When one door closes, another opens. Or, in four-wheeler terms from Fleet World’s long-term garage, in addition to the Peugeot 508 Malaysia, a 508 GT appears.
As reported by Wapcar Automotive News, a three-month stay with the 508 PSE was certainly memorable, for all the right reasons and wrong. No one, not even Peugeot, will argue that the flagship 508 PSE is a typical business car, but when it comes to my astonishing average fuel economy is 98.4 mpg, with payload. steady and steady, it’s not impossible that plug-in hybrid technology could work for you – even if it’s more about performance than the optimal economy.
The PSE is also a pretty respectable driver’s car, it’s just that the combined nature of a family car and plug-in hybrid technology means the opportunity to flex those driving muscles is a bit rare in our short tenure. However, with the arrival of the 508 GT, one element of the PSE that I certainly won’t miss is its ride quality. As I said here, nobody buys a PSE expecting a ride like a Rolls Royce, but on 20-inch alloy wheels (versus 18 on the new GT), the difference in ride quality is immediately apparent. obviously better.
Yes, we would have missed the PSE’s gorgeous looks and styling, but the GT’s comfort level makes up for it. Apart from a few details and a few interior amenities like massages or heated front seats, the interior is essentially the same. Our first stop, however, will be at our local Peugeot garage because the GT’s Apple Carplay isn’t working and the entire touchscreen has been frozen on a couple of trips. Fingers crossed that was a quick fix. Since the previous review focused on the performance of the Peugeot 508 PSE, both in terms of speed and economy, I think it’s time to focus on another “P” – practicality.
It’s strange to think that not so long ago, an automaker having a scooter in its lineup was quite a necessity, especially for the business market. Today, thanks to the proliferation of crossover vehicles on the market, despite their everyday practical benefits, station wagons have almost become a novelty, especially when it comes to plug-in hybrids. electricity.
Compared to their crossover counterparts, Estates are generally more economical, have more space, and are cheaper to buy and operate. But if you’re looking for a plug-in hybrid scooter like the 508, you don’t have much choice. And, call me up-to-date like a kerosene lamp, but I still prefer a scooter to a crossover and I’m sure I can’t be alone.
One good reason for this preference has been highlighted by some of the do-it-yourself devices I’ve made recently. With a lot of wood and an old warehouse that needed to be disposed of, I needed to visit the local landfill. For full disclosure, I would also like to point out that no car interior was damaged during the making of this main image.
With the rear seats folded down, the 508 SW has a substantial trunk volume of 1,780 liters (530 liters with the seats raised), which is important to note completely similar to petrol or diesel models – this is unlike many PHEVs. While there’s still some very thin clearance, it’s fair to say I used most of that 1780-liter space on the way to the dump, for the simple reason that I didn’t want to make a second trip. But that only underlines how good traditional estates can be when you need a working horse rather than a lifestyle car.
I took long trips in the recent 508. For any standard petrol or diesel car, this would sound like a “so what” statement; but of course, long travel is the limitation of any plug-in hybrid, better suited to many shorter journeys where electric range can be exploited.
So I must confess I don’t have high hopes for the 508 PSE, especially on a particular day of the 230-mile round trip. This was made more difficult by a weird glitch that caused the car to tell me power mode was unavailable despite being fully charged, something I’ve experienced before where this was quickly resolved by old computer expert tower. it turns off and on again.
With those 230+ miles, the electric range might only cover 10% of the total distance at highway speeds, so I reset the trip computer to experiment a bit. Luckily, I managed to dodge a short toll to my destination (ironically, in line behind editor Challen in his BMW iX3); enough to give me an extra 22 miles of posted EV range for my ride home. But by the time I got home, my average fuel economy for the day was 67.3 mpg, which is pretty impressive to me. Yes, that’s down from my three-digit overall average, but that 67.3 mpg is still on par with, if not better, a really good diesel.
A few days later, it was another trip with an hour-long cross-country route over fast, winding roads. I have to admit that I haven’t worked out the 508’s sports body too much, as normally I have the whole family on board. Here, however, I was able to enjoy the performance and tight cornering of the PSE as well as benefit from its enthusiastic characteristics.
My average savings for this particular trip may have fallen faster than Editor Challen’s hands when it was his turn, but the smile on my face when I got to my destination was definitely worth it. price. Sometimes you just need to let your heart rule your head…
