Peugeot billed this new release of the popular 207 range as being the car with room for a view!
Sounds interesting but is there any truth in this? For the un-initiated, the Peugeot 207 is categorised in what they call the "Super Mini" bracket of cars and the company unveiled this estate version of the car at this years Geneva Motor show and will be making the car available on the street by early 2008.
The new 207 SW Outdoor actually stands 20mm higher off the ground than the standard 207 SW and remains a front wheel drive as opposed to 4WD but probably won't cost much more than the basic hatchback, and it is reckoned that prices should start round about the ?11,500 ($23,000) mark.
When you think of it this is probably about ?700 ($1400) more than the conventional supermini and actually represents I think quite good value for money. As has been mentioned the supermini is a fast growing class of car where the end user actually gets the performance and economy of the small compact Mini type of car with the value and additional extras of the traditional family saloon and priced somewhere in between.
So let's take a look at the 207 SW Outdoor in brief detail.
Well first of all, the engine is a 1.6L 4cylinder. This provides 110 bhp and has a top speed estimated in the region of 121 miles an hour. The transmission system is a five speed manual with front wheel drive.
Standard equipment that comes with the car consists of driver and passenger air bags, air-conditioning, front electric windows and a versatile interior with a split folding rear seat that is controlled by a one touch lever.
The SW outdoor has a practical design and continues the sculpted theme and design of the mainstream 207. The rear end of the car is actually cleaner and much less complicated than the normal hatchbacks and some of the details such as triangular rear windows and gills around taillights make the back of the car almost as good to look at as the front.
The wheelbase of the SW Outdoor is virtually identical to that of the conventional five door version of the kill but the engineers have been working away like mad to give the car much more capacity in the boot. Not only that but through a fairly novel control system the back seat has been a tactic so that it splits and is controlled via a one touch lever system.
This loss fact alone actually is a godsend if you have to transport medium sized items around from home to any number of locations. Let's be honest who doesn't nowadays and for any musicians who wish to get one of these cars you can be satisfied with the fact that you can get a good-sized drum kit and all the trappings quite comfortably stored within the car.
The performance of the car on the road as has been mentioned is quite responsive but the ride quality of the caw is slightly affected by the longer springs and dampers which raised the car by 20mm.
Peugeot promised drivers that this car would be slightly better looking than the conventional hatchback with more importantly a much more spacious boot and a better and more comfortably developed interior.
They appear to have delivered on everything they have promised.
