Peugeot 308 SW review

See the hatchback’s page, basically. In theory a wheelbase stretch would make the ride more placid but the handling slightly less reactive. But you’d have to be driving them back-to-back over a tricky road before you noticed. So you’ve got a car with fairy keen responses, reassuring yet quite amusing reactions when you push it through a bend, and a decently supple ride.

Relative quiet is another virtue you’ll appreciate on a long journey. As promised, Peugeot has now put a turbo option into its little three-cylinder 1.2 petrol. The result is a revelation: the torque of a diesel, but a chirpy happiness to rev beyond 6000, plus far more agreeable quietness at low speeds than a diesel. But if you want ultimate low-tax economy there’s also a super-thrifty BlueHDI 1.6 Euro 6 diesel making 120bhp and 88.3mpg for just 85g/km in the estate (82g/km in the hatch). Given its huge load space at the back, that’s pretty impressive...