While the powertrain is smooth and refinend, the rest of the car trails class standards for relaxing refinement. The suspension is quiet enough, but it feels leaden and lumpy over urban imperfections, while on the motorway there’s constant fidget on all but the smoothest and freshest Tarmac.
Surprisingly, the Boost’s smaller 17-inch wheels offer no advantage over the Comfort’s 18-inch rims in terms of ride restfulness. On the plus side, the sharp initial response of the brake pedal gives way to good progression and stopping power
You might forgive this stiff-legged progress if it translated into quick-witted and even-keeled handling but, well, it doesn’t. The steering is decently weighted and accurate, and in most circumstances the Seal 6 diligently follows your intended line, but there’s little in the way of dynamic sparkle. Moreover, hit a few compressions mid-corner and the brittleness gives way to a little heave and wallow.
And while the car’s standard Hankooks delivered good grip in the dry, on tighter damp corners it was far too easy to push the car into understeer, which transitioned to lazy oversteer as you snapped the throttle closed – all before the ESP could be stirred from its slumber. Under lighter loadings it’s as if the stiffness in the suspension is causing the car to skitter over the surface. Pile headlong into a wet roundabout and you’ll need your wits about you.
Ultimately, the 308 and Volkswagen Golf are on another level, never mind the Skoda Superb or any of the premium stuff.
The lane keep assistance and speed limit warning on the Seal 6 aren’t the worst I’ve tried and are relatively easy to disable, but the driver attention monitor is typically overzealous and irritating. I didn’t have the opportunity to thoroughly test the adaptive cruise control.
