UK sales of the 206 SW peaked early, in 2003, and faded considerably over the remaining three years of the car's production. Not noticeably daunted by this, Peugeot has brought the SW version of the 207 to the market, and once again what we have is more than simply an estate alternative to a popular hatchback.The 207 SW is taller than the hatch, and the fact that the rear seat is set 15mm further back means that there's also more room for a full complement of passengers. It's what happens behind that seat that's important, though. The minimum load capacity - that's with the seat up and the versatile parcel shelf in place - is 428 litres, way more than the hatchback offers, and if you fold the seat down and remove the parcel shelf, and are prepared to load up to roof level, you've got 1433 litres to play with.Folding the seat is a very easy operation and gives you a large, flat load area. Putting large and heavy stuff in the rear is made simpler than it might be by the lowness of the sill; alternatively, if you just want to pop in some odds and ends you can open the rear window rather than the whole tailgate.Despite all this practicality, the 207 SW looks a lot sportier than its 206 equivalent ever did. That's largely because of the diagonal sweep of the body panel through what would normally be the rear side window, and while this certainly makes the car more attractive from the outside it also has a disastrous effect on visibility. I don't know if whoever thought up that part of the design has ever tried reversing an SW in a busy car park, but I suspect not.In fact, it's much easier to look up out of the SW than it is to look behind it. All versions have a panoramic glass sunroof, so the interior can be a light and airy place to sit in, though if you don't like that there's an electric sun blind which can partly or completely obscure the glass in a maximum of ten seconds.Peugeot reckons that the majority of UK sales will involve petrol cars, but that the 90bhp 1.6-litre HDi turbo diesel will be the most popular engine. It's not an exciting unit, and a top speed of 113mph and a 0-62mph of 11.8 seconds show that it doesn't push the SW along particularly rapidly.But those figures do not hint at the car's mid-range performance, which is pretty good. You can choose the 110bhp version of the same engine, or 1.4- and 1.6-litre petrol units offering between 95bhp and 120bhp, but personally I think I'd be happy enough with the less powerful diesel, since it does the job well enough, and has a spectacular combined fuel consumption figure of just over 60mpg, equating to 125g/km of CO2 emissions.Like most Peugeots of a relatively humble nature (the high-performance ones are a different story altogether), the SW is lovely to drive, with a beautifully smooth ride and what must be approaching the practical minimum of engine noise for a mass-produced car of this size. In particular, the steering - which isn't entirely confidence-inspiring if you're battering along a country road - is very easy to use both in town and on motorways.The £12,495 list price applies to the S version tested here, though there's also the option of buying a Sport instead. This adds 16" alloy wheels, more supportive front seats, white instrument dials, chrome interior doorhandles, leather for the steering wheel and gearknob and some extra outer trim to the specification. It also adds £700 to the price, though the Group 5 insurance rating is unaffected. Engine 1560 cc, 4 cylinders Power 90 bhp @4000 rpm Torque 161 ib/ft @1750 rpm Transmission 5 speed manual Fuel/CO2 62.7 mpg / 120 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 12.9sec Top speed 113 mph Price From £13218.00 approx Release date 08/06/2006
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