PEUGEOT 1007 test drive since 2007 hatchback

A toy

Peugeot created another stylish car, pointing everyone to the door
 
Updated the wardrobe - called by metrosexual. I went to the Peugeot 1007 test - I heard this strange word again. I had to not be too lazy and find out what it means, and what attitude can have to a pretty typewriter. It turned out that his American Simpson came up with to characterize the generation of young people with decent income living in the capital (metropolis) or nearby, the main thing is next to the best shops, clubs, hairdressers. Because the metroxual suffers from narcissism and seeks pleasure. Sexual orientation seems to have nothing to do with it. The American may not know, but long before his birth, people used concepts such as dandy or dudes, and it is not difficult to trace a person’s craving for pleasure since ancient times. The word was clearly invented for the publications of the Life-Style series, which, from my point of view, is harmful to intelligence, how to listen to poppies or watch a full house. So what does PEUGEOT 1007 have to do with it? And despite the fact that some colleagues-journalists decided how they nailed: the model is ideal for metrosexual. Well, perhaps a stylish toy is really capable of emphasizing the owner of the owner. However, I think, the car will find a wider and practical application.
 
On both sides of the door
 
For example, I am absolutely convinced that the clip side doors of the Peugeot 1007 will like everyone - metrosexuals, and normal people, and men, and women. Of course, this is the main constructive highlight of the model. He touched the pen or pressed the button (on the key fob or inside the cabin) - and the door slightly moved away from the body and drove back with electric motor, forming an opening with a 920 mm wide. And why was such a convenient design so far mainly on minivans? Good fun for the permanent audience of Anschlag - buzzes, opens and closes carefully, you can have fun with your friends. A practical city dweller will certainly appreciate the fact that the door drives away from the body to a very small distance - plus a centimeter to the side mirror. You can park on such a car in the most constrained conditions, and it is easy to sit in the salon, even if you have to squeeze out the door sideways. What is not the perfect vehicle in the metropolis, given the modest dimensions of the car?
 
In addition, Peegeot has always turned out to be extremely pretty. Recall at least a bestseller - model 206. Perhaps, in terms of attractiveness, the 1007th can argue with it. The French, in collaboration with Italians from the Pininfarina studio, created a machine constructively and stylistically impeccably suitable for operating conditions in a big city. The elegant silhouette, with knowledge of the matter, the worked out the details of the exterior, it seems, can diversify any urban landscape, and certainly will look appropriate in old and new quarters. No, it was not without reason that the test was organized in Valencia: according to the architectural appearance of this city, you can study the history of urban planning from gray to modern times without missing a single modernist current. And, imagine, Peugeot 1007 attracted the attention of the local residents, who are generally difficult to hit with something.
 
A special art is the organization of the internal space of a compact car. First of all, in the Peugeot 1007 is not close to the four, and it has a lot of light. The sensation of the spaciousness has been achieved to a large extent thanks to a decent overall height of the machine. Which allowed to increase the area of \u200b\u200bglazing and ensure excellent visibility. It is necessary to get used to the fact that the car’s nose is not visible, as, indeed, in most models of this type. For especially sun -loving, the company offers in addition a huge two -section hatch in the roof. The first part of it, above the driver and front passenger, is shifted using an electric drive, the second is motionless. Moreover, each of the sections has a special protective curtain.
 
The driver's seat is very well profiled, but it is worth saying separately about the one in the sports bag. With perfectly developed lateral support, it is extremely convenient. You can choose a comfortable landing without difficulty - both the seat itself and the steering column have a complete set of mechanical adjustments. Another pleasant touch is landing. Usually in such cars you sit quite high. Why - it is clear: due to the savings of the place and the desire of the designers, it is optimal to use the space. However, in the Peugeot 1007, you sit, albeit not too low, but, we can say, almost like in an ordinary car.
 
In general, the interior is pleasant to the eye and is extremely functional. The instrument shield is concise, the scales are visible in any light. In the end of the steering wheel switches, there are an audio control buttons and an on -board computer, unless, of course, the equipment involves its presence. By the way, musical accompaniment depends on the version. Although I liked the JBL audio system with an amplifier, one subwoofer and eight columns. Which, alas, is not included in any of the five configurations, but is proposed only as an option. Of course, you can connect a mobile phone to the audio system by inserting the SIM card into a special slot.
 
On the central console, immediately under the audio center there was a climate control unit in the cabin. It can be ordinary, with air conditioning, or electronic, with automatic maintenance of a given temperature. It is worth noting that in Valencia on the days of the test it was quite hot, but inside it was not felt - despite the modest volumes of power units, a life -giving coolness was always felt inside. In the immediate vicinity of the KP lever, there are two windows control buttons, a cigarette lighter and a removable ashtray, in the manner of those installed in American cars.
 
I would like to note another remarkable feature of the PEUGEOT 1007 decoration. Color inserts on the seats, as well as small rugs on a huge front panel, and rims around round ventilation deflectors - all this can be changed in accordance with the wishes of the owner. In total, the company offers 12 color options. The cost of one full set is 250 euros, and the rims of deflectors can be changed over 30. To completely repaint the cabin requires no more than 15 minutes. So if you ruin the upholstery of the seat with something difficult to display, you can just buy a new set, which, moreover, will refresh the interior as a whole. By the way, dealers will also offer separate elements, but on order.
 
You cannot ignore the numerous possibilities for transforming the salon. So, the front seats can turn into small tables, which will come in handy on picnics or when transporting long objects. The rear seats can move back and forth or completely add up, changing the volume of the trunk from 246 to 1192 liters. In their standard position, only two will be spacious behind. The legs are enough, and the width of the car allows you to sit without touching each other's shoulders. In addition, on the sides there are two small boxes that perform the function of the armrests. In a word, it is not a sin to get out of the city on the Peugeot 1007: representatives of the company claim that even a surfing board can be placed in a car.
 
Not bad for the baby
  PEUGEOT 1007 is offered with three power units - two gasoline volume - 1.4 and 1.6 liters and one volume turbodiesel - 1.4 liters. Two gearboxes are two - mechanical 5 -speed and semi -automatic 2 Tronic. The latter is aggregated exclusively with gasoline engines.
 
4-cylinder engine 1.6 develops 110 hp. And it is the most powerful in the range. It is combined precisely with a semi -automatic 2 Tronic, which the creators call a mechanical gearbox without a clutch pedal. Such mechanisms are clearly familiar with the models of Opel (Easytronic), BMW and Audi (DSG). You can switch the gears with the help of a lever, pushing it back and forth, or, operating with steering wheel petals (the right increases the transmission, the left reduces). It is relatively convenient to use petals, since they themselves are quite large, but fixed directly on the steering column. The advantages of 2 Tronic include a fairly quick shift in transmission. Of course, a certain pause still arises, but it is not as noticeable as that of some competitors.
 
Having left the parking almost immediately to the auto track, I somehow quickly and without difficulty went through all the steps of the CP, briskly gaining 130 km/h. Moreover, it is better when it is possible to synchronize the discharge of gas with the inclusion of the necessary transmission. Then it creates that you manipulate the usual mechanical KP, smoothly moving from one transmission to another. You can translate the box in automatic mode by clicking on the Auto button next to the KP lever. But in this case, when switching from one step to another, especially with intense acceleration, a small piece of nose will be felt and some inhibiting the operation of the mechanism itself. It is not without reason that Peugeot engineers themselves recommend manually switching programs, if there is a tendency to active driving. But for movement around the city, especially in traffic jams, automatic mode is more suitable.
 
Be that as it may, and the Peugeot 1007 with a 1.6 engine and such a gearbox is a rather dynamic car. The acceleration is assertive and even, although the engine demonstrates the greatest return from 3500 rpm. At high speeds, a considerable overall height of the car begins to affect, which sometimes begins to blow off the strip. You have to steal, and carefully due to a small wheelbase. In general, riding on the freeway, especially fast, does not give much pleasure, demanding a small, but constant tension. Fortunately, the steering control at Peugeot 1007 is all right. The electric amplifier is turned on only when parking, and with speed or with active driving along winding paths, his participation in management remains practically not noticeable for the driver. In addition, he perfectly conveys the picture under the wheels and has a good reactive effort. After the highway, already on the winding tracks, this even allowed to frolic slightly.
 
I must admit that at first I was careful, because Peugeot 1007 is a car with a rather high center of gravity, and on the turns you should be unambiguously careful, especially when it is necessary to slow down. However, Peugeot machines have always been famous for excellent suspension settings, they did not let down now. In critical regimes, it seemed to me that the 1007th showed the first insufficient rotation, that is, it begins to slightly leave the nose out of turn, but then it was as if the kinematics of the rear suspension come to life, and the body smoothly begins to shift out the turn of the turn with all four wheels. Such settings can be safely called correct, since they compensate for the highest center of gravity, and as far as possible maintain the contact of all the tires with asphalt.
 
But driving on the verge of a foul is still not in the spirit of Peugeot 1007. There is no pleasure from turning on the verge, you have to strain too much and work extremely carefully to the gas pedal and the steering wheel. Although the limit of the capabilities of the car is quite high and, which is especially important, its behavior is quite predictable. Of course, the body rolls are present, but there are no feelings that the car is easy to dump to one side. In addition, in any situation, the ESP stabilization system is ready to help the driver, which is standard equipment of all versions 1007, regardless of the configuration and the type of power unit. It can be turned off by pressing the button on the central console, but I admit much sense in this, I don’t see the race, I repeat, not the element of Peugeot 1007. At the same time, small pits and bumps remain almost invisible to the driver and passengers, and only On the waves of asphalt, due to the same short wheelbase, the body begins to bounce nervously.
 
In the urban mode of driving, driving a machine is much more pleasant. The sound of a power unit is practically not heard, and a trip from one point to another becomes an engaging and comfortable occupation. There are no complaints to the brakes at all. It is easy to control the slowdown, ABS will make it up on slippery coating.
 
The dynamics of weaker versions, with gasoline 1.4 or with a diesel engine of the same volume, even if it is also not particularly impressive, but does not upset. So, the characteristics of the gasoline engine are more even, which provides a pickup in a wide range of revolutions. But diesel is more likely for completely calm drivers. It is combined exclusively with a mechanical 5-speed KP, the lever of which suffers from clearance, an old disease of mechanics from Peugeot. Hence the low selectivity - when moving from one step to another, you can easily miss and turn on the third instead of the fifth, for example. However, in the end, you get used to the algorithm of movements of the lever, and just stop operating quickly. The diesel engine itself, despite the presence of turbocharges, is not too burdened to maintain a good pace, you have to keep it in the range from 2000 to 4000 rpm. And this, in turn, somewhat violates the idyll of comfort, filling the salon is not the most pleasant sound of the power unit. However, for Russia, all this is not relevant, because the diesel Peugeot is still not officially sold with us.
 
Optimistic forecast
 
In the evening, during an official dinner, the PEUGEOT representative told me that the car will appear in the fall, and the company plans to sell about a thousand cars. A very optimistic plan, it should be noted. Model 1007 is really very interesting and unusual, designed, first of all, for residents of large cities, in which, one might say, the Russian automobile market is concentrated. But much, if not all, will depend on the price.
 
Recall that last year the company managed to sell 8113 cars, and model 307, which accounted for 46.1% of all sales, was in greatest demand. In addition, the demand for compact city cars in Russia is stable, but still not high. Our people are not ready to buy compact cars for the same money for which you can purchase a large sedan, albeit not a prestigious brand. But with the price for our market, it is still not clear. It is only known that in France, the starting price of Peugeot 1007 begins with a mark of 13,550 euros for a version with a 1.4 -liter gasoline engine, and the most expensive modification with a power unit 1.6 costs already 16,850 euros. If the same price range is in Russia, then the company will have to spend a lot of effort to fulfill the optimistic plan. Unless metrosexuals will help out
 
Brief technical characteristics of Peugeot 1007
Engine volume, cubic meter. See 1360 1587 1398 (turbodiesel)
The number of valves per cylinder 2 4 2
Power, l. With. at about./min. 74/5400 147/4000 70/4000
Max. Torque, Nm/at about. min. 118/3300 147/4000 160/2000
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p. 15.6 (17.8) (12.6) 16.7
Maximum speed, km/h 165 190 160
The average fuel consumption l./100 km. 6.4 (6.2) (6.6) 4.4
Car mass, kg 1140 (1145) 1216 1168
The volume of the fuel tank, l. 40
Dimensions, mm. 3731x1826x1620
In brackets, data for versions with a semi -automatic KP 2 Tronic are given
 
Text: Andrey Osipov, Valencia Moscow
 
 

Source: Newspaper "Automobile Izvestia" [No. 9 (77), 2005]