Peugeot 308 Turbo: The lion roars

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French automobile manu­facturer Peugeot traces its roots to the pre-auto­mobile era in the 19th century and the famous lion trademark has been roaring ever since its inception.

Distributed in the country by Nasim Sdn Bhd since 2009, the C-segment 308 is a fine example of the beast that is within every Peugeot.

There are two variants of the 308, namely the standard 1.6 litre VTi and its more ferocious sibling the 1.6 litre Turbo which offer boosted engine perform­ance and other notable features which really add to the value for money factor.

The test model was the 308 Turbo variant featuring a 1.6 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine coupled with a six-speed auto-adaptive transmission with Tiptronic.

The gearbox allowed auto­matic and manual settings for various driving styles, as well as a ‘sport’ mode and an interesting ‘snow’ mode which hopefully would never be needed in this country.

Upon walking up to the vehi­cle, I was impressed by its stylish design featuring aerodynamic lines which facilitated a low drag factor for the vehicle.

The panoramic roof with a variable automatic shutter was a welcome feature, as was the leather bound steering wheel and auto dimming rear view mirror.

The driver’s seat was manu­ally adjustable in six directions while the air-conditioning system was controlled via large dials and buttons below the con­venient cubby hole.

The air-conditioning system was a nice touch; it featured dual zone controls for both sides of the vehicle, enabling different temperature settings for the driver and front passenger.

The sound system was quite decent with FM radio reception and CD audio response being clear and transparent.

Controls for the system were also operated via buttons on the steering wheel.

The 308’s gearbox featured different modes of transmission for varied driving styles: normal drive mode, manual mode, the sporty mode and the curious snow mode (which I left alone as it was not snowing that day).

Having driven various types of vehicles with 1.6 litre power trains before, I had no great expectations of the capabilities of the 308 Turbo engine.

After all, an engine was an engine, right? In normal drive mode, the performance was quite responsive as I cruised along the roads at moderate speeds.

The acceleration was quite pleasing as the 308 glided ef­fortlessly down the lanes and overtook other vehicles with ease.

The response was equally good in manual mode where pushing the shifter to the left facilitated gear changes.

This would benefit drivers who liked more control when out on the road.

The more aggressive sporty mode was nothing short of breathtaking; the 308 Turbo went from being an impressively ‘zippy’ vehicle in normal drive mode to a swift beast, giving the impression that I was in a rocket on wheels.

In my opinion, the turbo­charged powerhouse put most conventional sub-2.0 litre en­gines to shame with excellent ac­celeration and response across most of the tachometer.

Peugeot had obviously put a lot of thought and effort into design­ing and refining the engine.

The results were clear as day. The mighty lion roared.

The seamless shifting of the transmission of the vehicle was another superb characteristic to take note of as any indications of gear changes were barely noticeable.

This made the driving experi­ence all the more enjoyable.

The third all-important factor that I gauged was the handling of the 308 Turbo.

Overtaking, cornering, merg­ing and braking were handled exceptionally well as the vehi­cle’s integrated stability and control systems worked exqui­sitely in synchronicity.

Drivers who prefer a milder lion would not be mistaken by choosing the standard 308 VTi but for an additional 20 per cent premium to the price tag, the extra ‘zing’ on 308 Turbo was the proverbial icing on the cake.

With superb engine perform­ance, silky smooth transmission and good value for money, the 308 Turbo represents a great choice for a performance and feature laden vehicle.