Peugeot 408

Matching the drama of the exterior design of the Peugeot 408 is the overall interior layout, which feels very unique and high in quality. Draped in high-quality leather upholstery – Black leather for Allure, Claudia Black for Allure Plus, and Nappa leather for the GT, the cabin of the Peugeot 408 feels rich with gloss black and silver inserts at various places. 

Behind the quirky-looking two-spoke multi-functional steering wheel, which has a large octagonal centre boss and flat upper and lower edges, the driver’s cockpit of the Peugeot 408 has a slightly elevated 10-inch i-Cockpit 3D full-TFT instrument console, which sits within a hexagonal housing. 

A large trapezoidal 10-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system dominates the upper centre console, which also has a rectangular touch-controlled panel for the dual-zone automatic climate control placed below it. The lower centre console has a wraparound design and accommodates the tiny transmission lever, engine push start-stop button, and electronic parking brake, along with a wireless charging pad and concealed cup holders. 

The cabin of the Peugeot 408 is feature-loaded, comprising a panoramic sunroof, memory function for the driver’s seat, heated front seats, powered front seats with massage function, powered tailgate, ambient lighting, 10-speaker premium sound system, and more. While the 60:40 split seats add to the versatility and practicality of the cabin, the headroom at the rear, especially for taller people, feels compromised. 

Thanks to its slightly lower-slung stance and dramatically-raked rear profile compared to similarly-sized SUVs, the Peugeot 408 is high on visual drama. Along with sharp creases and angular design elements all around, these elements make the Peugeot 408 a very good attention-grabber. 

The front profile of the Peugeot 408 boasts of an arrowhead-shaped, horizontally-stretched front grille with body-coloured chequered inserts. There are angular, four-edged headlamps with unique-looking Matrix LEDs placed beside the grille’s upper edges, which also have vertically-running LED DRL strips emerging from their outer bottom edges.

The side profile of the Peugeot 408 has muscular haunches over the front and rear wheel arches with body mouldings, with its 20-inch alloy wheels elevating the visual drama further. There are body mouldings over the wheel arches which further give it a more ruggedness. The sharply-raked rear windscreen of the 408 is complemented by a sporty-looking spoiler, shark fin antenna and sleek-looking combination LED tail lamps. There are reverse lamps and rear fog lights on the corners of the rear bumper, which also has a gloss-black diffuser in the centre.

Sitting 189mm higher from the ground, the Peugeot 408 comes with a slightly stiffer-tuned suspension combination of Macpherson struts at the front and a multi-link setup at the rear. Besides this suspension setup, the aerodynamic profile thanks to the coupe-like fastback roofline also aids the Peugeot 408 in its agile and sure-footed driving appeal. There are three driving modes in this fastback crossover from Peugeot – Eco, Normal and Sport – that fine tune the driving behaviour even more. 

All three variants of the Peugeot 408 come standard with a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and an 8-speed automatic transmission. One of the most powerful 1.6-litre petrol engines ever, this turbo-petrol engine of the Peugeot 408 delivers 220 PS of maximum power and 300 Nm of maximum torque. 

Besides the essential safety features like six airbags, ABS with EBD, front and rear parking sensors, electronic stability program with hill assist, and 360-degree parking camera, the Peugeot 408 also comes with a few advanced driving assistance functions like traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, front collision warning, blind spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert, high beam assist, and tyre pressure monitoring system.

With its dramatic fastback design and high-tech powertrain features, the Peugeot 408 is high on youthful appeal and modernity, making it a very compelling alternative to similarly-priced SUVs.