NEW TRICKS

Jonathan Crouch and family take our long term Peugeot 308SW to their annual Lyme Regis beach holiday. How would it cope stuffed with six people and all their luggage?

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Let's remind ourselves of the figures here. With the (second row of) rear seats in place, there's 674 litres under the rear load cover, while with the rear seats removed, there's a massive 2,149 litres up to roof level. Let's put those figures into perspective. Audi's latest A4 Avant claims to be the biggest estate in its sector, yet can swallow a mere 490 litres behind its back seats.

Living with a car like this over a holiday period means you start to notice little things that weren't immediately obvious upon first acquaintance. Like the way the front sports-style seats are super-slim, feeing up loads of legroom in the back. Or the way that the rear seats are raised up theatre-style, giving their occupants a much better view.

On the journey to Lyme Regis, I appreciated the extra features that make such a difference on longer trips. The cruise control, the speed limiter that maintains your pace to safe levels in urban areas, the automatic headlights, the electric folding mirrors and the rain-sensitive wipers.

I also made good use of the innovative RT4 multimedia satellite navigation system which pops discreetly out the top of the dashboard when you need it and vanishes away unobtrusively when you don't. Our kids were less fractious than usual too, which might have been down to the air conditioning vents that aim to keep children cool in the rear. And all of us liked the fragrance diffuser which can fill the car with a scent of your choice.

Prices represent a premium over the standard five-door hatch of only £500-£600 in entry-level S models, though you'll need to budget on an extra premium of £1000 or more if you go for a higher spec version. Equipment on all variants runs to power steering, remote control central locking with deadlocks, electric front windows, a steering column adjustable for reach and rake, a CD player, passenger / driver seat height adjustment, a trip computer and electrically operated door mirrors.

Peugeot has armed the 308 with a wide selection of technological curiosities to help it battle the family hatchback sector's big hitters. These continue under the bonnet, the 150bhp 1.6-litre turbocharged THP petrol engine in our test car being so advanced that BMW decided to use it for their MINI Cooper. It isn't the most frugal powerplant we could have chosen but an average return in our use of around 35.4mpg isn't too bad.

Having a family has put safety several notches further up my priority list with a car of this type, so the 308's 5 star NCAP safety rating was a must if I was going to assign the 308 over to my wife Katie to transport our three young children on the school run. For this kind of work, the cabin needs to be easy to clean and most of all practical.

Overall, my trip has made me more liable to recommend the 308SW as an alternative to a compact mini-MPV for buyers who rarely transport seven but would occasionally like the option to. Sometimes you just have to take the plunge and put a car to the test. I'm glad I did.