508

[sirwiggum]

Pictures of the 508 have been released.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/peug ... 2010-07-13

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoe ... ealed.html

Wasn't sure what to make of it, but it is definitely growing on me. Looks a lot better than their current design of basking-whale-with-pointy-vertical-lights. At least the headlights on the 508 are horizontal!

I think it was some BMW designer who said that the headlights were the eyes of the car. While I am not a fan of BMWs, I agree with the sentiment. Vertical headlights look wrong in the same way that someone whos eyes were rotated 90 degrees wouldn't quite look right.

Big grilles are something the Chinese like, so a lot of manufacturers are incorporating them now. Especially on large saloon cars, which are starting to slip in Europe with buyers preferring MPVs and SUVs, but sell better in China.

508 = replacement for 407 and 607 I'm sure you all know but just in case. Should sit between size-wise. Seems a shame to lose 1 saloon model but with them expanding into MPV/SUV/Crossover territory it is inevitable. Ford and Vauxhall did the same years ago, dropping their big saloon. Only other mainstream "big saloon" manufacturer is Citroen with the beautiful but slow selling C6.

[FarmerPug]

The 508 is a nice car but even though its good looking and better than the 407 its still not as slick looking as the 406, and why pick one over the current shape C5, Citroens C6 is an absolute gem, id buy one in a few years once depreciation makes it about £50 citroen just have to make a big car even if it doesnt make much money for them its just one thing they do very well.

[turbolag]

Not so sure about the depreciation. The 407 is holding its value much more robustly than the Mondeo and Vectra, even the less sought after petrol ones. The 407s appearance is really dependent on colour and spec - a plain coloured 1.6S can look a bit gash, but some of the nicer colours and bigger wheels, different grilles, spoilers etc that come on the better trims make a world of difference.

The current C5 Is a fine looking machine, but despite being a 407 in drag depreciates like a lift shaft in death valley.

I do secretly hanker after a C6, especially now they've ditched the lumpy and none to lively 2.7 HDi in favour of the oh-so-sweet 3 litre oil burner, but a big complex machine like that just scares me. Perhaps illogical, but there it is.

I'm do fancy a 508 they day they come out, especially if the rumoured Ford V8 powered model appears. However, my 407 has only just clicked 30k miles, and the way our roads are going the 4007 might be a bit more robust over the potholes.

[Blue406]

I knew it.

I had said on the RCZ thread that it would look old over night once Peugeot change their coporate car design.
Enter the 508.

I must admit though, that 508 looks fantastic, huge and solid. Can't wait for interior pics.

[turbolag]

I think the 508 is a pleasant surprise after the slightly awkward 207 facelift, and the utterly gopping 107 facelift.

I quite like the RCZ, but who are they aiming it at? The diesel is perhaps not so bad at the price, but the 200 THP costs £2000 more than the Nissan 370z, which is 140BHP meatier and has a sublime chassis in a totally different league to the wee pug.

How is it worth £8k more than the identically engined and near identically chassis'd 308 GTi, which seats 5 and has a proper boot? A great car, but maybe doomed to greed and a typically directionless Peugeot marketing effort.

The 508 looks quite well proportioned, just hoping PSA don't find some other way to feck it up!

[sirwiggum]

I do secretly hanker after a C6, especially now they've ditched the lumpy and none to lively 2.7 HDi in favour of the oh-so-sweet 3 litre oil burner, but a big complex machine like that just scares me. Perhaps illogical, but there it is.
...
my 407 has only just clicked 30k miles, and the way our roads are going the 4007 might be a bit more robust over the potholes.

To be fair, I can't see a C6 being any more complex than a 407.
A lot of the electrics are shared within the PSA pug/Citroen stable, so shouldn't be any more complex.

Biggest difference is the hydraulic suspension, but having owned a Xantia, I can honestly say that these are nothing to be feared. Newer Citroens have strong pipes, and changing Spheres is a doddle. Not much different than changing a few oil filters!
The brakes now run on a conventional circuit, so no different from a Peugeot.
(In fact, in the Xantia, the hydraulics were handy for bleeding the brakes, as they pumped themselves! And the brakes were poweful. Shame it scared people off that they've went with "normal" braking now.)
It is well worth it for the wafting ride comfort though! And in "sport" suspension mode bodyroll is eliminated. I have been in a Xantia with this in an earlier form "activa", and it is uncanny!

[steve_earwig]

The saloon looks like they fiddled around with a 407, you sure it's actually a new car? I thought they were dropping the blobfish look Then the back end of the estate looks like the new C5 estate, which can only be a good thing.

My dad was driving around in the first BX 16 valve with the spheres knackered, it happened so slowly he didn't realise. I spotted it soon enough though, I didn't think the dash was meant to jump up and down with every bump

[turbolag]

Yeah, I've had a Xantia too, and it was spot on. Change the LHM annually as you're supposed to and they're tip-top.

I did say my fear was irrational! I do like the C6 very much, and it scores mega kudos for that Dan-Dare style and the fact it's not designed by a German accountant, but by a Galouise smoking, chocolate -for-breakfast, shoulder shrugging, red wine for lunch quaffing, honest to god Frenchman. Like the French themselves, the cars can be bloody annoying when it suits them, but the rest of the time quite charming and usually good for a laugh. Hell, my 308 even has hairy armpits! (Velcro wheel arch linings).

[CountryPug]

Like it. Maybe I'll buy one 8 yrs down the line when people get change for the next trend

[sirwiggum]

Yeah, I've had a Xantia too, and it was spot on. Change the LHM annually as you're supposed to and they're tip-top.

I did say my fear was irrational! I do like the C6 very much, and it scores mega kudos for that Dan-Dare style and the fact it's not designed by a German accountant, but by a Galouise smoking, chocolate -for-breakfast, shoulder shrugging, red wine for lunch quaffing, honest to god Frenchman. Like the French themselves, the cars can be bloody annoying when it suits them, but the rest of the time quite charming and usually good for a laugh. Hell, my 308 even has hairy armpits! (Velcro wheel arch linings).

Good man

Here is my Xantia inspecting the QE2 for LHM leaks



The C6 is very cool. I was watching the news the other night, some French government minister (may even have been Sarkosy - I wasn't paying attention ) got into a French Government C6 with blacked out windows, in a beautiful French courtyard.
It looked extremely cool, much cooler than the local MLAs stuffing themselves into armoured Vauxhall Omegas.
The area I used to live in, someone was using a C6 as a taxi looked way out of place parked up next to the Octavias, Avensises and dare I say it, the 406 taxis.

Would like one when they become affordable to my bangernomics budget. Was offered an XM a couple of months ago, but I didn't have the pocket money.

[DaiRees]

Hmmm, undecided. My first impression was that it reminds me too much of the Insignia, which I hate .

Think I'll have to wait to see one in the flesh before making the judgement

[turbolag]

I had an XM 2 litre turbo auto - it went pretty well, but otherwise was not a good example of French electrical and hydraulic engineering, though in fairness I think it hadn't exactly been cherished before I bought it.

[eoin27]

Hmmm, undecided. My first impression was that it reminds me too much of the Insignia, which I hate .

Think I'll have to wait to see one in the flesh before making the judgement

Agree totally, pictures can't justify a car

[sirwiggum]

Hated the RCZ in photos, but up close it looks fantastic.

Heres hoping the 508 coupe looks like this

[Captain Jack]

Looks like a Mustang