2017 Peugeot 108 Allure TOP! Review - AN EXCELLENT City Companion

Driven: 2016 Peugeot 108 Allure TOP! Review

As a city car driver, I’ve been attempting to try some modern city machines for some time now. Recently I’ve had the opportunity to do that, by means of the 2017 Peugeot 108 Allure TOP!.

What’s The Peugeot 108 Allure TOP! ABOUT?

The Peugeot 108 Allure TOP! is a successor to the 107 – and like it’s elder, it’s been built within a joint project between Peugeot, Citroen and Toyota. In the event that you choose the Citroen you get the C1, and in the event that you choose the Toyota you get the Aygo.

Just like the 107, the 108 Allure TOP! shares most of its inner workings using its French and Japanese cousins. Each of them have the same engine, chassis, drivetrain, suspension and interior. Actually the only differences are body work and styling.

Talking about styling, I like what Peugeot did with the 108. In white it occurs well with sharp looks and curvy lines. Sitting on those 15 inch alloys, and with a noticeable lack of unpainted plastic it looks a hell of a whole lot smarter and more sophisticated compared to the original 107. It certainly does look more premium than it really is.

The car we’d on test was the upper-mid-range Peugeot 108 Allure TOP! model. It will come in below the top-spec GT Line and special Roland Garros edition, and above the bottom level Access and Active. To create it in addition to the base levels, the Allure includes 15 inch alloys as standard, along with chrome wing mirrors, front fog lights and auto headlights. Along with all of this, you’ve also got tinted rear windows, a reversing camera, and Peugeot’s keyless start system, Open & Go.

Personalisation is designed for many interior and exteriors parts when configuring a 108. A few of these are the floor mats, key fob cover, and dashboard decals and go completely to roof, bonnet and side decals.

It is also had with the optional 1.2 litre Puretech engine produced by Peugeot. This produces 82 hp, 20% more power compared to the standard 1.0 litre Toyota unit, and with an increase of torque too at 116 Nm. And with only 865 kg to pull around, having that extra 20% power makes this a seriously nippy car.

Running costs are also superbly low. Taxing this car can cost you nothing, as the engine generates just 99 g/km of C02 so that it falls into that ‘free tax’ category. You’ll also be making your way around 65 mpg too, and filling this car up from empty can cost you bit more than £30 usually. Cheap cheap.

Insurance-wise, the 108 Allure falls into category 11E, meaning cover will likely be fairly reasonable for many people.

Along with running costs, the automobile itself is relatively inexpensive. Our Allure model can cost you £13,200 – however the base level 108 starts from just £8,000 that makes it great value, as I will now explain.

How Does It Drive?

Driving the 108 can be an extremely easy experience. To begin with, to get moving, all you have to to accomplish is push the start/stop button because of keyless begin in the Allure.

Out on the street the 108 gets up to date pretty quickly because of the bigger engine with extra torque, to the stage where it can feel fast and sprightly. That 1.2 is without doubt punchy, accelerating in lower gears is something you’ll want to keep doing, and in the event that you keep carefully the revs high it’ll pull quite nicely at higher speed too, which is fantastic for overtaking. What I love about the 108 is that it feels faster than it really is. The car is indeed small and it actually takes 11 seconds going to 60, but from inside you truly don’t notice this.

Nevertheless the engine isn’t exactly refined when driving hard – vibrations could be felt directly through the pedals and in addition through the wheel too – and by planting your foot you’ll hear the 1.2 L pulling you along with a significant rough, almost diesel-like sound.

This isn’t to say this isn’t fun though, the 108 possesses a rewarding experience for the spirited driver. Because of it weighing significantly less than your average laptop and having an exceptionally light steering rack, it’ll happily dance around on B-roads on a Sunday afternoon.

As effective as it really is out in the united states lanes, where in fact the Peugeot 108 Allure really shines is around. I tested the 108 in an area town and it had been just brilliant – I might have enjoyed myself more darting in and out of gaps a lot more than cruising in the united states. Having such small dimensions and the wheels directly on the four corners of the automobile produces an almost go-kart like experience.

The quick, light steering and small wheel means changing direction is effortless, and the updated suspension setup, without being too much, reduces body roll at low speed in order to really chuck it around – all whilst staying super-composed. Increasing the 108’s arsenal are two items of tech that are relatively not used to cars such as this. The Allure TOP! includes Active City Brake and the Lane Departure Warning System which is amazing on such a little car.

In town, if you want to park, you’re in an ideal car. From what I could remember, the initial Aygo, C1 and 107 appear to have started the complete ‘flat rear end/glass tailgate’ thing with city cars. Every city car worth having since that time has already established a vertical tailgate with reduced rear overhang.

This signature characteristic, in conjunction with the reversing camera makes this among the easiest cars to park and manoeuvre I’ve ever driven.

What’s It Like Inside?

Now, being truly a affordable car, you get an inside that reflects that using ways – nevertheless, you can tell which bits Peugeot have spent their money on, because those bits are really good. Let me explain.

My only negative point about the inside is the materials applied to the dash and the entranceway panels. No chance of sugar-coating it, it’s just hard plastic. A bit scratchy, and terrible at insulating, in order you’re driving you’ll have wind noise, road noise and engine noise to contend with. However, you’ll get accustomed to it pretty quickly and finally you won’t see it.

All of those other interior, well, it’s just as you’d expect. It’s functional a lot more than anything, with a lot of cubby holes for items and as funky as you’d expect a fresh city car to be. The majority of it really is customisable too – when configuring your 108 you have the methods to end up with an exceptionally bright interior in the event that you so wish.

At the centre of most this sits an excellent 7 inch touchscreen infotainment system with integrated DAB radio and Bluetooth. In the bigger models it’s also a sat nav, however in this car it isn’t included. Regarding the infotainment system, I was happy with how smooth and intuitive it had been. It felt as an actual, responsive touchscreen too, I wasn’t needing to jab 14 times at the screen to choose and option or flick through menus. Having a bit of kit such as this in a car of the class is really wonderful.

I’d also prefer to note that all of the main heater/volume controls are actual buttons and switches that i really appreciated. That is probably because of costs but I did so appreciate having the capacity to adjust the heater or airflow and never have to navigate digital menus.

Above your mind you’ll find the large canvas roof that slides back, retracting the vast majority of the roof from above you. That is operated from a switch next to the inside light. This can be an excellent feature, especially on hot days nonetheless it means wind noise is increased when driving.

In leading seats, the driver as well as your passenger will have a lot of room for both your legs and heads. No issues in advance. However in the trunk, for reasons I will explain shortly, there isn’t a lot of room. There is less room in the rear of the 108 than there is in the initial 107. To be literal, anyone over 6 ft just won’t fit without them resting their at once their knees.

Even with leading seats slid forward, they’ll still end up viewing the world at a 45 degree angle, as they’ll be hitting their at once the roof. Not ideal.

The reason why there is indeed little room in the trunk, is basically because there is more room in the boot. 40 litres more, to be exact. Where as you’d 140 L in the 107, you will have 180 L in the 108. That is useful for obvious reasons, however I’d have preferred less space in the boot, with an increase of space for passengers.

THE KNOWLEDGE

I’m a big fan of city cars – the 108 certainly is a great one. As great as the lower-spec models are value-wise, I must recommend a mid-range model just like the Active or Allure. Getting the extra comforts and especially that better 1.2 litre unit, really makes an environment of difference in an automobile so light.

Verdict

The Peugeot 108 Allure TOP! has proved its worth if you ask me. Its a hugely efficient, very reliable, fun and cheap runaround. Couple that with sharp looks, fancy technology, and solid construction – and you’ve got an excellent little city companion.