Autocar writers' cars of 2021: Peugeot 508 Peugeot Sport Engineered
Rachel Burgess nominates Peugeot's sporting plug-in hybrid as her motoring highlight of the past 12 months
If it’s in our Britain’s Best Driver's Car line-up, it’s little surprise that it appears here. Admittedly, the Peugeot 508 PSE was an underdog in this year’s selection - the final three in the shootout were the Porsche 911 GT3, Ferrari SF90 Stradale and the Ariel Atom 4 for context - but nonetheless, it played a part in Autocar’s biggest driving showdown of the year and was thought fondly of by a number of the road testers.
Andrew Frankel commented that it was good “to see Peugeot trying to occupy the centre ground for enthusiasts who need a family daily driver” while James Disdale said: “It would be unfair to say it was out of its depth here, but it highlighted the fact that this is a quick and satisfying executive express rather than an out-and-out driver’s car.”
As my current long-term test car, I’ve had more time using the 508 as my daily driver and less (read: no) time on track. It’s certainly not a no-compromise performance car, but I can appreciate its leaning that way: it has relatively lively and balanced handling and the chassis has an unexpected level of finesse. As Disdale eloquently puts it: “The chassis has that fluid feel that French cars used to do so well – like you’re floating just above the surface but always keyed into it.”
What I particularly like, because it’s satisfying on both slower urban journeys and faster countryside roads, is the steering, which has been specially tuned for the PSE. It’s quick and accurate with decent heft, without being intimidating.
Other things: how bloody great is it that we have an all-new performance saloon in the marketplace? Niche cars, even for brand-building purposes, are not something we see introduced very often these days and for that, we salute Peugeot. There’s also the fact that it looks excellent: every friend who has seen it has praised its appearance (even if they haven’t known what it is). And amid all this praise, I’ve not even mentioned that it’s a plug-in hybrid, making it the perfect car for which to target business drivers.
Yet it’s a flawed, fun car. It could feel a little faster, the eight-speed auto is often caught between gears and Peugeot’s i-Cockpit remains frustrating, to name a few. Still, none of that takes away from this exciting addition to the performance saloon market.