Filed under: SUVs, Wagons/Estates, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchbacks, Peugeot
Geneva 2008: Peugeot 308SW says big and funky in French
by Jonathon Ramsey on Mar 4th 2008 at 9:57AM 
Click the image above for hi-res shots of the Peugeot 308SW
The Peugeot 308SW (for SportWagon), on the show floor, does not look like a big car. It certainly doesn't look big enough to swallow seven full-sized people. On the rotating podium, however, the car looked almost monstrous. Get inside, and the car appears to be even larger. If you sit in the driver's seat in Geneva, the rear hatch lies somewhere around Lichtenstein. It's that capacious. As with so many French things, the pics don't do it justice, but have a look at the gallery of hi-res photos to see if you can see what we see.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jordan 10:04AM (3/04/2008)
Not sure which was first, but this looks a lot like the new Fiesta (though the Fiesta may look like a lot of other previous EU-only cars :D).
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Mattias 10:09AM (3/04/2008)
It definitely looks a lot like its ancestor, the 307. Just the back is remarkably new. However, although it gained four inches, the interior did not get much bigger, the visibility even got worse.
Yes, the back seats got even better, it got more variable, it now gets five stars in Euro NCAP and the the new BMW-PSA turbo engines are just great torquey little pieces of fun. If one wants an economical diesel, it might be cheaper to do the same that I recently did: Buy a six to nine month old 307SW that was used in PSAs own fleet.
SPG 10:19AM (3/04/2008)
Very nice, I would love to have this as a second car.
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stang_fan 10:39AM (3/04/2008)
20 years ago I went looking for a new car and stopped at the Honda dealer. I wanted the Civic 3 door hatch, but a salesman tried to interest me in the WagoVan. The wagon is/was actually shorter than the 4 door sedan, but apparently, like this 307 wagon, when you were behind the wheel, it felt like the tailgate was nearly half a block away....very spacious (feeling?) interior.
I'm not sure I'd want to haul myself and 6 passengers in the 308SW, though. In Europe, people must be A LOT slimmer/smaller that the average American.
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Mattias 10:50AM (3/04/2008)
They are slimmer, not smaller. Actually the 307 SW and 308 SW does not swallow sich full size adults. It swallows four adults and three children. In my opinion the most comfortable configuration is to remove the center seat in the second row and move both outer seats to the inside. Then it's comfortable with four adults and some luggage. Put the missing seat in the third row and it still is comfortable for four adults, one child and less luggage.
However, there are many Europeans travelling with six or seven peaople and a large box on the roof ("Schwiegermuttersarg" -- coffin for the mother in law). I would not do that since it eats the fuel economy advantage compared with small vans like the C4 Grand Picasso.
If you often travel with seven full sized Europeans you should opt for a C4 Picasso, a Peugeot 807, or even things like a Fiat Scudo or Renault Trafic.
Polly Prissy Pants 2:51PM (3/04/2008)
Hmm, a French Pontiac Vibe. Neat-o.
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TwinTurbo3000GT 3:31PM (3/04/2008)
all i have to say it...eww...
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