The biggest challenge Peugeot's Landtrek 2.2D faces is not with the vehicle itself. It's breaking into the market this vehicle is aiming for. If you do take a chance on their honestly massive double cab, it'll turn out to be extremely fun to drive -- one-handed, if that's the level of casual strength you're after. Mostly, we see these as working bakkies. Plush working bakkies, in the case of the 4Action, but that's just fine with us. Plus, a little off-roading on the weekend.
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Design
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Performance
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Infotainment
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Features
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Value
It’s been a little more than a week since we started driving the Peugeot Landtrek 2.2D 4Action double cab bakkie. Initially, the vehicle came across as just a little too big for comfort. It rides high, the wheelbase is long, and putting it into a crowded parking lot could be terrifying.
But much can change in just a few days. Peugeot’s bakkie isn’t perfect, but it’s got plenty going for it. There’s loads of tech inside, but you don’t have to use any of it. The bits that aren’t optional are more or less automatic. The Landtrek sends more than enough power to the chunky wheels to let you feel like you can drive anywhere. And the interior has enough space for a family… or a bunch of dudes going to work on site. Hopefully, the tallest passenger is sitting up front.
Landtrek spotted
The Landtrek 2.2D is a big guy. It’s 5.33 metres from stem to stern and rides on top of 18in alloy rims. Said rims are riding on Giti 4×4 AT71 265/60 rubber, so the running board under the doors is less ‘cool feature’ and more ‘stepladder’… unless you’re 6’2. The nose is prominent, and Peugeot has gone for a blockier presentation than you might see elsewhere. There are just enough curves to ensure you know the Landtrek is a modern vehicle, but mostly the impression is of a battering ram with wheels. Which, if we’re being fair, is how we like our all-wheel-drive vehicles.
Peugeot makes these things in two different trim levels. There’s the 4×2 Allure, and then there’s our review spec — the 4×4 4Action. The interior is attractive, but it’s not especially comfortable. Comfort is for people who buy these things and drive them to the gym and back. The Landtrek 2.2D feels like it’s supposed to take you to work in hard-to-reach places. We’re not talking about the cabin as a whole. Rather, it’s just the seats, which are utilitarian compared to the central console, displays, and other accoutrements.
That said, settling into the seat and driving for hours is hardly a chore. Moderate core strength will see you through, and the sturdy back and seat position pay off when you haul the bakkie onto a gravel road or if you venture where there are no roads at all.
Rumble pack
You’ll want to take the Landtrek 2.2D 4Action off-road, even if you’ve never done that in any vehicle before. That tendency we noted after the first drive of the bakkie wanting to chew up road surface remained in place throughout. The wheels give an impression of wanting to lurch forward, preferably over rocks and ruts. There’s loads of power — 147kW — in the 2.2l turbodiesel engine. There are also several drive modes to play with to make the most of it.
The standard drive mode is the one that seems latently aggressive. There are dedicated Snow and Sand modes — the latter comes with an admonishment not to use it on tarred surfaces. And then there’s Sport mode, which redirects some of that torque in the direction of acceleration. A vehicle this big has no business feeling this nimble, making Sport mode our choice for a) getting into traffic from side streets and b) belting along tarred highways.
Off-road, the 2.2D is a slightly different beast. There are several drive modes for different road surfaces, but most folks can leave it in the intelligent all-wheel-drive mode and let the Peugeot’s systems do the work. If you’re trundling somewhere really hairy, clicking the bakkie over to low-range puts plenty of extra power at your disposal. The company reckons it’ll perform as a serious off-roader as well as a workhorse. After spending time at Johannesburg’s Lion and Rhino Park, specifically on the Ridge Road, we can believe them. Hill-start and descent assist are also on hand if you need them. All in all, the Peugeot Landtrek 2.2D double cab is tremendously fun to drive — on or off the tarmac.
Interior world
There’s a standard layout of tech inside the cabin. The software in the central digital display is fairly generic, but it’ll swap to whatever your phone is if you connect via Android Auto or CarPlay. The smartphone option is preferred, whether you use wireless connections or cable, simply because Google Maps is smarter than the onboard stuff. Both will get you where you want to go. Only one will notify you about traffic.
There’s a dedicated Off Road section in the default software that provides the Landtrek’s angles, tyre pressure, and other data if you need it. The display in front of the driver has everything you need at a glance, plus radar indicators, so you can see how close you’ve come to the vehicle in front of you. It’s handy for casual glances, but it’s the Landtrek’s camera system that really impressed us.
Specifically, how intelligent it is. We’ve mentioned that it feels a touch lumbering at first. Having the side cameras show wheel positions when your indicators turn on, or flicking on the cameras manually while parking, turned out to be genuinely useful. There are other context-aware actions from the camera that perform similar tasks — most of which involve not mounting a kerb or squishing pedestrians. Best of all, there was no setup involved. The bakkie just did its thing.
Finally, and perhaps the best feature of the cabin controls? Replication. You can handle everything on the centre touchscreen, but it’s also all reproduced via physical controls. Climate control is via digital button presses or actual knobs and buttons. Ditto car audio, cruise control, call answering, and most of the other smart features — either in the centre console or on the steering wheel. Far too many car manufacturers have tried to go all-digital. This method is far more fun.
Peugeot Landtrek 2.2D 4Action verdict
The trim level Peugeot provided for this Landtrek 2.2D 4×4 4Action review will set you back around R760,000. If you can afford that, you can afford the price it’ll take to fill the massive diesel tank in 2026. You’ll get in excess of 850km on a tank, even if you’re constantly hooning around in Sport mode. If you’re the target market for this critter, the Landtrek will, mostly, make you money while you’re driving. Whether that’s transporting workers (inside, preferably) or cargo in the generous bed, it’ll have space to spare. Fit it with a canopy or a camping rig, and it’ll perform pretty well in places that don’t have fancy infrastructure like… you know, roads. Whether Peugeot can tempt you away from the more traditional bakkie marques is up to you, but the Landtrek 2.2D 4Action makes a pretty damned good case for it.
