Road test rewind: Peugeot 407
Eye-catching looks and an ability to corner quickly and neatly were its trump cards
Fantastic handling made the 407 a standout repmobile – for those unfussed about ride
This week we rewind the clock back to 2004, when Peugeot's latest saloon was turning heads for all the right reasons:
Back in 1995, the Peugeot 406 was voted European Car of the Year. Good looks, fine handling and excellent space made it a worthy winner. And it was far from a dry year: the Peugeot saw off challenges from such distinguished competition as the E39-generation BMW 5 Series – often touted as the finest executive car ever made.
Now, we have an all-new Peugeot saloon, one whose dramatic looks hide a chassis that – according to its maker’s bold claims – will return Peugeot to dominance in the family saloon market.
In a class where anonymity is the norm, Peugeot’s in-house design team deserves credit for thinking outside the three-box in creating the 407. The styling takes time to get used to, but drive a 407 around town and you’ll get the sort of reaction that Mondeo man will never experience: people really do point, stare, question and compliment.
To cut weight, Peugeot engineers have employed aluminium for the roof and bonnet, and aluminium alloy subframes support double wishbones at the front and a multi-link set-up at the rear. But at 1505kg, the car is among the heaviest in class.
It hits 60mph in 9.6sec, 0.2sec behind the Mondeo TDCi 128, and 100mph in 29.0sec, 3.0sec slower than the Ford. With 33.3mph per 1000rpm in sixth, you’ll need fifth gear for overtaking, the pay-off being near-silent running at 70mph.
If going around corners quickly is your priority, the 407 is peerless. The petrol version pulled over 1.0g around Brands Hatch in our search for Britain’s best driver’s car – a respectable figure for a sports car 10 years ago.
Body control is awesome, with no pitch or dive over speed humps, and the absence of body roll when attacking corners gives the car a real sense of agility.
The speed-sensitive power steering has little feel, but there’s a better simulation of feedback than you’ll find in most electrohydraulic set-ups and it’s well weighted and responsive.
All that body control comes at a price. On UK roads, the firm springs and dampers fail to prevent constant fidget. Lateral intrusions cause the back end to skip and there’s more suspension noise than we’d like, too.
*Verdict - 3.5/5*
Make no mistake: the 407 is a good car. In fact, it does a few things quite brilliantly, and sports car dynamics and brave looks are two qualities that we hold in high regard. However, we do have reservations about the 407’s ride quality and practicality. It only just misses a four-star score.
*A surprise awaited as at Brands Hatch - Alastair Clements*
At our 2004 Britain’s Best Driver’s Car event, alongside the Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Caterham R500 Evolution sat a Peugeot 2.0-litre saloon. It was the high point of a remarkable year for the pretty but porridgy 406 replacement, Peugeot’s attempt to reignite the spark of driver appeal that had so marked out the 405.
It certainly worked on paper. Through the bends of Brands Hatch, the 407 pulled 1.0g, then an unheard-of figure for a mass-produced repmobile. The car’s double-wishbone front and multilink rear suspension endowed it with fantastic body control, loads of grip and remarkable agility. It looked quite unlike anything else in the class, too.
But we were perhaps guilty of getting a little too carried away by the looks and handling, because they also created significant compromises. The 407’s thrusting low-drag shape resulted in a small boot and even worse rear-passenger space, and the ride was pretty terrible away from the billiard-table- smooth Brands blacktop. Inevitably, against the wider talents of the Ford Mondeo and Honda Accord, it struggled. But still, 1.0g!
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