Every car to come out of a certain country will have features that cater to that countries environment. For instance Japanese cars are made more for acceleration rather than top end speed, with relatively compact sizes. While American cars have pretty unstressed engines to ensure they last over frequent long distant driving. The French, cater to loads of roads that wind around mountains and valleys, while having to cope with a significant amount of time on cobblestone streets. As a result, French cars have some of the best ride and handling setup’s ever. Which is why we have been using French cars to do bulk of the best driving roads documentation for the past 10 years.
Our extreme weather and terrain
@route_hunters_malaysia When we were asked why we started the Route Hunters initiative during our interview on @Bernama TV #ApaKhabarMalaysia this is what we said.. #fyp #fypシ #foryou #foryoupage #fypシ゚viral #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #fypage #healing #getaway #bestdrivingroads #malaysia ♬ Sweet psycho - Official Sound Studio
Thanks to our countries topography which has the longest mountain range running right through the Peninsular, and one of the oldest rainforest receiving 2000mm of rainfall every year growing around it, we have one of the rarest landscapes on the planet. We can go from sea level to 2000m of elevation within 100km. This result is some twisty roads with lovely elevations. However temperatures can fluctuate between 40 deg Celsius to 25 deg Celsius in just 1 hour during an afternoon downpour, which causes intense amount of wear on the roads. Its on scenarios like this where French cars perfect balance between ride and handling comes alive, especially from Peugeot and Citroen cars.
Our tool for the trade
For the past 10 years we have been documenting the best driving roads in the country. This requires us to drive for 1000’s of km across the country over rural Malaysian countryside. Sometimes you encounter roads with lovely corners, camber, and elevations. However the roads between your start point and end point might not have the best surface. Enter the 208 GTi, which we bought in 2014. While western publications tend to favour the sharper FIesta ST, we wrote back in 2015 that the 208 GTi’s softer setup made it an amazing driving tool for our back roads. Where you have to back off the throttle on the Fiesta, you can continue to power on with the 208 GTi thanks to its suspension setup. Which is why the Peugeot 208 GTi owners dared to take up a 1700-plus km road trip around Peninsular Malaysia by sticking mostly to B roads.
In 2018, we bought our 2nd Peugeot, the 3008 SUV. This is no hot hatch, but at the time of the launch it was the lightest SUV at 1300kg, with an Euro NCAP 5 star rating, a lower price tag than the Honda CR-V (highest spec) and still with the largest boot space in the class of 590 litres. Crucially, it retained the ride and handling our crew had come to love from Peugeot. This car allowed us to ferry our crew and shoot equipments for recce, for actual shoots and even served as the tracking vehicle. Some of our best content came from the capabilities of this vehicle. We could maintain a relatively quick average speed over twisty roads thanks to the low kerb weight, and those comfortable seats and excellent ride allowed the battered crew after every shoot to lounge with ease.
The new Peugeot 408, which we had a chance to check out ahead of its launch, seems to sit somewhere between the GTi and the 3008, with the 408 leaning to the latter. You get a raised ride height but a low profile body. But we are sure it would be amazing to drive on our roads based on a few factors we observed.
Climatized for our weather
One of the major changes Peugeot made for the Malaysian market was the way they climatized their vehicles for the local market. While we had never received official literature on it, we did get first hand information on this from various ‘behind the scenes’ staff of the Peugeot brand. Allegedly there are 5 test mules brought in, with 3 required to clock 100,000km in 6 months, while 2 units were kept exposed under the weather for the same duration. The findings of these stress tests allowed Peugeot to perform quality control checks before the vehicles hit the showroom floor. Which is why we saw a great deal of spy shots of the 408 ahead of its launch. This also allows any recall actions to take place well ahead of time.
This extensive weather testing shows its results. The 3008 was subjected to this test, while the 208 gti was not. The 3008 takes weather and usage abuse alot more than the 208 gti. Where the 208 gti’s trims can rattle or peel, the 3008 is still holding up very well. The current 408 allegedly was subjected to the same tests.
Robust and reliable
Pretty much most Peugeot cars in the current range use the 1.6 turbo engine in various states of tune. The 208 GTi puts out 200bhp and 275Nm, while the Peugeot 3008 SUV puts out 165bhp and 240Nm. Both cars have clocked 215,000km (208 gti) and 195,000km (3008) respectively. Both engines and gearbox have been running well with the routine mechanical wear taking place. There were more warranty claims on the 208 gti, which included an alternator, an aircon compressor and a high pressure fuel pump. We had to change the high pressure pump again after the warranty period which set us back 4 digits.
The 3008 however had far less issues, with a battery related warranty claim taking place just at the end of the first year and an aircon compressor which made a knocking noise. The only other warranty claim this car had was due to your’s truly’s sizeable figure of 6 ft 2 and 116kg. I was the only one who claimed for a broken seat frame in the country. Otherwise, the car has served us really well, with it clocking 1000km’s every week for a year after the odometer clocked 120,000km, outside the warranty period. The car functioned without a hiccup since.
The current 408 is the more powerful than either cars we have, putting out a claimed 220bhp and 300Nm through an 8 speed gearbox. There seem to be updates in the oil circuitry and plumbing, including a genuine twin tailpiped exhaust. We would have to see how it performs in the long run.
@route_hunters_malaysia We are the only one in the country with a 3008 broken seat! Got it fixed under warranty thanks to Peugeot Klang! #Totinos425 #fyp #fypシ #fypage #fypシ゚viral #peugeot #3008 #broken #seat #car #repair #hacks ♬ Canyons - Official Sound Studio
Fuel efficient and easy on the consumables
Both cars THP (currently known as Puretech) engine’s have loads of low down torque, and are extremely fuel efficient. The 3008 can return a decent 7.5 l/100km fuel consumption on our B roads. While the significantly more powerful 208 GTi can return as low as 6.5l/100km. This is thanks to their relatively light chassis especially in the 3008. The EMP2 platform allowed the car to be constructed relatively light yet super strong. The current Peugeot 408 (P54) is also built based on the EMP2 platform.
Thanks to the light construction both cars are easy on brakes and tyres. These may not seem like big deals if you’re spending 6 digits for a continental car. But when you are clocking 190,000km in under 6 years, the running costs make a very huge difference. We will share the specific running costs of both cars in coming posts.
Almost because there are some unsettled issues
We have all heard the horror stories of Peugeot ownership in one way or another. Some claim that the cars are problematic. As actual owners who have clocked significant kilometres on our cars, we can share our experience that these cars will work like clockwork so long as you change the fluids according to spec and at the right interval.
Under Nasim, the warranty claims were the most lenient and rapid. We were held up by the legalities for parts during the handover to Bermaz, causing us to drive around with a driver seat that will drop to the lowest position if you sit on it for a while. However the full warranty claim was processed and we received a new seat frame. The same legal issues are faced by current owners too at the moment. It should be sorted relatively soon if the rumours are true.
However the homework Stellantis has to do is to deliver on reliable parts support for after sales and body and paint claims. Cars developing faults will not irritate an owner as much as downtime. The longer you let an owner wait for their car, the more agitated they will become. Then, all it takes is one social media post to make it rounds to destroy months and thousands of ringgit worth of work to go down the drains.
Another aspect is the pricing of the vehicle. Peugeot was always priced to be a high value proposition. This is something Stellantis has to work in ensuring the cars arrive to the Malaysian public at a price that makes sense against competitions from other brands, especially the Malaysian brands. Because both the 208 GTi and the 3008 were amazing values at the time, undercutting their competitors significantly.
In Conclusion
An almost perfect car for Malaysia would mean it would withstand our extreme weather, be easy to drive on our challenging roads, have a good dealer coverage nationwide and not leave an owner stranded due to a lean spares supply. Plus it should also make financial sense in buying and operating one in Malaysia. Peugeot’s, especially the current crop of cars seem to fulfil some of these better than most brands. They are great to drive on our roads, they are tested for this weather, they are relatively easy to run, and the maximum road tax amount for the current crop of cars is RM100. But we speak on behalf of Malaysians when we say that Stellantis would still need to prove their commitment to the brand and its existing owners. Only then will it be the (almost) perfect car for Malaysia and Malaysians.