Peugeot 407 Road Test to Penang & Back
Peugeot 407 – Great Shape, Nice Body, Latest French Lady in Town
I am not very good at descriptions, especially shapes and lines of cars. To me, the mechanicals, the engineering, the technology and the handling of any car are the main points for concern. Looks are a bonus! Some of the best performing cars on the road over the years look really ugly, but because they can go like stink, they come out smelling like roses.
It takes quite a lot to move me, but the moment I set eyes on the new Peugeot 407, I was impressed. For a family sedan, it certainly has a very ‘fierce’ front face, especially that large and wide shark’s jaw of a grille. The 407, is, in my opinion, Peugeot’s best looking medium sized sedan ever. The sporty looking front end is proudly stamped with a large Peugeot lion in the centre between the ‘slant eyed’ triple combination headlamps; the long aluminum bonnet (for weight saving) slopes gently up from the bumper cum air dam, and is followed by a sharply raked windscreen in an arc that continues up into the roof, and flows down gently into the rear boot area. A ‘duck’ tail accentuates the rear end, and the drop to the rear bumper from the top of the boot lid is tapered inwards for an aerodynamic effect. A black body stripe protects the 407 against minor dinks and car park incidents and at the same time makes the car look sleek. Blacked out ‘B’ pillars give the illusion that the car is a coupe. From any angle, the 407 is a beautiful piece of art. In a nutshell, without any disrespect for the designer, it does remind me of another one of my favourites, the Maserati. Its best angle is the front three quarter view.
In the performance department, however, the Peugeot 407 falls a little short of my expectations. Such a great looking car deserves much more grunt than the 137 horses that the 2.0 litre 4-cylinder aluminum engine produces, but I suppose that cost considerations take precedence over a lot of other things. (Yes, there is a 3.0 litre model, but that’s another story.) To transfer power to the ground, a 4-speed automatic transmission is used, yet another disappointment in an era when just about everybody else in this category is on to five or even six-speed boxes. There is however, some saving grace in the Tiptronic system that comes with the transmission.
Perhaps the ESP (Electronic Stability Program) that works in conjunction with the ABS (Antilock Braking System) does make up for it a little more, on top of the Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Emergency Braking Assistance that comes as part of the package. And yes, the brakes are ventilated discs at the front, and solid discs at the rear. Add on the seatbelts with pre-tensioners, hazard lights that come on automatically when you apply emergency brakes, or the automatic unlocking of the doors in the event of an impact, and you begin to see that much more value for your money. Also add to this list, anti-whiplash seats, and cruise control, and you have in hand a well thought of vehicle, with features built-in to make your life better, or to keep you safe.
I was part of a group of journalists who were invited to go for a long test drive that started in Petaling Jaya, went to Penang, and came back the next day, a drive that covered approximately 700 kilometres.
In the driver’s seat, everything is fine. The 407 is built to pamper the driver. If you happen to be a rear passenger, it is okay if you are short. Legroom is a little limited, because in pampering the driver and front passenger, the front seats are built (in the French tradition of being very comfortable) very thick, and takes up quite a bit of the available space. The 137 horses are tamed quite well, with the gear ratios on a short leash to maximize whatever acceleration there is. At 110 km/hour in top gear, the engine is turning at approximately 3000 rpm, and the gearbox kicks down to 3rd and stays there as long as you have your foot down. For fast cruising, the 407 is comfortable at between 150 to 170 km/hr, but on a long and empty downhill stretch, one of our guys managed 208 km/hr.
For the passengers, the ride is comfortable, but for the driver, it may appear to be a little on the soft side of firm. As a family car, I would have no hesitation in recommending it. For the engineering savvy readers, the Peugeot runs on double wishbones and coil springs for front and rear suspensions. Overall handling is very good; pushed hard into corners, the 407 is extremely well behaved, lane change characteristics are excellent, and cross winds are not an issue. Fuel economy? We did not have a chance to check it out; even if we did, it would not have been a true indication of what the car would really give under normal usage. Anyway, our tank of fuel took us to Penang without any problem.
Would I buy the car? It depends. If I were a family type of person, who wants good value for what I pay, don’t normally drive very fast, but would like to do some high speed driving once in a long while, want to arrive looking good, turn some heads and make some people wonder makes me tick, and accept that I am an individual who does not go by convention, then the answer is yes!
