• Impressive space for a small crossover
• Boot space rivals some larger cars
• Useful extra storage areas up front

How much space is there?

Headroom is okay in the 2008, but nothing exceptional when compared with rivals – we found an airier rear cabin in a Skoda Kamiq or Volkswagen T-Cross, for example – but the seat base is angled more aggressively so we had a bit more legroom. It’s certainly more spacious than a Jeep Avenger and other smaller compact SUVs, but we couldn’t stretch out like we could in the Kamiq. The Isofix child seat attachment points are also easy to access.

As you’d expect from an SUV-shaped family car, there are lots of storage cubbies inside. We found decent door pockets, space under the front centre armrest and a couple of cupholders (they’re two different sizes, but on manual cars bottles can get in the way when changing gear), and a clever area on the centre console.

There’s an open cubby at the bottom of the centre stack, with a lidded section above that which folds down to reveal a shelf with a wireless charging pad. The cover itself acts as a rubberised stand if you want to angle your smartphone – a small but neat touch.

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Boot space and storage

The boot, which comes in at 434 litres, is larger than most immediate rivals – and should be able to swallow the weekly shop without too much trouble. It has a split floor and, when it’s in its higher configuration, should leave a flat floor with the rear seats folded, and less of a lip when loading items. It’s not as clever or as spacious as a Ford Puma‘s boot, though.

The 2008’s boot floor itself is wider than it is long, measuring 791mm from the tailgate to the rear seat backs, but 1,014mm between the rear wheelarches. The load lip is 700mm off the ground, too, so there’s a bit of a lift to get heavier items loaded in there.

Maximum capacity is 1,467 litres with the seats folded and measured to the roof, which is a pretty generous amount of space to play with. However, a Renault Captur has more outright space and a sliding rear bench that offers up a little more flexibility.

Is it easy to park?

The 2008’s slightly elevated driving position affords a decent view out, although the car’s rising window line and small rear windows mean that over-the-shoulder visibility could be better than it is. That small steering wheel has plenty of assistance at low speeds when manoeuvring, so at least that means the 2008 is easy to point in the right direction.

All versions of the 2008 come with rear parking sensors as standard to help you out, while Allure models add front sensors, too. GT gets you a reversing camera that has a 180-degree field of vision, while a front and rear camera system is optional.

Safety

• Four- or five-star Euro NCAP rating
• Dependent on the car’s spec
• Plenty of driver assistance tech available

As you’d expect, there were plenty of safety tech in the Peugeot 2008 to keep us out of trouble, although not all of it is available across the whole range. Peugeot’s Drive Assist Pack, which adds adaptive cruise control and lane positioning (in automatic models), takes the strain out of boring motorway driving, as well as taking care of stopping and starting in queuing traffic (again on autos only). This is optional on Allure and GT trims. You also get Park Assist as an option on GT models, which can automatically park the car for you.

More importantly, there’s Automatic Emergency Braking, which only detects pedestrians on Active Premium cars, but also detects cyclists and works at night on higher-spec cars, plus a driver warning alert (which told us when we needed to take a break on long journeys), automatic headlights, wipers, traffic sign recognition and blindspot monitoring, which helped us avoid missing people overtaking us.

Since some of this safety kit is optional or found on higher trims, the 2008 earned a four-star Euro NCAP safety rating in entry-level form in 2019. If you opt for a higher-spec car with all of the kit fitted, then the rating is bumped up to five stars.

Isofix child seat fittings are found on two rear seats, while the GT models have them on the front passenger seat, too, with easily-accessible connectors that integrate well into the seat base. All cars have a full set of six airbags.