• Greater practicality than the 508 Fastback
• But trails many of its rivals for outright space
• Square and practical boot with useful touches

How much space is there?

The facelifed Peugeot 508 SW may look like a big estate car, but it doesn’t feel intimidating on the move, and there’s a good amount of space inside for a young family. Up front there’s plenty of space to stretch out in, while those in the rear will appreciate the extra headroom over the regular Fastback model.

The black headlining can darken things in the back, while that sunroof can restrict headroom noticeably. However, the upside is that it lets a lot of light in. Space is adequate for taller passengers as long as there isn’t someone too tall in the front – legroom is fine but if you want to tuck your feet under the seat in front, it’s a little limited.

You’ll find far greater levels of space in the rear seats of the Skoda Superb Estate, so make sure there’s enough room for your needs if you’re set on the Peugeot.

Boot space and storage

The boot in the 508 SW measures in at a useful 530 litres with the rear seats in place. It’s a nice, deep load area that’s accessed via a large tailgate with low loading lip, but overall space still trails its rivals. Again, you’ll find a larger area in its rivals – the Passat Estate offers 650 litres, however it’s more commodious than an Audi A4 Avant.

Folding the seats is easy, freeing up a lot of extra room, but they don’t fold entirely flat, although there’s no lip between the boot floor and seats when they are tumbled forwards. The roof is quite low, however, so it may not be as easy to get big, heavy items through the gap as you might expect.

Is it easy to park?

The 508 SW is smaller than its rivals, which makes it less of a burden in town. Parking sensors and the option of all-round camera aid with visibility – one of the 508’s biggest issues. The view out of the small rear window is largely blocked by the rear headrests, while tinted glass and large pillars also limit overall visibility.

The small mirrors don’t help a great deal, either, but automated parking is available as a cost option. Up front things are much easier when it comes to visibility, and the small steering wheel helps the 508 feel more agile around town.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating
• Generous amount of safety and driver assistance tech
• Three Isofix points for child seats too

The 508 Fastback received a strong crash safety rating when it was tested back in 2018, with particularly good scores for adult occupant protection and performance in side impacts. There should be no difference in terms of crash performance between that and the SW model.

As standard, the 508 comes with six airbags, active bonnet, a driver attention alert system, three Isofix child seat anchors, cruise control with speed limiter, autonomous emergency braking, a distance alert system and active lane-keep assistance.

Move further up the range and adaptive cruise control, active blindspot monitoring, automatic high-beam and traffic sign recognition become standard, as well as a more advanced driver attention alert system.

Watch: Peugeot 508 crash test video