Test driving a new car for the first time abroad has always been a compromise. Many, most in fact, roads on the European continent are in much better shape than ours in the UK, so that a car that’s comfortable in Spain or the South of France, might ride like a horse-drawn cart in Britain.
There’s another issue, too, and it’s a more current one. Driver assistance systems, and in particular those that guide you in your lane and interfere with the steering, might work well on neatly laid out roads with fresh white line markings in Germany, but not on a country lane in Wales where there might be potholes at the side of the road and no white lines.
We drove the new Peugeot 308 last September in the South of France on very smooth roads. Only now have right-hand-drive 308s arrived in the UK (which begs the question, what was the point in driving it so long ago in France?) so it’s worth finding out how this new Peugeot behaves on tarmac that’s seen little upkeep and proper investment for decades.
