2019 Peugeot 508 GT Is Slower Than a 225 HP Car Should Be, But Still Sexy

French cars are sometimes unreliable and quirky. They don't hold their value that well either, but every decade or so, one comes along that makes you want to bite the bullet. The last one was the Renault Laguna Coupe, with its Astron-like trunk and unique (at the time) rear-wheel-steering.

The new Peugeot 508 GT has that same kind of unique design quality. The headlights have fangs while the taillights make a wave pattern at startup, like all the new Audis.

There's also nothing quite like that 508 interiors either. Peugeot does its own thing with a smaller square steering wheel and aluminum toggles on the dashboard. This GT model is sober, but also seems to have more upmarket materials than a Passat. That could just be us, though.

The powertrain seems promising on paper. It's a 1.6-liter turbo with 225 HP, sitting between a 208 and 308 GTi model regarding output. The unit is smaller than the 2-liter, which has become standard. The "sedan" is also lighter, but the performance isn't up to what the official specifications claim.

This independent test by Dutch magazine AutoTopNL shows the 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint time is over 8 seconds when it's supposed to be 7.3 seconds. We think the real problem here is not the engine, but the gearbox. Peugeot used an 8-speed automatic. It's much smoother in town than a twin-clutch, but doesn't deliver those performance shifts.

We're sorry for bringing up a boring car, but this test suggests the 508 GT is actually about the same as a 184 HP Octavia RS (TDI), which is not a big deal. Still, this is not a cheap car we're talking about. The 508 GT starts from €45,600 in Germany. There's also a 180 HP diesel version, which is slightly slower and €1,000 dearer.