I drove a huge seven-seater SUV and a small, £10,000-cheaper one. Here’s which I’d buy

I love the idea of a seven seater SUV, really. A big, tough-looking car with enough ground clearance for big speedbumps and country tracks, yet seating and boot capacity for the inevitable occasion where you need to take your mates on a road trip. Or your extended family and their luggage to the airport.

But, as a Londoner, a car like the Peugeot 5008 is incredibly annoying to live with at times. Don’t get me wrong, it’s brilliant in many ways, but with an 11.2-metre turning circle and at near-five metres long it can be a serious pain to squeeze through tight multi-storey car parks, or to find a parallel parking space big enough.

Enter the Citroen C3 Aircross, a distant cousin to the 5008 under the Stellantis umbrella. Believe it or not it’s also a seven-seater, and conveniently, it’s a car I had in for a week to review immediately after the big Peugeot. So, after subjecting them both to long-distance journeys and my daily routine in North London, which is better suited to the day-to-day?

Citroen C3 Aircross vs. Peugeot 5008: interior space

Right off the bat, if you really do need to use all seven seats all the time, the Peugeot walks off with the win – but it’s not quite that simple.

Yes, it is a significantly larger car and as a result there’s much more space in the third row of seats. They’re more comfortable, too, and the sliding second row means you can adjust legroom to suit the size of the passengers you’re carrying.

But I come across quite a few 5008s on my travels, and I can’t remember the last time I saw one with more than one or two occupants inside…so why not just buy the smaller, five-seater 3008 instead? Or, drumroll please, the Citroen?

Sure, it’s a squeeze to get in the back of. The fixed second row doesn’t fold forwards, meaning you have to clamber over the seat backs to get in. Once you’re there, you’ll soon realise that two fully-grown adults will struggle to remain comfortable. Deputy reviews editor Tom Wiltshire and I attempted this feat, only to become cosy enough to file an HR complaint.

Best reserved for kids, then, or emergencies, but from what I’ve seen in the real world – consumers are buying seven seaters for boot space or ‘just in case’ you need the extra seats. If that’s the case, you may as well choose the Citroen, unless you genuinely require the cavernous 916-litre boot the 5008 has in its five-seat mode.

Citroen C3 Aircross vs. Peugeot 5008: driving and running costs

This one’s an easier win for the Peugeot, because it’s one of my favourite SUVs to drive. The 5008 is seriously comfortable, soaking up battered city roads as if they’re simply not there, while the tiny little steering wheel means it’s surprisingly easy to flick around tight bends – so long as you’re confident with the car’s dimensions.

The Citroen, meanwhile, is easier to manoeuvre around town as it’s a smaller car with lighter steering and a bit more pep off the lights. These two share the same 1.2-litre, three-cylinder, 145hp engine in hybrid guise – though the 5008 has a lot more weight to shift.

It may be a comfortable car for the price, but the Citroen isn’t quite as adept at dispatching speedbumps and potholes as the 5008, meaning it isn’t quite as soothing to commute in.

On the motorway the Peugeot’s refinement is particularly impressive. I took it on a round trip to Bournemouth with two passengers and a load of luggage, and while it was noisy getting up to speed, the drive itself was serene. The Citroen pulled a motorway stint getting me to Bicester and back, but there’s noticeably more wind and tyre noise in the cabin.

Fuel economy? Well, you’d expect the smaller C3 Aircross to use far less fuel than the 5008, but believe it or not I achieved 48mpg during my week with the Peugeot, versus 47mpg in the Citroen.

Citroen C3 Aircross vs. Peugeot 5008: value for money

It’s not just size in which the 5008 and C3 Aircross differ, because they’re drastically different in price. The small Citroen starts at just £22,345 in petrol, manual, non-hybrid guise, but the 145hp I drove starts at £26,100. The Peugeot, meanwhile, costs £37,045 in entry-level Allure trim. The price difference doesn’t just come from there being physically more of the Peugeot, but because it is a posher choice of car.

‘Premiumness’ is a curious word, but after hearing a car designer use it once, it comes to mind every time I look at the 5008’s cabin. The funky, asymmetrical, wraparound surfaces trimmed in light grey fabric, the two-in-one widescreen display and some of the most comfortable seats on the market all mean the Peugeot punches above its badge for interior quality.

The C3 Aircross, meanwhile, feels seriously budget by comparison. There are also clever fabric-trimmed hard plastics, masking some of the cost saving, but the basic infotainment screen and expanse of scratchy surfaces can’t really hold a candle to the plush Peugeot.

But it doesn’t really need to, either, because the C3 Aircross – in hybrid seven-seater guise – literally costs £10,000 less than the 5008. For a car that’s also comfortable, offers a fair amount of standard kit and can (just about) seat as many people as the larger alternative, it’s hard to not consider if you’re wearing your thinking hat.

Citroen C3 Aircross vs. Peugeot 5008: verdict

I’ll be honest, these cars aren’t exactly a direct comparison. With such a vast price gap and difference in interior quality, they’re clearly aimed at people with very different considerations in mind.

I would pay the extra for the Peugeot, because it’s such an excellent all-rounder, but if I’m being pragmatic I’d love to see more C3 Aircrosses on the road. Seven seats, funky styling and a peppy engine with a smaller footprint, this might just be ideal people-mover for congested cities. Buy either and be happy. These are both great cars.

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*Savings are made up of the maximum dealer discount off RRP – subject to dealership, location and trim. Prices correct at the time of writing.