© Motor1.com UKPeugeot 508 PSE SW
Not too shabby for a 1.6-liter engine, right?
Some would argue Peugeot is out of its mind asking £55,795 for an estate equipped with a small 1.6-liter engine. But the PSE 508 SW is not just any estate with a regular four-cylinder unit as we're dealing with the most powerful road car to ever carry the lion badge. It offers a more than decent 355 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque once you factor in the two electric motors accompanying the petrol engine.
The long-roof PHEV with all-wheel drive was put through its paces in an acceleration test on an unrestricted section of Germany's glorious Autobahn. The fast Peugeot stretched its legs until the electronic top speed limiter kicked in, at 155 mph. The 0 to 62 mph run in 5.6 seconds might not sound overly impressive for a car with 355 hp, but bear in mind we're dealing with a fairly large and heavy car.
It tips the scales at 1,875 kilograms, so it goes without saying it can't quite match the performance of a compact hot hatchback that weighs several hundreds of kilos less. On the flip side, its bigger footprint pays dividends in terms of practicality, especially if we're talking about the estate version with its bigger boot.
The sprint to 62 mph was 0.4 seconds slower than the official time quoted by Peugeot, so in ideal conditions, the electrified midsize wagon is even quicker than in this Autobahn test. You will notice how accurate the digital speedometer is considering it shows nearly the same velocity as the GPS-based onboard measurement device.
From concept to production:
The PSE 508 SW was clocked in at 14.71 seconds for the 62 mph to 124 mph run and provided an appealing soundtrack under hard acceleration for a relatively small petrol engine featuring electrical assistance. Speaking of which, the dual e-motors enable a top speed of 84 mph when the vehicle is used in pure electric mode. Drive it normally and you should be able to squeeze out 26 miles of range from the 11.5-kWh battery.
As a final note, PSE is a direct replacement of the traditional GTi performance models and Peugeot has already announced plans to roll out additional models after the 508 saloon and estate.
Source: AutoTopNL / YouTube