by David Finlay (22 Jan 10)

Already an award winner even before it officially goes on sale in the UK, the Peugeot 5008 is made of familiar stuff. This sort of thing is perhaps only of academic interest, but for the record both this car and the smaller 3008 are close cousins of the 308, the main technical differences between the two MPVs being that the 3008 is based on the 308 hatchback while the 5008 uses the extended, but otherwise identical, platform of the 308 SW.

Apart from their contrasting body designs (that of the 3008 being noticeably more car-like), what really distinguishes the two is that the 5008 is long enough for Peugeot to have been able to fit seven seats. In fact, for UK customers there is no five-seat option, though Peugeot says it could follow the practice of other markets in making a five-seater available, in the unlikely event that there was a clamour for it.

Peugeot's marketing campaign for the 5008 is based on the slogan: "Enjoyed by families. Loved by drivers." Okay, let's look into that. None of the 5008's seven-seat rivals has a great deal of room in the third row, and they don't seem to suffer from it, so there is no point in complaining that the Peugeot doesn't either (though we might pause here to rejoice in the fact that passengers in all three rows benefit from curtain airbag protection, which sadly is not universal practice in the MPV class).

More eyebrow-raising is the fact that space in the middle row is limited too. Those seats have fore-and-aft adjustment but even in the most aft position I (admittedly unreasonably tall at 6'3") can't comfortably sit in them. Nor is there a spectacular amount of room for the driver - the Ford Fiesta, of all things, offers more, though in the case of the Peugeot the situation is helped if you opt for cloth rather than leather upholstery. Yes, I know that seems unlikely, but it's true.

A fully-laden 5008 will be "enjoyed by families" only if a large proportion of its occupants are children or below-averagely tall adults, or if its purpose on a particular journey is to carry luggage. Here the car scores well, since the load capacity (by the VDA measurement most commonly used) varies from 578 litres - depending on model - up to parcel shelf level with the third-row seats folded to a hearty 1754 litres if you fold down five of the seats and pack the thing up to the roof. A folding front passenger seat is available as an optional extra, and allows for an impressive load length of 2.76 metres.

"Loved by drivers." Well, the 5008 is much more spritely than you might expect, and even if you opt for the most powerful engine (the 156bhp 1.6-litre turbo petrol) it behaves very well when driven hard. The 110bhp HDI turbo diesel alternative is likely to be much more popular, though, and frankly it gives as much performance as most owners will probably be interested in.

Ride quality on the low-profile tyres fitted to most versions is less appealing, and I don't think there is any driver worthy of the name who could honestly admit to loving the EGC gearbox available on the 110 HDI; it's actually a manual but has enough electronic control to be regarded as an automatic, though with much slower gearchanges than an automatic would provide. Those changes are smoother than I can remember experiencing with any similar transmission, but the process still feels very clumsy.

A genuine automatic will be offered later this year with a 163bhp turbo diesel engine, while among the manual-transmission models there are also a 120bhp non-turbo petrol and a 150bhp diesel to be considered. Only the least powerful petrol and diesel units are available in the entry-level Active, which like the others has an electronic handbrake (noisier in operation than almost any similar system in the market), air-conditioning and ESP.

The Sport is available with the full range of engines and gearboxes and gets alloy wheels, a superior audio system, colour-coded exterior trim and front foglights, among much else, while the range-topping Exclusive comes with a larger alloys, climate control air-conditioning, automatic headlights and wipers, a panoramic sunroof and a very clever head-up display, in which the vehicle's speed and the amount of time it would take you hit the car in front if it stopped suddenly appear on a futuristic-looking translucent panel which emerges from the dashboard when you switch on the engine.

Disappointingly, the 5008 does not offer good visibility in any direction (Peugeot's partner company Citroen does a much better job of this, at least up front), but on the plus side it has gained a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, despite its whiplash protection being described as "marginal", and according to market analyst CAP it should retain a class-topping 35% of its value after three years.

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