Peugeot 508 PSE SW - long-term review

The TG team have poured over the swanky exterior styling of the 508 PSE, but it’s time we gave a mention to the interior. You really need to experience a car in multiple scenarios to become truly accustomed with its interior. Fortunately, I’ve ticked many boxes over the past few months; the commute, the long motorway drive, the early morning airport run and I’ve even visited that Swedish furniture shop. You know, the one that sells the meatballs.

I’m pleased to say the interior does feel sufficiently premium. It doesn’t have Audi levels of allure, but the dark tones of the squishy faux carbon, gloss black panelling with chrome accents and contrasting kryptonite stitching make it feel a damn sight more elegant than you might expect a Peugeot to.

The i-Cockpit 12.3” display and 10” centre touchscreen look the part but navigating them is on the clumsy side. It’s taken me two months to figure out how to switch off the rage inducing speed camera warning bong (it’s located in the navigation sub-menu to save you some time). The temperature controls are also operated via a fiddly, sometime unresponsive menu on the touchscreen too.  Thankfully, there are some physical ‘piano keys’ with a row of haptic buttons situated below the central screen to make finding your way around the menus and simple functions that bit easier.

We’ve covered the dinky steering wheel and quirky driving position in a previous update, something that may be off-putting for some. But somewhat of a redeeming factor are the seats, which themselves are tiptop. Trimmed in a mix of Nappa leather and Alcantara, they offer lots of adjustment and won’t have you crawling out on all-fours after a long drive. This is helped by the fact they are both heated and have a massage function, cat paw being a personal favourite. It’s basically a spa on wheels…

Sadly your rear passengers don’t have such luxuries, they’ll have to make do with a couple of air vents and USB ports. And not a huge amount of daylight through the slender, heavily tinted windows.

Boot space? Ours being the SW (estate) you certainly aren’t lacking with a claimed 530 litres with the rear seats up and 1,780 litres with them down. You’ll be thrilled to know that’s enough for a ‘RAKKESTAD’ flat-packed wardrobe with a bit of wiggle room.

But you don’t need to spend £55k on the PSE to get all of this unexpected premiumness. This is a cabin I’ve grown to appreciate, but almost everything that makes it feel avant-garde and expensive is available lower down the 508 range.