Peugeot 308

Diesel mid-size for the Podgorica to Dubrovnik and Podgorica to Durmitor runs

Mid-Size

Long-legged BlueHDi plus auto box built for the 3-hour push up to Žabljak or the cross-border drive to Trebinje and Mostar.

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At a glance

Seats

Gearbox

Automatic

Fuel

Diesel

Luggage

3 bags

Boot

412 L (1,309 L seats folded)

Economy

64 mpg

Who is this car for?

The mid-size diesel pick for anyone pairing a Podgorica base with multi-day drives inland, auto gearbox and cruise control earn their keep on the Podgorica motorway.

Cross-border road-trippers
Durmitor weekenders
Four adults with full luggage

Best regional use

Cruises the Smokovac to Mateševo motorway section effortlessly, swallows a week of hiking kit bound for Žabljak, and covers the Podgorica to Dubrovnik via Debeli Brijeg run on half a tank.

On the road

Behind the wheel

The 308 Mk3 is a more grown-up proposition than anything in the B-segment on a TGD roster, a larger car, a quieter cabin, and a different set of priorities for the renter who has just stepped off a flight tired. The 1.5 BlueHDi 130 diesel paired with the 8-speed EAT automatic is the common Montenegro rental spec and the combination every multi-day Podgorica Airport renter should look at first. Torque arrives at 1,750 rpm, the auto box shuffles ratios invisibly while you are still finding the wiper stalk in the airport long-term lot, and the small i-Cockpit wheel makes the M-2 first 30 minutes after landing feel less like work.

On Podgorica roads

Montenegro's interior motorway, the Smokovac to Mateševo section opened this decade, is where the 308 pays back its premium for a TGD-based week. A Žabljak run that used to punish small cars with three hours of canyon hairpins now covers 90 percent of the 155 km on smooth tarmac, and the 308's diesel settles at 1,800 rpm with cruise on. From the airport you join the M-2 north, transition to the motorway at Smokovac, and 2 hours 50 minutes later you are at Durmitor. Closer in, Skadar Lake at 25 km south on the M-2 and Bar at 60 km via the Sozina tunnel are easy half-day loops.

Space and load

The 412-litre boot is the deciding spec for arrivals at TGD. Four adults' hard cases off the carousel plus a folded pushchair and a duty-free bag fit without anything moving onto the rear seats; the kerbside handover stays under five minutes because nobody is rearranging. Mid-week a set of hiking poles, two 50-litre packs and walking boots for a Durmitor weekend travel alongside the family laundry. Fold the 60/40 bench and you have 1,309 litres for awkward cargo, an inflatable SUP fits, as does a folded patio parasol carried back from a rental villa near Skadar Lake.

Smokovac–Mateševo motorway inland from Podgorica — The Smokovac motorway toward Podgorica, the 308’s BlueHDi settles into a steady 1,800 rpm cruise here.

Best journeys for this car

The 308 suits the family of four landing at TGD and basing in Podgorica for ten to fourteen nights. The brief is usually the same: three or four nights doing capital-edge days at Skadar Lake and Cijevna, a two-night push inland up the motorway to Žabljak or Kolašin, then back south to TGD with a final night near the airport before the early return flight. The 308 is also the right car for older couples planning a Balkan road trip that starts at TGD and ends across the Albanian border at Hani i Hotit, 30 km east, the quieter cabin is kinder on those long legs.

Practical notes

Real-world diesel consumption is 4.5 L/100 km in mixed Montenegrin driving and closer to 4.2 on the motorway, the 52-litre tank delivers over 1,000 km between fills. The 4.37 m length is the one caveat for an airport-based week: it fits TGD long-term parking and Podgorica city centre bays without complaint, but some narrow Stari Bar and Virpazar lanes ask for a three-point turn that a Clio avoids. Diesel is widely available at the Jugopetrol on the airport access road and at every M-2 interchange; AdBlue tops up every 8,000 km or so. Local providers offer free cancellation, full insurance and city delivery.

The verdict

Choose the 308 when the itinerary mixes a Podgorica base with serious distance legs out of TGD, the motorway run to Durmitor, the cross-border to Shkodër, the Bar coast loop. Skip it if you are only moving within the airport and city, where a smaller hatch parks easier and costs a third less per week.