PEUGEOT 407 test drive since 2004 sedan

We need such a peugeot

Models 407's debut took place in the city where the Russian football team will play
The journalistic test drive of Peugeot 407 took place in the Portuguese city of Faro, where our team holds two matches of the European football championship. Directly on the day of the presentation of a car for Russian journalists, the club Dmitry Alenichev Porto won the Champions League final against French Monaco. Symbolic coincidences. Fans are always expecting a beautiful game and result from players. Buyers also require aesthetic pleasure and confident victories over the distances from cars.
The debut of the Peugeot 407 sedan among the most anticipated premieres of 2004. The car will replace on the conveyor one of the most successful Peugeot 406 cars, which has been produced since 1995.
Peugeot 407 is built on the so -called average PSA concern platform (Citroen C5 is also based on it). In accordance with modern automotive fashion trends, the sedan has grown noticeably. The newcomer has the hardest body among all PEUGEOT serial machines ever produced!
The design of the machine is solved in the style of the recent concept-frame of Peugeot Elixir. The front part of the car looks very aggressive: a giant, like a jaw of a whale, a false cutter of the radiator gives the 407th appearance of a killer of kilometers. Air intakes of such sizes are found only on sports cars like Porsche. No less impressive headlights that flow almost to the middle of the front wings. Huge (in the description of the appearance of the 407th cannot be dispensed with excellent degrees) The front overhang gives the car a dynamic appearance: even in the parking lot it seems that Peugeot is moving. At the same time, a big ledge is in doubt regarding the geometric cross -country ability of the car: eh, no matter how not to catch on the nose (not all the roads in Russia are as smooth as in France or Portugal).
If you inspect the 407th in a circle, then when the front is moved to the posterior degree of expressive design, it is significantly reduced. In profile, the car looks much calmer than Anfas. The doorways seemed to be taken from the PEUGEOT 307 hatchback: a dull triangular window appeared in the front door (a forced measure of huge glass does not hide in the bowels of the door), and the shape of the rear door is exactly like a hatchback. The car has a slender and fit stern. If it were not for the dissonance with a spectacular person, then there would have no complaints at all.
A well -developed aerodynamics are felt in the appearance of the car: the frontal resistance coefficient (CC) is 0.29 versus 0.32 by the Peugeot 406. When moving, aerodynamic noises do not interfere at all. You can talk with passengers without raising their voice, even at speeds of 200 km/h.
The interior is very solid, but without any surprises. Panel of devices with five dials as on Peugeot 607. In terms of selection, quality of materials and the level of equipping electronic lotions, it is felt that the designers sought to close as much as possible to representatives of the premium class: the standard or additional equipment includes ESP, ABS, parking sensors, and the tire pressure control system , the rain sensor, cruise control, the navigation system at the same time, the French managed to maintain proprietary warmth in the design of the salon: let it have less Hi-Tech, but more comfort.
Lion's grip
Portugal is not rich. This is felt both in the appearance of houses, and in terms of development density, and in quality of the fleet. Nevertheless, there are great roads. Autobas are straight, wide, with an ideal coating. The flow of cars is minimal, the trucks are slightly another sign of a sluggish tone of the national economy. On free roads, it was possible to fully evaluate the speed characteristics of the Peugeot 407.
It is felt that this car is perfect for movement on autarts. He holds the road perfectly at high speeds, so that there is no excess voltage during control. The steering wheel is informative, but moderately sharp. The suspension is quite soft, this is also called American, but unlike overseas machines in the 407th there is no risk of picking up marine illness. This car is more suitable for straightforward movement. Sharp restructures at high speeds will not deliver.
Having slipped through the desired congress, my colleague and I, returning to the route, made a hook of fifty kilometers along the Portuguese roads of regional significance. On these winding tracks with by no means ideal asphalt, it was possible to evaluate the behavior of the 407th in corners. The impressions remained two. At high speeds, in gentle turns that can be held at the limit of the third gear, when under the wheels even asphalt, Peugeot clings to the road dead. In slow turns that you have to attack in second gear, the car’s steering wheel is empty, you do not feel one with a car. The fault of this, it seems to me, is the characteristics of the steering electric amplifier. At high speeds, it increases the reactive force on the steering wheel (the helm becomes heavier and more acute), while at low speeds the electric power capture automatically facilitates the steering wheel. Hence the feeling of emptiness.
Peugeot 407 suspension design is no less extravagant than the design of the front of this car. A new multi -stroke with a steaming effect is installed behind. Its feature of the shock absorbers and springs lying almost in the horizontal plane (the first are located inside the second). The architecture of the front suspension is interesting: the upper and lower levers of the racks are spaced from each other in a horizontal plane at a distance of almost half a meter, while the shock absorber and the spring literally wraps the power frame to which the wheel hub is attached.
Let's hope that this design of the mechanics of the PEUGEOT service stations will be admired exclusively in pictures and as less as possible engage in its repair.
PEUGEOT 407 buyers will be able to choose one of four gasoline engines.
The basic versions will be equipped with a 1.8-liter 16-valve-capacity of 117 hp. and 5-speed mechanical gearbox. The next modification is a 2-liter engine developing 136 hp. Instead of a mechanical checkpoint, you can order a 4-speed adaptive machine with the Tiptronic system. For more demanding buyers, there is a 2.2-liter engine with a capacity of 160 hp. with 6-speed mechanics or automatic. The top of the model range is 3-liter V6 with the VVT \u200b\u200bvalves control sisteman. He develops 211 hp. And it is offered only with the latest 6-speed Tiptronic automatic machine.
Diesels will be offered for a start. This is a 1.6-liter engine with a capacity of 110 hp. and 2-liter, developing 136 hp Both engines with turbocharges are equipped with the latest anti-and-off filters and meet Euro-4 standards. The first is offered with a 5-speed, second with 6-speed mechanics. Fuel consumption in the city cycle at the most economical diesel version of 7.7 l/100 km. Subsequently, Peugeot will replenish the gamut with a 2.7-liter V6 turbodiesel and several other engines developed with Ford. More powerful diesel engines can be ordered with machine guns.
I managed to test the 2.2-liter gasoline version of the car and a car with a 2-liter diesel engine. As often happens recently, the most favorable impression was left by Peugeot 407 with a diesel engine. It is practically not inferior to the gasoline engine in starting dynamics, but it has a much larger traction supply, which makes overtaking at speeds for 60 km/h light and more predictable. Not to mention phenomenal fuel economy.
Peugeot was the first of European manufacturers to equip a D-class car with nine pillows (an additional pillow protects the driver's knees). Active safety is provided by the standard ESP of the latest generation. It combines ABS with an emergency braking device, an anti -operating system, a system of distribution of brake forces and a SBC system that corrects the corners of the wheel rotation. With sharp braking, the alarm is automatically turned on.
Two modifications of Peugeot 407 sedan and station wagon are almost simultaneously displayed on the market. The cargo -passenger car looks even more integral than the sedan. A sloping roof, the reverse angle of inclination of the rear racks, large rear lights floating on the sidewalls make the appearance of the car more harmonious. In 2005, a compartment will appear the heir to one of the most beautiful models of our time 406 Coupe. Moreover, the compartment will not be produced by Pininfarina, but at the PEUGEOT's own capacities.
The development of a new family required investments in the amount of 1.12 billion euros (Peugeot 307 cost a company of 1.1 billion euros). PEUGEOT managers expect to sell 300,000 models 407 annually by 20% more than sales of its predecessor. Aesthetic pleasure designers of Peugeot have already delivered to the public, it remains to wait for the promised results.
Igor Komarov
 

Source: Wheel (company)