot of torque (235Nm) available from low engine speeds, so there is no need to work the engine hard – plus it remains quiet on the go. It’s even at home on the motorway.

The diesel range is broader – there are 1.6-litre engines with 92PS, 110PS, 115PS and 120PS, plus there is a 2.0-litre BlueHDi with 150PS. The most efficient of these is the 1.6-litre BlueHDi with 120PS, which is available with a smooth automatic transmission, as is the range-topping 150PS 2.0-litre and the 130PS 1.2-litre petrol.

It might cost more, but the 1.6-litre BlueHDi diesel is a better bet than the older 1.6-litre e-HDi units. It is more efficient, plus it offers more useful in-gear performance thanks to greater peak torque. That means you don’t have to rev as hard when accelerating onto slip roads or overtaking.

Euro NCAP tested the 308 in 2013 and awarded it a full five-star rating, with an exceptionally high score of 92 per cent for adult occupant protection. Child occupant protection was rated at a strong 79 per cent, with pedestrian mitigation at 64 per cent and safety assist at a very high 81 per cent.

On the safety assist side, all versions of the 308 SW are fitted with ESC and a speed limiter as standard, while there are three safety packs also available as an option.

The Driver Assist Pack includes automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control, the Safety Pack includes driver attention alert, speed limit recognition and active lane assist, while Safety Pack Plus combines the two packs. It is only available on higher-specification models however.

Peugeot don’t quote figures for the 308 SW unbraked trailer weight, although it does give figures for braked trailers. It varies between 1,200kg for the 1.2-ltre PureTech 130PS automatic, 1,300kg for the 110 and 130 PureTech manuals, up to 1,600kg for the 2.0-litre HDi models. That top figure is less than some rivals however.

Active trim includes 16-inch alloy wheels, 9.7-inch multifunction colour touchscreen, satellite navigation, USB input, automatic dual-zone air conditioning, cruise control and speed limiter, rear parking aid, leather steering wheel & gearstick, automatic headlamps and automatic wipers.

Allure trim adds front fog lights, full LED headlamps, aluminium roof rails, aluminium boot rails, electric folding door mirrors, automatic dual-zone air conditioning, front parking aid and reversing camera plus 17-inch alloy wheels.

GT Line adds 18-inch alloy wheels, tinted rear windows, twin exhaust and black laquered rear diffuser, aluminium style pedals and door sills, alf alcantara trim sports seats with red stitching, driver and front passenger lumbar adjustment and massage function, GT style leather steering wheel with red stitching along with GT style carpet mats.

GT trim adds sequential LED direction indicators, GT style leather steering wheel with red stitching and GT badge, Driver Sport pack (increased responsiveness of power steering, engine and gearbox to accelerator pedal, red instrument panel display of dynamic parameter information: acceleration, power delivery and turbo), keyless entry, dynamic cruise control, emergency collision alert and an emergency collision braking system