Motors North

Make

ANY AC AIXAM ALFA ROMEO ASIA ASTON MARTIN AUBURN AUDI AUSTIN BENTLEY BMW BRISTOL BUGATTI CADILLAC CATERHAM CHEVROLET CHRYSLER CITROEN COLEMAN MILNE DAEWOO DAIHATSU DAIMLER DATSUN DAX DE TOMASO DODGE FERRARI FIAT FORD FSO GINETTA GMC HILLMAN HOLDEN HONDA HUMMER HYUNDAI INFINITI ISUZU JAGUAR JEEP JENSEN KIA KOENIGSEGG LADA LAMBORGHINI LANCIA LAND ROVER LEXUS LIGIER LINCOLN LOTUS MARCOS MASERATI MAYBACH MAZDA MCLAREN MERCEDES-BENZ MERCURY MG MICROCAR MINI MITSUBISHI MITSUOKA MORGAN MORRIS NISSAN NOBLE OPEL PAGANI PANTHER PERODUA PEUGEOT PILGRIM PLYMOUTH PONTIAC PORSCHE PROTON RELIANT RENAULT RILEY ROLLS-ROYCE ROVER SAAB SEAT SINGER SKODA SMART SSANGYONG SUBARU SUNBEAM SUZUKI TALBOT TATA TOYOTA TRIUMPH TVR ULTIMA VAUXHALL VOLKSWAGEN VOLVO WESTFIELD WOLSELEY YUGO

Model

ANY

Area

ANY Badenoch and Strathspey Caithness Inverness Inverness Area and Loch Ness Lochaber Moray Nairn and District Ross and Cromarty Sutherland Other

Price From

0 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000 100000

Price To

500 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000 100000

Your Local Newspaper

Inverness Courier Highland News
North Star Lochaber News Northern Scot
Ross-shire Journal Caithness Courier
John O Groat Journal Northern Times
Forres Gazette Banffshire Journal
Strathspey and Badenoch Herald

Copyright SPP Group

our test drives or view them all

Peugeot 308 S 1.6 HDI 110 FAP

LET’S face it – at a time of economic stringency few people are likely to put environmental matters ahead of economy.

But here’s a thing – chose carefully and you can do both.

Environmental protection need not be dull and neither should economy motoring.

I set out to prove the point in a pair of eco-friendly diesel family hatches fitted with particulate filters – a frugal 1.6 HDI five-door Peugeot 308 in S trim and a stripped out Ford Focus ECOnetic with similar 1.6 TDCi turbodiesel power. Both are ideal economy cars that deliver low CO2 from modest turbodiesels and should be cheap to run.

But which is best?

Like every other car, they’ve benefited from the Chancellor’s 2.5 per cent cut in VAT on December 1. That makes both test cars a bit cheaper, but it’s the Peugeot that gets it on price – £16,197 compared to the Ford’s expensive £16,499 – and immediately feels more substantial to drive than the lighter Focus.

The well-appointed 308S tips in with a kerb weight just shy of 1.4 tonnes while the Focus weighs in at 1.35 tonnes. The Focus also has a smaller 53-litre fuel tank than the 308’s 60 litres and consequently gets lighter still.

You’d think the 308’s bigger tank would give it better range, but because the light ECOnetic uses its lack of kilos to burn fuel efficiently it manages, on paper at least, to average 65.7mpg from its 108bhp 1.6 TDCi while the 110bhp 1.6 HDI 308S scrapes by on an official 57.6mpg. That means both cars could travel almost identical distances on a full tank – more than 700 miles.

On the practicality front both are useful family tools – the Focus has more luggage space with all five seats in place at 385 litres compared to the 308’s 347 litres, but the 308 will carry a lot more with the rear seats folded, a huge 1398 litres compared to the 1247 litres in the Focus. The Peugeot is also a better tow car and able to pick up 1.52 tonnes on its hook compared to the Ford’s 1.3 tonnes.

So far both are neck and neck – but the hardest part is next. Which is better to drive and live with?

I drove both over hundreds of miles in the north. But frankly there’s no contest for me – it’s the 308.

On a sub-zero day I drove the Peugeot 405 miles from Moray round my favourite north west Highland route to test its economy. It came through with flying colours.

The Peugeot is more substantial to drive, it’s a lot quieter than the lightly-panelled ECOnetic Focus. Ford’s excellent pound-saving construction has robbed the car of some sound-deadening – as a result there’s a lot of road noise in the back and a tinny sound from its panels.

And although the new Focus is well assembled with better than ever trim quality, the ECOnetic falls below the exceptional interior of the 308S.

Driving both eco-machines over the same mix of Highland roads in ordinary motoring conditions delivered impressive economy, but reversed what I had expected from each car – an excellent 59mpg from the Focus ECOnetic, but an incredible 60.1mpg from the 308S.

Diverting through Inverness city centre on my way north the 308S averaged 44mpg (the ECOnetic was more frugal here with 51mpg). At Oykel Bridge I was on a snowy single tracker 120 miles from the start and recording 58.8mpg. By the time I rolled over the Kylesku Bridge the temperature was minus 4 and at 147 miles I was already on a 60mpg average. Scourie and Laxford Bridge sailed comfortably behind me and at 208 miles Tongue slipped aft. Through Thurso, Wick and Helmsdale the economy stayed the same – despite driving normally and cruising at 60mph and an easy 2000rpm.

By the time I pulled into home the car had covered 405 miles at an average 60.1mpg and average speed of 42mph. I felt as fresh as I had when I started and there was still a 373 miles range left in the tank. Brilliant.

With a CO2 output of 115g/km the Ford is cleaner burning than the 129g/km Peugeot. The Ford is also cheaper to Road Tax - but there are other considerations.

The ECOnetic sits in Road Tax band B with an annual charge of £35 while the 308S falls into band C and will cost a whopping £120 to Road Tax. However, confusion is on its way again! If the Government applies Road Tax revisions in March the Ford will move up to band C and have its tax bill reduced to £30 a year while the Peugeot moves into band D and sees its annual bill cut to £90. That’s all part of the Government’s emissions level "realignment" and at least closes the gap in favour of the 308S.

On my drive over many hundreds of Highland miles both were frugal and clean, thanks to their standard particulate filters, it was the 308S that got first place for comfort, refinement and overall practicality.

It’s as frugal on fuel use, and just a little slower in acceleration. But it sits in the same Group 7 insurance as the Focus and is cheaper to buy with a £300 saving car-for-car before you start haggling.

It’s a hard choice. The ECOnetic is a well engineered eco-solution that’s generously equipped and has the inaugural Green Car of the Year Award under its belt. Its emission level is the lowest in its class and round town it will be marginally more frugal than the Peugeot.

Standard equipment includes 15-inch steel wheels, CFC-free air conditioning, aerodynamic body kit, a tyre inflation kit in place of a heavy spare wheel, remote control central locking, front and side curtain airbags, remote audio controls, front fogs and plenty of storage solutions.

All of which is impressive – but the 308S is better to drive and at the end of the day motoring costs for both are likely to be within a whisker of each other.

But if you still think the 308S 110bhp model’s Road Tax and CO2 levels are too high, there’s another option. The slightly less powerful 90bhp HDI 308S that has no particulate filter but produces 120g/km and just squeezes into the ECOnetic’s £35 a year Road Tax band. It’s not so lively as the Ford or its more powerful 308S sister but has the same specification as the 308S and is a lot cheaper at £15,412.

The 308S HDI 90 is also cheaper to insure in Group 5 and almost as frugal as the Focus with an official combined average of 62.8mpg, an extra urban figure of 74.3mpg and an urban figure of 48.7mpg.

No matter which of these you choose they are all fuel efficient – and make a lot more sense than hybrids like Toyota’s Prius.

Rating: 8/10

FINAL THOUGHT: Both of these cars are classic economy models – and clean too. However the 308S is a more satisfying drive. But remember, no matter what you drive you can reduce emissions and stretch economy by cutting down on weight in your car, removing bull and roof bars and external cargo boxes to improve aerodynamics and developing a smoother driving technique. The latter is most effective – go easy on the throttle, smooth gear changes at the right revs, brake gently well in advance and avoid high revs and speeds over 70mph.

Peugeot 308 S 1.6 HDI 110 FAP

• Price: £16,197 (at 15% VAT)
• Capacity: 1560cc
• Power: 110bhp
• 0-62mph: 12.7 seconds
• Maximum speed: 119mph
• Economy: Combined 57.6mpg; Urban 44.1mpg; Extra Urban 70.5mpg
• Motorsnorth Economy: 60.1mpg
• CO2 emissions: 129g/km
• Road Tax: £120
• ESP: Standard
• Insurance: Group 7