Peugeot 4007 review
by David Finlay (30 July 2007)
Peugeot has been creating vehicles since the 19th century - it was building horse-drawn carriages for the French army as far back as 1869 - but it has taken until the 21st for the company to move into the SUV market.
The 4007 is essentially a Mitsubishi Outlander. Broadly speaking, the arrangement is that Mitsubishi supplied PSA Peugeot Citroen with its new SUV platform in return for the use of the latter's 2.2-litre HDi turbo diesel engine. Mechanically, these cars - and the Citroen C-Crosser which is another part of the deal - are identical, though each manufacturer has added its own design touches to the basic shape.
Personally, I don't think that the wide-mouth look Peugeot has applied to all its current products is particularly elegant, and I'd place the 4007 bottom of the list in terms of looks. But Peugeot reckons that this model will outsell its close relatives in the UK, and when you compare the sales success of the three companies in this country it's difficult to come up with a reason why it wouldn't.
The 2.2 HDi engine, which is one of three that Mitsubishi supplies with the Outlander (in addition to the 2.0 Volkswagen TDI and Mitsubishi's own 2.4-litre petrol unit), is the only one available in the 4007. Having experienced the 138bhp VW unit in the Outlander I was concerned about how successful the more powerful 156bhp HDI would be, and I think that concern was justified.
This is undoubtedly a very fine engine, but in two-wheel drive form the 4007 struggles to deal with the available power. Fortunately, a rotary switch on the centre console can be used to select either part-time or permanent four-wheel drive, and you'd be well advised to make use of it either on twisty roads or in damp conditions.
For its launch event, Peugeot created a woodland 4x4 course to demonstrate what the 4007 can do. Any "proper" SUV would have rattled through it without the remotest trouble, but there is no pretence that the 4007 is a serious off-roader, and the fact that it had no trouble climbing an impressively steep and muddy hill gave a good idea of its versatility.
A more important selling-point for this car is that it has seven seats. The two which make up the third row are strictly for children only, which is why Peugeot prefers to say that the layout is really 5+2. It would be more accurate still to describe it as a 4+3, since the centre seat in the second row is too narrow for a full-sized adult to enjoy occupying on a long trip.
That second row can be moved forwards and backwards across an 80mm range, and the backs can be tilted, so there's scope to improve the accommodation if you need to, though a really tall passenger would be better off sitting in the front.
As you can imagine, there's a considerable variety of load volumes available. In seven-seat form the capacity is 184 litres up to the seat backs. Fold the rear seats into the floor and this rises to 441 litres to the level of the parcel shelf, assuming the central seats are in their rearmost position, or 510 litres if they are moved as far forward as possible.
The ultimate load-carrying option is to fold away the central seats (an automatic operation achieved at the touch of a button in the boot). That gives you 1686 litres from floor to roof level.
The two-piece tailgate arrangement is clever. In normal circumstances you just open the upper part, but if you have a large or heavy load you can fold down the lower part as well. Then you place the heavy objects on that part (it will hold up to 200kg) and, since it's now at floor level, push the load into the boot space without having to heave it over any kind of sill or similar obstruction.
There are two forms of 4007, the cheaper being the £22,790 SE which has 16" alloy wheels, climate control air-conditioning, six airbags, a ultrasonic alarm, a trip computer, front foglights, an MP3-compatible radio/CD player and roof bars as standard.
For £25,490 you get the GT, with 18" alloys, black leather upholstery, a 6-CD autochanger, xenon headlights, rear parking sensors, tinted rear windows and extra chrome. Insurance is Group 12 for the SE, Group 13 for the GT.
Both versions have the same list of options, including metallic paint, a Bluetooth hands-free phone kit and colour satellite navigation with an upgraded sound system and rear view camera.
The different wheels - and therefore tyres - have no reported effect on the 124mph top speed or the 0-62mph time of 9.9 seconds. There is a slight, to the point of trivial, difference in combined fuel economy and CO2 emissions: 39.2mpg and 191g/km for the SE, 38.6mpg and 194g/km for the GT.
If you're concerned about pumping carbon into the atmosphere, it's worth noting that the HDi engine can run on up to 30% biodiesel mixed in with the fossil-based stuff.
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