LOOKING ESSENTIALLY like a cross-fit contender in the ranks, Peugeot's take on bulking up a compact car to look like an SUV, is the 2008.

It is essentially a 208 that's been to the gym to bulk up in all directions and for the more bulky amongst us, that's no bad thing. This gives quite a bit more room to manoeuvre one's carcase into the driver's seat and, more importantly a bit extra room for rear seat passengers.

It's a formula which has been done with great success by the likes of Vauxhall with the Mokka and Nissan with the Juke. Peugeot's 2008, though, does not have a 4 x 4 system to take you across the rough stuff.

Instead it has what it calls Grip Control and I have to say that it is quite effective in getting the most out of what is essentially a two-wheel-drive system. It works by adjusting stability control to find extra grip.

The big surprise is that it actually works! There's a centrally-located turn-knob that has settings for 'snow', 'off-road, 'sand' and 'ESP off'.

While it could never handle really rough stuff, in a field situation it was surprisingly good at handling damp grass fields. It also has body armour protection in the shape of front and rear scuff plates, wheel arch extensions and scuff-resistant side skirts.

Peugeot was a firm favourite with farmers in the 1980s for its no frills and very solid 405 estate car. This latest Peugeot certainly had a solid feel to it, with very good body build quality.

It also has a fairly reasonable boot space and with the rear seats up – they can be put in and out of play really easily in a 60/40 configuration – there's 360 litres available and, with its deep tailgate opening, is very easy to load stuff into.

The model on test was the range-topping 1.6-litre diesel engine in GT Line trimmings, with a six-speed manual. That's pretty bog standard drive-line wise as these things go, but it is remarkable in that it has a combined rating of 76mpg and its 96g/km of CO2 means there’s no Vehicle Excise Duty!

At max-power there's only 118bhp available, but you'd be hard pushed to find much fault with it and it can still do the 0-60 run in under 10 seconds.

The steering is light and parking is a dawdle, given its compact size and when it's pushed on the road it felt solidly connected to the road and fairly quiet.

One of the biggest problems is getting a look at the instrumentation and making use of the cruise control, both of which are obscured by the steering wheel. It's not just a Peugeot thing either, as I have had similar problems in Citroens. Maybe it's a French thing!

That said, the touch-screen is one of the easier to use and the GT-spec' has SatNav and a reversing camera – a feature which I find ever more useful these days. I suspect all cars will soon come with this.

All in all, a very solid contender from Peugeot and worth looking at for taking on those pot-holed country roads, with a little bit of field work.

Prices range from £13,615 to £20,565 (OTR) and there are three three PureTech petrol engines of 82hp, 110hp and 130hp, plus three Blue HDil diesels of 75hp, 100hp and 120hp. Four trim level choices are Access A/C, Active, Allure and GT Line (as tested), the latter of which is expected to be the biggest seller – though, interestingly, petrol is also expected to be the engine of choice for most.

My choice:

1.6-litre diesel, GT-Line spec'

Power 120hp

0-62mph 9.6 seconds

MPG combined 76.3mpg combined

CO2 emissions 96g/km

Cost: £19,820