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By EWAN
KENNEDY
20 July 2009
Peugeot
has long been a leader in folding hardtops. Indeed, the French
marque invented the concept some 75 years ago. So the introduction
of the new Peugeot 308 CC for 2009 has been eagerly awaited.
Styling of the 308 CC is bigger and bolder than that of the 307CC
it replaces. In particular, the very-Peugeot large radiator grille
works beautifully and the front is neatly tied to the rear of the
Coupe-Convertible by deep swage lines that travel from the front
of the doors all the way to the rear of the body. The dummy rear
diffusers work well, though it could be argued they give too much
of a racing appearance to a car that's aimed more at the upmarket
touring market.
This Peugeot CC is almost a four-seater for adults though, as is
generally the way, two children in the back will be more
comfortable. Cleverly, the stylists have put the same amount of
effort into the individual back seats as those in the front. So
those sitting back there have their own carefully contoured bucket
seats.
As in the superseded Peugeot 307 CC, the windscreen header rail
comes a fair way back over the front area of the 308 CC, meaning
you have to thread your way round it when getting into the seats.
This is a downside of the long-cabin design as the folding roof
simply can't be long enough to stretch all the way forward to a
position above the dashboard.
Some makers have got around the problem of minimising roof length
by making one that folds in two sections above one another. The
trouble is that takes up a fair bit of depth when the roof is
folding down into convertible mode.
The big plus of the Peugeot 308 CC roof system is that it,
amazingly, leaves a luggage area that's more voluminous than that
of the 307 hatchback. It manages a most impressive 465 litres of
volume when the roof is in coupe mode. In other words, the 308 CC
could be used as a full-on family car by those with pre-teen
children. That's impressive.
With the roof down the luggage space decreases significantly, to
266 litres, which is acceptable in a car of this type.
It can be argued that while the windscreens big rearward slant
means that you lose some of the open-air feeling, it does provide
a more sedate interior with the roof down. Indeed, put up the side
windows and you can have conversations at almost normal volumes.
Power for the new Peugeot 308 Coupe-Cabriolet is provided by a
1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine or a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel. Torque
is a big feature of both units. The 1.6 produces 240 Newton metres
at only 1400 rpm; the 2.0 is normally restricted to 320 Nm at
2000, but can be over boosted to 340 Nm for a few seconds to
produce even more overtaking acceleration.
On our initial road testing in the northern areas of NSW we found
both engines to have good performance, though some may describe
the smallish 1.6 turbo-petrol as being more in the ‘adequate’
range than as ‘powerful’. Then again real-world cruising in
easy conditions saw the consumption of the petrol engine below the
seven litres per hundred kilometres mark. That's almost diesel
numbers from an engine that's sweet and smooth in its
characteristics.
The ride is generally comfortable and there's a minimum of scuttle
shake on normal to semi-rough roads. That latter fact is
impressive for a convertible car with such a large cabin.
Handling is good for an open-top car that's aimed more at the
cruising market than the full-on sports car buyer. There's some
understeer as you get near the limit but the car is well-balanced
and pleasant to drive prior to those limits being approached.
Large A-pillars sometimes block the forward-side view, this is at
its worst on winding roads in hilly country, possibly to the
extent of spoiling driving enjoyment.
The new 2009 Peugeot 308 CC comes in standard and ‘S’ format.
The latter carries such neat items as an ‘Airwave’ system that
blows hot air over the front occupants’ necks on chilly days;
then there is leather trim, with power operation and heating of
the front seats; xenon headlights with automatic height
adjustment; and park assistance front and rear.
Prices for the standard 308 CC begin at $48,990 for the six-speed
manual turbo-petrol. The topline turbo-diesel 308 CC S with a
six-speed automatic transmission comes out at $59,990. Note that
the latter model avoids Australian Luxury Car Tax (LCT) because of
its low fuel consumption. Statutory and dealer charges have to be
added to these recommended retail prices, contact a dealer or
Peugeot Australia for a driveaway price.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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