Firstly I don't confess to being a motor car expert so throughout this review you will not find references to torque, specific acceleration rates and speeds etc etc. I offer my apologies to anyone who was searching for these.
Looks My PUG is jet black and I love it for that reason. The dirt that sometimes builds up doesn't show up too much by day and certainly not by night so I can afford to leave it that little bit longer before I depart with a fiver at the local garage. After a trip to the garage, followed by a hot wash with wax the car looks spanking and new. It looks so good I can see people looking at us when we cruise the streets.
The curvaceous nature of the chassis is beautiful. There are no hard definitive lines that divide the car into segments this car seems to flow from the front to the rear. I have the 3 door version which I feel adds to the continuity. There is a little spoiler at the top of the rear wind screen that contains a brake light and looks very good when viewed from another vehicle.
The
model I have has 5 spoke Peugeotalloy wheels. These give the PUG a sporty look and add to the overall appeal of the car. Other PUG's that don't have the alloys don't compare in terms of aesthetics in my opinion.
I think that all 2.0 L versions come with spot lights at the front of the car which is a good thing as they certainly help to widen the beam of light on the road during foggy conditions. Also, they draw attention from fellow drivers and I have received many a compliment on the appeal of the lights.
Internally, the dash board is primarily plastic which I don't mind as it is easy to keep clean. Luckily it is also black which ties in nicely with the external décor. They display lights are orange and contrasts well during dark conditions for optimal viewing of speed etc.
Driving I love to drive my PUG. Compared to my old fiesta this feels like how I would imagine an Aston Martindrives. The car is smooth at all speeds in all gears and there is hardly any difference in noise production from the engine, considering this is a diesel I think that is very good. The gear box is smooth and requires and definite movement (I like) rather than a subtle almost unnoticeable movement of other cars. The pedals are nicely spaced and don't cause me any problems. The ABS is ultra responsive and took a little getting used to. But now I am more than happy for the sensitivity as I have to rely upon this on a few occasions when commuting along the M27. The steering is very responsive and doesn't seem to require much effort when cornering and reverse parking into tight spaces. My favourite aspect of the car is the acceleration. When I need to pull away from bad drivers or particularly slow drivers I have ample acceleration to do so. It can even pull me back in my seat if I really try hard enough lol.
Fuel I commute to Portsmouth from Bournemouth twice a week a 100 mile round trip. Once, I got to Portsmouth and then car told me that I was low on fuel via then dash board display. I looked at the fuel gauge and it too showed that I was low by indicting less than an 8th of the tank left. Unfortunately I had no money to fill so I ran the risk of driving 50 miles home. Good news is I made it home easily and still had enough fuel to go to the gym and bank. On average £40 will last me just over 500 miles.
Trips to the garage Touch wood I haven't been there yet. The car has done 70,000 miles in 3 short years and there are no problems. For a rugged 2.0 L diesel engine I would imagine at least another 30k miles before I have any real problems (touching wood again!!!)
Other cool things The car will tell me when there is ice outside, when I am low on fuel, when it needs a service, if there is a door open, seat belt not plugged in and when head lights left on. The windscreen can detect rain an turn the wipers on, plus as adjust the speed to the volume of rain. You can raise the height of the seat as well as the forward/back and or tilt position. The inbuilt stereo will turn the volume up as the car gets faster so that the engine and exterior noise doesn't disturb the listening ability. Internal light turns on and stays on as you enter or exit the car. Of course there is air con and electric windows but I think those things are pretty much standard these days.
On the whole you may be able to tell that I adore my car but I hope this doesn't serve a bias because I really do rate this car compared to my past cars and friends car and problems they have had. If you need anymore info that isn't spec based then please feel free to ask me.
Thank you
Daniel
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Nov 15th, 2006
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