Peugeot 407 HDi V6
CRUISE MISSILE
If You’re After The Sort Of Car The French Do Best – Big, Sophisticated, Comfortable Continent Crushers – Try This Peugeot 407 V6 HDi. You’ll Soon Start Finding Excuses To Cover Big Mileages. Andy Enright Reports
It’s often said that the journey is more important than the destination, and truer words have rarely been spoken. I’ve only just recovered from driving from the French Alps in a mini-MPV with seats that left me laid up in bed with backache and engine noise that made me think ear defenders would have been a sound purchase. With hindsight I needed something a lot more capable, comfortable and refined. Something like a Peugeot 407 HDi V6 would have fitted the bill perfectly.
With a 750 mile journey to cover on almost empty French autoroutes, this Peugeot would have been in its element. The colour satellite navigation would have ensured we didn’t take the unscheduled scenic route through the centre of Grenoble in rush hour and the V6 powerplant could have sat at borderline illegal speeds for hours, easily returning over 40mpg with the engine turning over at little more than 2,500rpm. Like I said, perfect.
I’d have had time to enjoy the leather upholstery of the GT trim level and could have fielded calls on the hands free GSM telephone system. The last bit relies on Peugeot trusting motoring journalists not to rack up huge bills telling all their friends at home what a great time they were having, but you get the idea. Xenon headlights make that dawn start on mountain roads that little bit less harrowing while the heated front seats can combat overnight lows of minus ten degrees in seconds. Rear window sunblinds are a boon if you’ve got kids in the back and will help dozy passengers nod off. Better that than the intermittent tuneless accompaniments to iPods that I had to withstand.
The French have long been good at this sort of car but rarely has the translation survived the short hop across the Channel. We rarely undertake these mammoth journeys when we can just set the cruise control and concentrate on not falling asleep at the wheel. Instead, we’re usually duking it out, cutting and thrusting, junking and weaving and generally catching breath between road rage incidents with white van men and bouts of explosive gastro enteritis brought on by substandard motorway food. We seek out high tempo vehicles which hype us up still further. It’s time we took a few lessons from the French on how to relax a little. The 407 HDi V6 would make a great start.
"The 407 HDi V6 is a great car for lowering your blood pressure. Breathe and relax"
It will hustle happily through a set of fast sweepers and its body control is always unflustered but this is not a sporty car. You’ll know within ten yards of setting off that the quiet helm and velvety ride quality focus on refinement and civility rather than balls-out aggression. The Peugeot is a better car for this mature and genteel attitude. The 2.7-litre diesel engine has been developed in conjunction with Ford, variants of which are found beneath the bonnet of the Jaguars S-TYPE and XJ as well as the Land Rover Discovery. Fitted with an FAP particulate filter in this guise, it develops a hefty 205bhp. By comparison, the petrol 3.0-litre engine fitted to the 407 feels weedy. Just a glance at the torque statistics will show why. Where the petrol-engined car manages a peak torque figure of 218lb/ft you get a whopping 330lb/ft from the diesel model.
You’ll feel the difference out on the open road. This 407 features a six-speed Porsche-style Tiptronic automatic gearbox as standard and the top ratio has been geared very high for super-relaxed cruising. Trying to accelerate against such big leverage can prove beyond the petrol-engined car, requiring a drop down to fifth or even fourth on some motorway gradients, but the automatic diesel just keeps ploughing on regardless. Such is the refinement of the 407 that you’ll often find yourself travelling far faster than you at first imagined, something worth bearing in mind when coming into a hairpin bend! The combination of engine smoothness and noise insulation (helped by features such as laminated side windows) also means that this is one of the only diesel engines I’ve ever driven that feels happy being driven right to the redline. Whereas most oil burners sound very harsh and cease to produce meaningful go as you approach the rev limiter, the Peugeot’s big V6 just keeps pulling. It feels an even better installation than in the Jaguar S-TYPE, lacking that car’s rather obvious dip in the low-down manual gearing.
Peugeot have set something of a precedent to follow with some very good previous Euro NCAP crash test results but the 407 again takes a big step forward. Active safety comes in the form of brake discs with a diameter of up to 330mm and next-generation ESP stability control. Pedestrian protection is a major design criterion these days and the 407 features foam padded bumper bars and a bonnet that deforms to absorb shock, the top of the engine a good distance below that sweeping bonnet line. Up to nine air bags can be specified – twin fronts, side, curtain and steering column units offer optimum protection.
The V6 HDi engine is also offered in SW estate guise. The 407 SW tacks another 87mm onto the rear overhang and features a tailgate with a very low and practical load height. Lift the fifth door and there’s a respectable amount of room, Peugeot’s designers concentrating on sheer utility. The loadbay is never less than 1,100mm wide and the front passenger seat can fold forwards, allowing items up to 2,700mm to be carried. Two side storage pods in the load area also allow gear to be stowed well out of harm’s way. A solid carpeted cover aids security by keeping what’s in the back out of sight of prying eyes. The rear seats split in a 66:33 fashion and fold virtually flat to the floor without the tedious necessity to remove the head restraints. Thus equipped, there’s a 1,700mm load length. Options include a ski flap and luggage nets.
Although it may take more than this impressive Peugeot to convert a British buyer hooked on frenetic hatchbacks, the 407 HDi V6 is a welcome dose of tranquillity. If you need to de-stress, pick a quiet moment and try one. Destination not important.
