Peugeot 3008 scores five ANCAP stars

THE Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has awarded the Peugeot 3008 a five-star safety rating, with the incoming mid-size SUV drawing praise for its good physical results.

On sale this week, the 3008 netted a score of 32.89 out of a possible 38 in the adult occupant protection category, with its best results coming from the side impact and pole tests.

The French crossover received a perfect result (eight out of eight) in the side impact at 50km/h test thanks to ‘good’ levels of protection being offered to all areas of the driver’s body.

The more-demanding pole at 32km/h test saw the 3008 net a 7.92 out of eight, while ‘acceptable’ protection was provided to the driver’s chest, whereas all other areas of their body had ‘good’ protection.

Meanwhile, the full-width frontal at 50km/h test added 7.47 points (out of eight) to the 3008’s tally, with points deducted for ‘acceptable’ protection of the driver’s neck and chest, as well as the rear passenger’s neck.

During the frontal offset at 64km/h test, the 3008’s passenger compartment remained stable, with a score of 6.99 out of eight achieved due to ‘marginal’ driver’s chest and ‘acceptable’ lower leg protection. The front passenger was offered ‘acceptable’ chest and lower leg protection.

A 2.5 out of three was netted in the whiplash protection test thanks to ‘good’ protection for the necks of front and rear occupants.

Using an entry-level 3008 Active fitted with the 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine, crash testing was conducted last year by ANCAP’s European counterpart, Euro NCAP.

With 41.98 out of a possible 49 points awarded, the 3008 also scored strongly in the child occupant protection category.

Elsewhere, the pedestrian protection category saw the 3008 net 28.20 out of a possible 42 points, with mostly ‘good’ or ‘adequate’ pedestrian head protection offered across the bonnet.

However, ‘poor’ results were concentrated to the base of the windscreen and the A-pillars.

Nevertheless, a pedestrian’s upper and lower legs were found to have ‘good’ protection when coming into contact with the 3008’s front-end.

In the safety assist category, the 3008 scored seven out of a possible 12 points, highlighted by full marks given for the presence of first- and second-row seat belt reminders.

Furthermore, all 3008s come standard with lane departure warning, while higher-spec variants are available with a more-advanced lane keep assist system.

Included safety kit extends to a camera-based speed assistance system, which can identify the local speed limit, allowing the driver to set the speed limiter to match.

The lack of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as standard feature across the entire 3008 range saw no points added to the SUV’s tally in the safety assist category.

ANCAP CEO James Goodwin heaped praise on the 3008 and its competitors for offering safety features that will ultimately help protect roads users from injury.

“The functions available in this and other new models entering our market are part of a wave of semi-autonomous vehicle technologies, which will work to improve road safety and form the basis for more highly autonomous vehicles in coming years,” he said.

The five-star ANCAP safety rating applies to all 3008 variants sold in Australia, with their prices ranging between $36,990 before on-road costs for the Active range-opener and $49,490 for the flagship GT.