Peugeot 407 Coupe 2005 Review

What we liked
>> Strikingly elegant styling
>> Super-smooth diesel V6
>> Low noise levels, extreme comfort

Not so much
>> Lacks head room in the back seat
>> Handles like a sedan, not a sports car
>> No sat-nav for Australia just yet

OVERVIEW
When Peugeot released the Pininfarina-designed 406 coupe back in 1996, it reckoned it would sell about 60,000 examples world-wide. It was a very good-looking car thanks to stunning proportions with Ferrari overtones, even if the driving experience wasn't too far removed from that of the 406 sedan. Still, you can bet Peugeot was pretty happy with the final result of 107,000 global sales.

Happy enough to come up with a successor you see here as the 407 Coupe, the two-door version of the sedan launched just over a year ago. The emphasis is obviously on style, so to that end the Coupe is longer, wider and lower than the sedan, with a whole new set of body panels. Despite mimicking many of the four-door's styling cues -- including those huge, swept-back headlights and gaping grille -- the only external components actually shared are the wing mirrors.

There are also quite a few worthwhile structural and mechanical changes, including revised suspension settings, and the first appearance in the 407 (and Australia) of the twin-turbo, 2.7lt HDi V6 diesel engine. Given the 2.0lt diesel is already the best selling 407 sedan variant in Oz, the new engine is an important one for Peugeot.

The 407 coupe arrives in Australia in April or maybe May, just after the Melbourne motor show. The cheapest, V6 six-speed manual version is expected to cost around $65,000, the six-speed auto about $68,500, while the auto-only V6 diesel will be about a $72,500 proposition.

FEATURES
Cliched though it sounds, the 407 sedan seems to have styling that's either loved or loathed, especially the front-on view of that plankton-sucking grille. The good news is if you really like the four-door, the Coupe should push all the right buttons. The nose seems even longer and it is as both front and rear overhangs have grown, but the whole car is flatter: wider by 57mm, lengthier by a whopping 139mm and lower too.

The result is quite a stunning-looking car that has to be seen on the road to be fully appreciated. Pininfarina may have lost in a bidding war with internal Peugeot designers to do the shape, but there's still a hint of Italian supercar about the Coupe's body. One of the few elements to ring false are the vertical “gills” that seem all too obviously to break up the length of the front bumper.

There is absolutely no visual difference between petrol and diesel variants, right down to the twin exhaust tips exiting the rear bumper, and no identifying badges. All Australian-bound Coupes will come with 18-inch alloys (and a full-sized spare). Standard equipment will include front and rear parking assist, seven airbags, directional headlights and tyre pressure sensors, as well as leather interior and the usual cruise control, power windows and ESP.

COMFORT
The 407 Coupe gets new front seats that are set lower in the vehicle and back a bit compared with the four-door. They also have Monaro-style power assistance meaning that after yanking a lever and pulling forward, motors take over the rest of the effort.

So access to the rear is an easy affair, and once a passenger arrives, they'll find a little more leg room than the old 406 Coupe. Head room is limited however, with anyone around 1.8 metres in height likely to have their cranium scraping the sloping rear window. It's a bit of a disappointment in a car that, after all, is bigger than the more practical four-door on which it is based.

Still, the driver who paid for the Coupe should be pretty pleased with the view forward, which is all very similar to the usual 407. The centre console is largely the same, even if the new driving position places the driver still further away from that long and distant bonnet. Funnily enough, that doesn't make he seatbelts any easier to reach given the doors are very long, and the Coupe's B-pillars set well back.

The seats themselves are very comfortable and supportive, and the leather trim sumptuous. It is complemented by an (optional) trim package that adds leather to the dashboard - it looks a lot more fabulous than it sounds - and a sunroof will also be optional, even if Peugeot still seems unlikely to be able to offer satellite navigation in any form.

SAFETY
The 407 Coupe has 1080mm of front overhang (that's 55mm more than the sedan) but in safety terms, it's all been put to good use. Energy paths channel crash forces into upper and lower levels, and space behind the front bumper is claimed to be pedestrian friendly.

There are seven airbags: dual front (including a twin-stage airbag for driver and passenger), side airbags for chest protection, curtain airbags protecting occupants' heads and even a 20lt cushion for the driver's knees. In terms of active safety there's electronic stability control and the latest aids to heavy braking including anti-lock and brake-assist functions.

MECHANICAL
Supercar looks clothe a fairly conventional transverse engine, front-wheel-drive platform, with the less expensive engine choice being the familiar 155kW 3.0lt petrol V6. There's also a 2.2lt four available in Europe, but we won't be getting that one.

Then there's the 2.7lt HDi diesel. The engine was co-developed with Ford, and already appears in the Jaguar S-Type and XJ, along with the Land Rover Discovery in single-turbo guise. With all the latest common-rial technology, and environmentally friendly particle filters, it has impressive outputs of 150kW of power at 4000rpm, and 440Nm at 1900rpm.

That latter figure not only outshines the petrol V6 by a full 150Nm, but comes far lower in the rev range. Peugeot couldn't find a manual transaxle able to cope with the diesel's grunt, so a six-speed auto is the only transmission choice. The auto is also available in the petrol V6 variant, and comes with a Tiptronic-style semi manual shift mode, but no steering-wheel mounted shift buttons.

COMPETITORS
There aren't too many two-doors for the same money as the 407 Coupe looks likely to summon, but that might be a function of Peugeot's keen pricing as much as anything. BMW's 325Ci coupe is the most likely contender at $74,700 for the auto - its engine might be a little smaller and the whole car is due for replacement soon, but it's still a good thing - or the Mercedes C-Class ports Coupe is another alternative for those who like European liftbacks.

Then there's the Holden Monaro, which probably has more in common with the 407 than you'd imagine at first. It's bigger than the compact Germans for instance, is a full four seater and has lazy, large engined performance. Rear-drive and thumping V8 are, of course, a slightly different proposition to the 407's smaller V6 and economical diesel.

ON THE ROAD
The first misconception to knock on the head is that the 407 Coupe is any sort of sports or muscle car, because it it's not. The swiftest version, the V6 petrol manual, has a claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time of 8.4 seconds, which is moderately good though hardly startling.

With the weight of the engine hanging mostly over the front wheels the Coupe also feels nose-heavy in tighter corners, the steering is light and somewhat numb - no doubt to mask the effect of the diesel's torque delivery through the front wheels - and you're unlikely to ever see one near a race track.

But the good news is that any lack of boy racer appeal doesn't detract from the 407 Coupe's other qualities, which include abundant refinement, low noise levels and plenty of comfort to enjoy the real pleasures of grand touring. This is an extremely quiet car with very little wind noise and, at least on the smooth road surfaces of southern Spain where CarPoint previewed the Coupe, not much in the way of tyre roar.

The real revelation was the appeal of the new 2.7lt V6 diesel, which is simply a gem of an engine. More quiet than most petrol units, smooth into the bargain and blessed with abundant levels of bottom-end pulling power, it really makes the more peaky 3.0lt V6 look a little redundant.

Despite being about 90kg heavier than the automatic V6 petrol, the HDi is only one tenth of a second slower to 100km/h and beats it hands down in everyday drivability. The petrol has a broader range of available revs, but otherwise seems the less desirable option.

The new six-speed auto is also well-versed in picking the right ratios, and the ride is much improved over the fidgety 407 sedan. The V6 HDi Coupe, with heavier springing in the front to make up for the engine's extra weight, feels comparatively well damped, has a suppleness missing in the petrol V6, and seems a natural choice for long distance touring. A first date on Australian roads will, however, confirm or deny those first impressions on foreign roads.

What is apparent though is that the new 407 Coupe is s striking design and should be competitively priced to do much better than the 200 annual sales predicted by Peugeot. More importantly, the diesel V6 introduces a new choice to Australian buyers and one that doesn't just represent the economical option, but one that's refined and powerfully effective as well.