New Car Purchase

Peugeot Stylish 407 is A Popular Choice With The Various HDi Diesel Engines On Offer. Jonathan Crouch Finds Out Why.

Its not hard to see the reasons behind the dawn of the diesel on British consciousness. As soon as the car makers started producing diesels that really did have performance, refinement and low fuel consumption, the stage was set for a sales explosion. Then when the Chancellor started basing company car tax on emissions, interest heightened still further. A look at the figures and its not hard to understand why.

For examle, check out the Peugeot 407 HDi diesels were looking at here. They travel almost 20 miles further on every gallon compared to their petrol counterparts and return emissions figures that are around 50g/km better. And the downside? Well, youll be about a second tardier in the 0-60mph sprint (but record an almost identical top speed) and pay a premium of around £1,000 over the comparable petrol model when it comes to up front sticker price. Though that premium may be hard to justify if your annual mileage is on the low side, its hard to see many other reasons for ignoring the diesel option in this case as in so many others.

On the test drive, the slightly noisier sound at idling might raise an eyebrow but that will be quickly forgotten when you experience the prodigious mid-range pulling power that only diesels tend to offer. So lets get down to the facts in this case. Peugeots 407 needed a strong diesel range to properly compete in the Mondeo-dominated Medium Range marketplace. It has just that. Entry-level buyers can choose a 110bhp 1.6-Litre HDi, the same engine that Peugeot used in its 206 GTi HDi hot hatch. Here, theres a choice between two body styles (saloon and SW estate) and two

trim levels (S and SE) at prices which range between £16,545 and £18,745."Peugeots 407 needed a strong diesel range. It has just that."Impressive though it is, premium pricing will restrict sales of this flagship unit, so lets look in more detail here at the four cylinder HDi diesel models. These two will appeal to quite different buyers, mainly due to the significant differences in the performance on offer. The 1.6 HDi is, after all, over two yawning seconds slower to sixty (13. 1s) and 10mph slower flat out (110mph). Many will think that worth the model-for-model £900 premium that Peugeot require from buyers wishing to trade up from the smaller engine, even though theres a 10g/km penalty in emissions (155g/km for the 2.0 HDi as opposed to 145g/km for the 1.6). The fuel consumption figures produced by the two engines (an average of 51.1mpg for the 1.6 as opposed to 48mpg for the 2.0 HDi) are hardly different. If youre interested in how all this compares to Peugeots opposition, youll already have the brochures out and be looking at cars like Fords Mondeo TDCi, Renaults Laguna dCi and Vauxhalls Vectra CDTi. All match the 407 when it comes to fuel consumption, emissions and top speed but significantly better it in terms of acceleration (reaching sixty from rest on average about a second quicker). Perhaps this is an issue of weight. This Peugeot is, after all, a car built more for luxury than speed.

Its an open secret that the French maker wanted to create a scaled down executive saloon rather than a pumped up Family hatchback. So it has proved. The marketers say that this is what potential buyers want and theyre probably right. The cabin looks very Peugeot - which is possibly the weakest part of the 407 make up. Its neat and everything seems to work very nicely but there isnt a great deal of showroom wow factor to it. Sophisticated multiplexed electronics allow for a huge amount of individual customisation when specifying your 407, with such features as rear view mirrors linked to reverse gear, parking sensors, self-imposed speed limiters, low tyre pressure monitors and variable cruise control systems all capable of being fitted quickly and, just as importantly, at very modest expense. Take a test drive and right from the outset, the investment in quality is manifest. The fabric

seating of our test car felt better and seemed of higher quality than many of the bargain basement leather trims fitted to upper-spec mid range saloons and the seats had both enough lateral grip and were comfortable enough. The steering wheel is trimmed feels good to hold and features neat cut outs for the thumbs. The dashboard follows the trend for waterfall centre consoles on which most of the major instruments are placed and sees a welcome move away from the rattly hard plastic ventilation and air conditioning controls that have blighted many Peugeot of yore. Expensively slush moulded plastics yield to the touch along the top of the dashboard whilst there are classy looking appliquأ© strips along the dash and doors to brighten the interior ambiance a little. The Peugeot staple of chrome-ringed dials and a chrome and leather trimmed gear knob are also evident. Thankfully the steering wheel is a little better looking than some of the blandly bulging tillers fitted to many Peugeots. Some thought has gone into this cabin. In the final analysis, provided speed isnt your be all and end all, these diesel-engined 407 models make a strong case for themselves. If you click with that individual styling and dont mind the initial price premium over petrol power, then it might be easy to imagine one of these filling your driveway.