Peugeot 207 Review

The entry level Peugeot in Australia, the Peugeot 207 hatch, is a model that has a very interesting and rich history.  Its history begins when Peugeot released the Peugeot 205 in 1983 and continued production in some form till 1998. Such was the appeal of this motor car. It was ground breaking and managed to appeal to the masses in many parts of the world. The Peugeot 206 made an appearance and ran for less than 10 years before the current Peugeot 207 hatch managed to again stand out from the crowd. In fact, the Peugeot 207 has been Europe’s best selling car for the past 2 years.

As fuel efficient hatches became more popular in other parts of the world due to lower purchase price and more economical, the Peugeot 207 hatch represents a breath of fresh air in a sea of relatively bland point A to B hatchbacks.

Its styling is love hate, with its swooping headlights and big wide mouth grill. One thing is for sure, it causes discussions and debate which not many competitors can do. The angle that is most easy on the eye is the rear three quarter view, where it is typically European and very stylish. Now with LED tail lamps, it ups the prestige.
Other nice touches are door protection mouldings and extra chrome detailing. All models now have foglights.

Interior

The interior, although not as polarising, is very stylish with quality much improved compared to its predecessor, the Peugeot 206 hatch. Soft touch plastics for the upper dash, remote operated window closing via the ignition key as well as one-touch indicator to make lane changing easier. Overall the ambience is more upmarket and better finished than before. One thing that will surprise most is the amount of interior room the Peugeot 207 hatch has. Rear legroom is generous for the average person and the seats are very supportive. Boot space is adequate, with the added benefit of 60/40 split-fold seats. Under the carpet in the boot there is a full size spare wheel. This is becoming less common, but Peugeot still offer this in the 207.

Fuel Efficient Car

As always, Peugeot has fuel efficiency as one of their top priorities when developing any new Peugeot car or commercial car. In this case, the Peugeot 207 hatch is economical to run with the 1.4-litre petrol engine in the Peugeot 207 XR and the 1.6-litre engine in the Peugeot 207 XT. Whether it is a manual or automatic, Peugeot 207 fuel consumption is very frugal. The automotive petrol 1.6-litre Peugeot 207 XT (the volume seller) can average around 5.6l/100km on a highway drive. This of course depends on the driving style of each person. In fact all MY11 Peugeot 207 cars are Euro V compliant. Years ahead of when it will be law.

Safety

Peugeot cars in general are built to meet the strictest of safety standards throughout the range. The Euro ANCAP rating for the Peugeot 207 is 5 stars. This is prevalent in the Peugeot 207 hatch in the way each door shuts with a solid thud. The B-Pillar area (where the front and back doors meet) is strengthened to allow for the glass/ panoramic roof that some Peugeot 207 models have. It gives owners a piece of mind that a small car can have the safety of a larger car.

This Peugeot deserves to be on the shopping list for all car buyers looking for a small fuel efficient car. Servicing costs and parts supply are no longer an issue with the Peugeot 207 meaning it is a great alternative to people looking for a stylish hatch.