Road test rewind Peugeot 407 mixes with exotica
Fantastic handling made the 407 a standout repmobile – for those unfussed about ride
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 multilink 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.