Peugeot 308 SW HDi 110

The Peugeot 308 we know. It replaced the 307 last year and is a bolder-looking, better-driving car. That big-chinned face isn't everyone's idea of beauty, and the 308 still isn't as engaging a car to drive as the Ford Focus, but it's a capable, well-conceived car.

SPECIFICATIONS
Model: Peugeot 308 SW HDi 110
Price: from £16,595 (range £14,395-£20,845)
Engine: 1,560cc, four cylinders, 16 valves, turbodiesel, 110bhp at 4,000rpm, up to 195lb ft at 1,750rpm
Transmission: six-speed gearbox, front-wheel drive
Performance: 119mph, 0-62 in 11.3 sec, 55.3mpg official average, CO2 134g/km

And now, predictably, there's an estate-car version. It's called the 308 SW, which could mean station wagon, space wagon, sport wagon – take your pick, because Peugeot is admitting to nothing. There was a 307 SW, too, a kind of MPV reconfiguration of a regular estate car. This time, the whole 308 estate range is called SW whether the back seat is a standard split bench or a Renault Scénic wannabe. It's simpler that way.

The 308 is more cleverly conceived than its predecessor. In the 307 SW, the centre rear seat was narrower than its neighbours. In the wider 308, they're all the same size. Yet better, you can take the middle one out and reposition the outer two closer together. If you fold all three (or five, if you've gone for the rear pair) flat, by hinging the backrests on to the cushions, you have a flat if gappy loading bay which you can extend forwards by doing the same thing to the front passenger seat. Or take the back seats out altogether and you have a virtual van.

Move round to the back, and you'll find a separate opening rear window within the tailgate. Open it, and you can drop things into the load bay by lifting up the rearmost part of the luggage cover. You'll also find various storage boxes, elasticated straps and, on grander versions, a rechargeable torch.

Then there's the fashionable panoramic glass roof on the grander models (they're called Sport and SE), bigger than before and blessed with a properly opaque blind for when you tire of overhead heat. The whole thing is built on a wheelbase 10cm longer than the hatchback's to the benefit of rear-seat space. You can see the extension in the panel between rear door and rear wheel arch. Passengers in the rearmost row still have knees heading for their chins, though, unless they're small.

So far, so useful, especially as the boot space is greater than its predecessor's. And to drive? Predictably, the SW feels like a slightly longer, heavier 308 hatchback. Estate cars sometimes have their rear suspension made extra firm to cope with more weight, so you feel the bumps more when the car is lightly laden, but the 308 SW feels as smooth and composed as its hatchback relation.

This is a comfortable car, with the right range of seat and steering-wheel adjustments to suit nearly anyone. The view forwards through that vast, raked-back windscreen is clear and airy, too, helped by the low, sloping, uncluttered dashboard complete with perfume diffuser. All the better, then, to enjoy the smooth, accurate and consistent steering, whose assistance by electro-hydraulic pump makes it feel much more natural than the stodgy, anaesthetised, all-electric system in the 207.

Peugeots used to be among the most enjoyable of mainstream cars to thread through a series of bends. It was all about combining fluidity of motion with precision of response, and Peugeot seemed of late to have forgotten how to do it. The 308 is a welcome return to form. You'll enjoy driving it, regardless of engine choice.

That choice is between five direct-injection petrol engines designed with BMW, and three diesels. The petrol units are a 95bhp 1.4, a 120bhp 1.6, and three turbo engines of 140bhp (four-speed automatic only), 150bhp and a racy 175bhp, these last two with a new six-speed gearboxes whose shift is tight and precise. Diesels are two 1.6s (90 and 110bhp) and 136bhp 2.0; again, the last two are six-speeders.

I tried a 110bhp diesel and the engine felt easy and willing. And I tried the 150bhp turbo petrol engine, arguably the best unit of all for this car. I ran a 207 with this engine for a year and never tired of its big-hearted pull combined with sensible fuel economy. It would be my choice, especially as in its no-choice Sport trim it's actually £500 cheaper than the Sport-spec 110bhp diesel.

Good car, then. Shame its styling is so curiously awkward.

THE RIVALS

Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi 110 estate: £17,145
The Focus range has just had a subtle restyle outside and in, making a good car even better. Terrific to drive but expensive for what it is

Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI estate: £14,595
Mechanically the same as its Golf cousin, and with much the same quality and visual understatement, the Octavia is arguably the smartest buy in the class.

Volkswagen Golf 1.9 TDI estate: £15,720
Engine is an old-tech unit with eight valves, but has 105bhp and competitive CO2 output. Good to drive, strong air of classless quality, ageing now.

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