As a bit of a history lesson, the Peugeot 5008 started life as an MPV. Peugeot Philippines might have tried hawking it as a crossover in 2014 (it was launched globally in 2009), but they can’t fool anyone; it’s an MPV. However, because of global aspirations, their designers have opted to fully embrace the SUV trend by 2017. The basic result is what you see here with the generous black cladding and increased ground clearance, which at 191 mm is very close to other compact SUVs.

On the outside, the Peugeot 5008 wears the brand’s new design language. It’s hard to fully appreciate it with the Nera Black paintjob, but among the highlights is supposed to be a frameless radiator grille. It’s joined by full LED headlights with “fangs” for daytime running lights. At each corner are chunky Continental ContiCrossContact tires, while at the back, the full LED rear lamps now feature a transparent smoked lens with a “claw” lighting signature and scrolling signal indicators.

As unique as it is from the outside, it’s inside where things get really weird. Like the rest of their passenger car range, the Peugeot 5008 uses an inimitable dash layout dubbed the Peugeot i-Cockpit. It can be proudly confusing with the ultra-compact steering wheel and the instrument panel mounted on top of it. The idea, Peugeot says is that you view the high-set instruments above the steering wheel rather than looking through them – as per convention – which potentially obscures them. Sure, it does work, but it’s also a solution to a problem no other carmaker seems to have.

Having said that, the digital instrumentation is extremely likable. It’s also very clear and can be arranged in multiple ways including a truly minimalist mode that shows only the speedometer. Elsewhere, the physical knobs and buttons are positioned well, but it’s a shame there aren’t more of them. For example, the climate controls are located in the touchscreen, so you have to hit the right parts of the screen every time you want to change the temperature. That’s just plain silly and an unnecessary distraction when you’re on the move. Speaking about the touchscreen itself, its positioned sensibly high so it’s easy to reach. However, navigating through the different functions can get infuriating with the sheer number of submenus and small icons. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, but mind you, it doesn’t occupy the entire 10-inch screen space since the temperature readouts take about an inch or two on both sides.

Just as peculiar as the dash layout is, so are the choice of materials. Most of the interior surfaces are soft to the touch, and those that aren’t tend to be hidden lower down. There’s an eclectic mix of materials such as the fabric inserts on the dashboard and doors that work harmoniously to enhance the ambience, giving it a generally upmarket feel. At night, the interior is bathed in the subtle glow of ambient lighting, a perfect combo to the new for 2022 panoramic sunroof.

Despite looking smaller than other mid-sized SUVs and crossovers, the Peugeot 5008 excels in interior packaging. Not only has Peugeot been able to squeeze in a third-row of seats, but they’ve done so in a way that makes every single row usable. Having said that, the rearmost seats are more for kids than adults. Still, pulling them up or stowing them are easy and straightforward. Plus, they collapse into a carved-out portion of the cargo floor resulting in a flat storage space. With the third row down, the luggage space is simply huge: 952 liters with the third-row seats collapsed, and up to 2,042 liters with the second-row seats folded. Even better, that second-row folds in a 40/20/40 split enabling owners to fit items up to 10-feet long.

Instead of a normally-aspirated gasoline or turbodiesel engine, Peugeot has opted to go for a turbo gas engine instead. Tractive effort for the Peugeot 5008 is provided by a 1.6-liter twin scroll turbo with 165 horsepower and 240 Nm of torque. They’re pretty respectable numbers and actually do well on the road, especially considering it has to pull around 1,440 kilograms of curb weight. Sadly, it does result in a hefty penalty at the pump: 8.06 km/L at 20 km/h. Plus, it’s actually quite noisy, even at idle from the outside. Thankfully, from the driver’s seat it turns reasonably quiet.

At lower speed, say in urban traffic, the Peugeot 5008’s 6-speed automatic is a bit hesitant with its shifts. It hunts gears noticeably to the point that you’ll wonder if there’s a dual-clutch under there instead of a traditional torque converter ‘box. Once traffic lightens, the shifting smoothens itself out. It’s happier in these conditions. Overtakes are easy and takes just a flick or two of the left paddle shifter to get the engine singing. There’s also a Sport button, but it doesn’t do much as far as the seat-of-the-pants feel is concerned.

Unlike most other compact SUVs, the Peugeot 5008 uses a non-independent Torsion Beam Axle at the back. For daily driving, the softly sprung suspension soaks up the potholes, only thumping if you encounter something gargantuan, or shimming through badly corrugated surfaces. Once pushed though, you’ll find that it reaches its limits fairly quickly. The chassis is clearly designed more for comfort, so asking it to change direction quickly will result in some hesitation. The tiny steering wheel further exacerbates matters because more steering angle is needed to counteract the understeer.

The open road is also an opportune time to try out the Peugeot 5008’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS. They’re composed of the blind spot detection, active lane keep assistance, and driver attention warning. That said, the first two, especially the lane keep assistance lacked the sensitivity to handle the local road conditions and markings. Plus, it’s weird why Peugeot opted not to fit rear cross traffic alert when all the hardware’s present.

Another peculiar thing, the Peugeot 5008 doesn’t come with all-wheel drive. Instead, it has this thing called Advanced Grip Control. In essence, it’s supposed to give all-wheel drive prowess in a two-wheel drive vehicle by re-calibrating the throttle, brakes, and stability control. It should lend an extra hand in slippery conditions, but won’t match the extra traction of four driven wheels. On another weird note, hill descent control can only be activated with the shifter in neutral.

All things considered, the Peugeot 5008 is nothing special to drive, but it is comfortable, flexible, and possesses one of the most interesting interiors in a mainstream production car. For those whose garages can’t fit a more traditional 7-seater SUV, this could be an interesting choice, and it has to be lauded for that. However, at P 2,260,000, few will pay a premium just for French quirkiness. Plus, it may have just shot itself in the foot by occupying the same retail space as the Mazda CX-8 which has a more traditional footprint, a bigger interior, and a more polished driving experience.