Peugeot 508: More details

The Peugeot 508 - Looks very promising

Peugeot has sent us more detail on the Peugeot 508 – set to replace the Peugeot 407 & 607 in 2011 – including new photos and engine details

It feels as if the Peugeot 508 is already a current car; we’ve been talking about it for so long. In fact we first reported that Peugeot was planning on replacing the 407 and 607 with just one car – the Peugeot 508 – back in November 2009.

So far the detail on the 508 hasn’t been huge, so news of the oily bits is welcome. But it’s not just the oily bits we get news on. Oh, no. Peugeot has been playing with their thesaurus and the ‘Little Book of Flowery Prose’ to explain the 508, its raison d’être and its USP. Or something like that.

So we learn that the 508 has ‘...a solidity that reflects the aspirations of elegance, robustness and high quality’, which we take to mean the 508 looks upmarket.

We also get told that the 508 ‘…illustrates the development of the Marque’s latest stylistic codes first unveiled on the SR1 concept car, with a single grille rendered in a “floating” style…’, which this time we take to mean ‘We’ve dropped the big gob nose’.

All of which is very good. And who can blame Peugeot for bigging up the 508? It looks pretty promising to us and – if the latest offerings from Peugeot like the 3008, 5008 and RCZ are anything to go by – it could make a very big Peugeot-shaped dent in the sales figures of the competition.

So on to the oily bits, where Peugeot are making big play of their eco-credentials. Lots of talk about low CO2 and hyrbid tech, which are of course the current buzz to gain credibility. But there’s substance to the claims with emissions kicking off at just 109g/km (and 99g k/m when the hybrid kicks in late in 2011), but also with the option of the 2.2 litre HDi FAP which delivers up 204bhp with just 150g/km.

We really like the look of the Peugeot 508.

Peugeot 508 Engine Range

508 HDi FAP diesel range:

1.6 litre e-HDi FAP 112bhp, 285(¹)Nm, EGC 6-speed(⁵); CO₂: 109(²) g/km,
1.6 litre HDi FAP 112bhp, 254(¹)Nm, 5-speed manual; CO₂: 124g/km,
2.0 litre HDi FAP 140bhp, 340(¹)Nm, 6-speed manual; CO₂: 125g/km,
2.0 litre HDi FAP 163bhp, 340Nm, 6-speed automatic; CO₂: 149g/km(³),
2.2 litre HDi FAP 204bhp, 450Nm, 6-speed automatic; CO₂: 150g/km.

508 petrol range:

1.6 litre VTi 120bhp; 160Nm, EGC 6-speed; CO₂: 144 g/km(³),
1.6 litre THP 156bhp, 240Nm, 6-speed manual; CO₂: 149 g/km(⁴),
1.6 litre THP 156bhp, 240Nm, 6-speed automatic; CO₂: 164 g/km(³).

(¹) Value with overboost
(²) 114 g/km at launch then 109 g/km in the summer of 2011
(³) Launch in the spring of 2011.
(⁴) 154 g/km at launch then 149 g/km in the summer of 2011
(⁵) EGC (Electronic Gearbox Control) transmission
NB: CO₂ value is for the Saloon