PEUGEOT 508 Sedan test drive since 2010 sedan

All photos of Peugeot 508 sedan since 2010

Opel Insignia, Kia Optima, Peugeot 508: vision of vision

It seemed that this segment of the Russian market was long cut by Japanese companies. But it was not there! Meet the impudent beginners: Kia proposed the already popular in the USA and Asia Optima, Peugeot finally introduced the new flagship of the 508th, replacing two models 407 and 607 at once. How do they look against the background of the German automobile industry in the person of Opel-England?
For courage
Insignia is translated as an order, a sign of differences. To get it, to take the dealer with a storm, thank God, it is not necessary: \u200b\u200bthe model is always in stock, it does not fall in shortage. But it’s good, a devil, although not a beauty. The charm of insignia in its cosmopolitanism. Go tell me where the car from Asia or Europe comes from before you.
In the face of Opel, I do not see any stiffness, not like in Kia. But this is external, but he still has the character! I have a very powerful version in my hands: 2-liter, 220-horsepower. The motor, as befits a modern turbo, is damn elastic, and even a gap -in gas pedal does not spoil the impression of overclocking. Opel shoots to overtake at any speed with the joy of a young setter, who was lowered from a leash in the field.
It is as difficult to keep up with an engine, lightningly throwing the arrow of a tachometer, as a hunter for feeling freedom with a dog. I hasten to go into manual mode, but there is little sense in it. But the concerns were increased: in the honest manual, the transmission itself does not switch up, here it is important not to rest on the limiter, otherwise the acceleration rate will be lost.
A cool motore is echoed by a cool chassis in this instance, it is supplemented by a Flex Ryd system. It controls the electromagnetic valves of the shock absorbers, the steering wheel power power, throttle, stabilization system and automatic. The most clamped version of Sport settings came, in Normal, and even more so Tour, the car is too soft and begins to swing.
In sports tuning, you feel insignia from the first turns and you can predict when the skids with which you even want to play, completely turning off the stabilization system begin to develop smoothly. But on Russian routes, the car is nervous, pulls the steering wheel in the ruts and broadcasts the passage of each fossa on it. The suspension here is more comfortable than that of KIA, but painfully sonorous, it is especially noticeable during the assault of bedridled policemen. In addition to this noise of travelers, only the voice of the engine for fast overclocking can be tired; Wheel arches swallow pebbles and sand soundlessly, an air flow that is almost inaudible.
I remember that at the first meeting with incess signitia I did not like the creaky inner door handles. The current copy of such a sore did not notice, although the German interior against the backdrop of Kia fades, if you compare the quality: here the gaps are indecently wide, the plastic oak and echoing. Our copy has already run a dozen thousand kilometers, and the salon is no, no, and it clicks, as if giving a shrinkage of the beam.
In the interior of Insignia, good luck is adjacent to annoying misses. For example, a magnificent chair with a huge range of longitudinal movement is perfectly suitable for tall drivers. But the steering wheel overlaps the upper part of the dashboard. Not everything is okay with visibility: there is little one at all in the salon mirror, and wide front racks still interfere in the city. Beautiful mirrors are too compact.
The second row of seats is also not a gift: under the feet of the middle passenger a bulky tunnel. But the two sides and a low roof do not get tired here.

MORE POSITIVE
I noticed the new Optima more than a year ago, when its samples rode along the Dmitrovsky training ground in anticipation of certification. I noticed, by the way, I was not alone in the evening at the vacationing sedan, the workers and guests of the landfill were constantly spinning, looking curiously out of the windows. A year later, the effect of novelty does not weaken: it was worth rolling out of the editorial parking, Kia began to magnetize the eyes of neighbors in the stream. It was such a design, fresh and bold, that the city woke up after a winter hibernation was waiting! Optima and aggressiveness of its predatory muzzle and squat silhouette look in the Moscow stream is as natural as piranha in the waters of the Amazon.
She, of course, scares, but does not bite! The start under the thrust of a 180-horsepower engine with a volume of 2.4 liters makes a dual impression: on the one hand, I note the living settings of the gas pedal and smooth transfers with a 6-speed automatic, on the other I feel a lack of power. Or is it just in my mood? You want bright fire from a car with such a groove design, and you get barely smoldering coals, which, no matter how you blow, the fire will not flare up. You press the gas to the floor and wait for the box to finally go down, and how many steps it decides to go down at the moment, it seems to me nor, it seems, the car itself. Kick Dawn is accompanied by itching of the motor, with obvious shortness of breaths, which is swollen to a speed limiter.
We accelerated to try to besiege the car. Again, disappointment: the brakes of our copy seemed to overheat the pedal on the racing highway, its course is small, the sensitivity is low. In general, it was not possible to stop filigree accuracy. Well, at least, the anti-lock system is cool: emergency braking on the mixed coating does not cause any noticeable departure.
Controllability? The car stands well on a straight line, does not scour in the ruts and does not tear the steering wheel from the hands. But it is worth entering a quick turn, how the tendency to demolish the front is manifested, and if there are uneven asphalt under the wheels, get ready: the optim will definitely jump from the trajectory. A sortie out of the city made it possible to feel a slight buildup, a soft passage of the joints of the canvas and a good energy intensity of the suspension, this winter the asphalt for some reason was especially damaged and now takes revenge on the owners of low-profile rubber. On Optima there are an unusual design of 18-inch wheels and dimensions of 225/45, for which, to be honest, it is scary. You remember the tires constantly, because they are the main source of noise in the cabin. The rumble especially strains the rear passengers, but those sitting in front enjoy it in full.
As the Soviet intelligence officer beloved by everyone said, the last phrase is remembered in the conversation, so I want to finish on the major note. The salon is what the Koreans managed for sure! Unnecessary design, excellent, pleasant to the eye of supervision devices, solid plastics and hospitable driver's seat easily overshadow the shallow buttons of switching audio tracts on the steering wheel, through a closing eyebrush and crickets somewhere in the central racks.

The lion's share
For the first time I met him in France. The owners laid the route along the Loire Valley, which is replete with medieval architecture, against which the 508th looked harmonious. And now, with his equanimity, he reminds me of a stone lion, guarding the entrance to the old estate. But in the modern city, even the owner of any other Peugeot holds the 508th short, almost indifferent look. I also did not expect any special sledge manners. In vain! Like the king of animals, this sedan is slow only at first glance.
A 2.2 liter diesel develops 204 hp. And puts on both shoulder blades gasoline engines of insignia and even more than optima. It surpasses them in a torque by 100 and 219 N.M! Therefore, insignia, fast in a set of hundreds from a place, is inferior to the 508th, when it is necessary to accelerate from medium speeds. Alas, but also on Peugeot five kopecks strings to throw up the machine gun. No, he does not sin with slowness when switching and vanity with the choice of gears, but sometimes languidly hangs at increased speed.
Otherwise, almost an idyll. A pleasantly heavy, with a juicy reactive force, the steering wheel slightly blossoms with speed growth, and the machine follows it like a shadow. And if faster? Peugeot calmly holds a given trajectory, practically does not notice the ruts and is screwed into the turns with pleasant liveliness. The skid is barely beginning to develop, the stabilization system comes into business. It can be disabled, but when reaching 50 km/h, distrusting electronics is again on guard of safety.
We marveled at soda comfort. The most difficult in the Trinity, Peugeot in addition to shod 19-inch wheels indecent by Russian standards. And at the same time, the machine so elegantly damps road adversities that they are practically not transferred to the body, steering wheel and pedal. Our enthusiastic charm! On vibro and sound insulation (including engine): it is clearly better than that of competitors.
But, perhaps, the salon of the 508th will be most remembered. Probably, it was created as follows: first, a German took up the work, with his characteristic practicality, drawing the restrained front panel, giving tribute to symmetry and scrupulously picking up the materials. The Frenchman, who was probably in a beautiful mood after a couple of glasses of Armanak: how else to explain the buttons on the launch of the motor and hand brakes, was brought to the ergonomics, who was probably. And the adjustments of the projection display and stabilization systems hidden on a secret folding remote control in the left knee area? The machine lever walks along a winding slot, tightly draped with a case, you will not immediately guess which mode is turned on at the moment.
All this is so unexpected that for some reason it causes emotion rather than irritation. Well, when you sit back the three and do not feel the ceiling above your head, calmly place your feet under the front armchair and see an additional two-zone climate control in front of you, the heart will completely melt.
Insurance and warranty
We called several large insurance companies with a request to calculate the cost of the CASCO policy and were a lot of surprised to scatter prices for the same model in different companies, they differed by 20,000 rubles! Therefore, do not rush to carry bloodly earned in the first insurance. It is better to turn to the broker and find the most pleasant conditions (preference should be given to large firms whose branches are in your city). On average, the smallest amount will have to be laid out for Kia and Opel of the annual policy on them about 60,000, while the Peugeot will need to pay about 10,000 rubles.
The warranty obligations of Opel and Peugeot, as well as the frequency of service are identical: three years or 100,000 km, but Kia offers a five -year expanded warranty before a mileage of 150,000 km. Lempting! However, we must take into account the terms of the contract in which manufacturers mention nodes and parts that do not fall under a guarantee due to natural wear. In addition to the KIA filters traditional for all firms, the KIA filters, nozzles, nozzles and rods of glasses and mirrors (these parts can be replaced under warranty for 12 months or 15,000 km of run, only if the cause of the failure was a defect in the material or manufacturing). The service life of the racks of the reptile stability stabilizer is limited to 30,000 km, and the ball joints of the pendants and steering, the silent blocks of levers, shock absorbers and cardan hinges will be replaced for free before the mileage of 70,000 km. Peugeot set a natural wear limit for such iron as drive shafts of gearboxes, hub bearings and balls: 40,000 km. Opel carries warranty obligations without reservations regarding the run up to 100,000 km.
Mikhail Gzovsky:
I would dream of getting Opel's chassis in one bottle, KIA’s space and appearance. What if, while I am smoking money, such a model will appear?.
***
So what about the finale? The fraud of vision according to the full program. The predator of Optima turned out to be a good -natured special, soft with insignia showed a solid character, and the clumsy and lazy lion set the couch. How can I not recall Kozma Prutkov with his famous warning: if a donkey is written on a cage with a lion, do not believe your eyes!

Kia requires caution when parking to the curb: the front overhang hangs quite low.

Opel's road clearance of 120 mm (under protection) limits the capabilities of the machine in summer signs.

In our point system, there is fundamentally there is no assessment for appearance. But Peugeot style seemed somewhat eclectic.

This interior cannot be called beaten. The quality of the finish with the generous use of the skin at the level of Peugeot.

The interior of the test insignia was decorated with chic baguage leather.

Probably, French designers often drive in German cars: restraint reigns in the design of the salon.

Supervision devices liked the information content and not tiring backlighting in the dark.

Opel devices are beautiful, but the digitization of the speedometer and the tachometer is small, and the indications of temperature and fuel level are partially overlapped by the steering wheel.

If you look closely at the little things, in the 508th everything is not like people. Why are there five scales? The oil temperature to whom is it interesting today?