Archive News
Peugeot’s 3008 big brother tested
Date Published: 28-Apr-2010
I had a bit of a lucky escape last week not getting stranded in Spain like many of my Motoring Writers’ Association colleagues. A gang of them went to the south of that country to try out the new Peugeot RCZ, which has been getting rave reviews when the volcanic cloud over Europe grounded them for four extra days. They tried a variety of ways and modes of transport to get out of there but because I was obliged to attend the wedding of my friend’s daughter on Thursday and a function to celebrate 50 years of the Galway Motor Club on Friday, I stayed at home and happily missed the mayhem that ensued there. It is a Peugeot experience that they won’t forget for some time.
However I did have my own personal Peugeot experience last week in a Peugeot 5008 which I had out on test for the week. The 5008 is a bigger brother of the Continental Irish Car of the Year 2010, the Peugeot 3008. It has seven seat compared to five, is bigger all-round and because it’s bigger it isn’t quite as neat as the excellent 3008. That additional bulk does have an effect in the handling, the driving experience and the overall performance of this car compared to the other.
Let me say from the outset that the 5008 is a fine car. It will give you more options if you have a bigger family but it fails to match the 3008 for sheer drivability. In fact few cars do and certainly few other MPV’s come even close. It may be a bit naive to expect the 5008 to match the 3008 but there is no comparison between the two on a basic driving level.
That said we must review the 5008 on its merits. Peugeot has a good pedigree for producing big MPV’s. Indeed the whole MPV idea started in France. The 5008 follows on from that rich history. However this latest car in that lineage is a far cry from their last effort, the 807. It is a modern MPV with high levels of comfort, safety and a huge amount of space. It is also packed with smart technology especially in the top specifications trims.
Flexibility is a key strength of the 5008. It comes with an innovative flat-folding rear seat arrangement. Passengers can easily access the third row seats from the second row. With one easy movement, the seat cushion lifts and the seat back moves forward, freeing up maximum space to allow entry to the third row, where two full size seats also fold individually into the floor. There is nothing too complicated about the set-up and that increases its functionality.
Peugeot use the same1.6 HDi FAP 110bhp 6-speed manual combination that is available in the 3008 emitting 140g/km CO2, qualifying for €156 annual road tax. This is another area where the comparisons show a bit of a gap. This is truly one of the best diesel units in production. It is a revelation in the 3008. It is easy on fuel, has buckets of pulling power and although it has more bulk to carry here it does the job with competence without being quite as spectacular as the smaller car. But, on a power to weight measurement you’ll not be disappointed with the performance in the 5008.
On the road the 5008 is also a competent runner. Sure, there is a certain amount of body roll in the bends but it never shirks the job and is generally composed and well behaved. Again the 5008 is not quite as refined as the 3008. I did notice some squeaky panels, which shouldn’t be difficult to eliminate and some road rumble; again a symptom if its size more than anything else.
Recently Peugeot in Ireland announced the continuation of the Peugeot Scrappage Scheme offering up to €5,000 off its range of low CO2-emitting models. Catalogue prices start at €26,870 for the entry 5008 SE 1.6 HDi 110 bhp 6-speed.
For more Motoring see this week’s Connacht & City Tribunes
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
SLIGO 0-9
GALWAY 1-4
FRANK FARRAGHER IN ENNISCRONE
GALWAY’S first serious examination of the 2013 season rather disturbingly ended with a rating well below the 40% pass mark at the idyllic, if rather Siberian, seaside setting of Enniscrone on Sunday last.
The defeat cost Galway a place in the FBD League Final against Leitrim and also put a fair dent on their confidence shield for the bigger tests that lie ahead in February.
There was no fluke element in this success by an understrength Sligo side and by the time Leitrim referee, Frank Flynn, sounded the final whistle, there wasn’t a perished soul in the crowd of about 500 who could question the justice of the outcome.
It is only pre-season and last Sunday’s blast of dry polar winds did remind everyone that this is far from summer football, but make no mistake about it, the match did lay down some very worrying markers for Galway following a couple of victories over below par third level college teams.
Galway did start the game quite positively, leading by four points at the end of a first quarter when they missed as much more, but when Sligo stepped up the tempo of the game in the 10 minutes before half-time, the maroon resistance crumbled with frightening rapidity.
Some of the statistics of the match make for grim perusal. Over the course of the hour, Galway only scored two points from play and they went through a 52 minute period of the match, without raising a white flag – admittedly a late rally did bring them close to a draw but that would have been very rough justice on Sligo.
Sligo were backable at 9/4 coming into this match, the odds being stretched with the ‘missing list’ on Kevin Walsh’s team sheet – Adrian Marren, Stephen Coen, Tony Taylor, Ross Donovan, David Kelly, David Maye, Johnny Davey and Eamon O’Hara, were all marked absent for a variety of reasons.
Walsh has his Sligo side well schooled in the high intensity, close quarters type of football, and the harder Galway tried to go through the short game channels, the more the home side bottled them up.
Galway badly needed to find some variety in their attacking strategy and maybe there is a lot to be said for the traditional Meath style of giving long, quick ball to a full forward line with a big target man on the edge of the square – given Paul Conroy’s prowess close to goal last season, maybe it is time to ‘settle’ on a few basics.
Defensively, Galway were reasonably solid with Gary Sice at centre back probably their best player – he was one of the few men in maroon to deliver decent long ball deep into the attacking zone – while Finian Hanley, Conor Costello and Gary O’Donnell also kept things tight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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