Peugeot 807 RANGE
Peugeots Latest MPV Looks To Have Leaped Straight To The Front Of The Pack. By Andy Enright
Product development is an odd business. Some manufacturers go about it in a very stealthy manner, continually and quietly changing parts of a model until the car you look at in the showrooms today shares barely a common part with the ostensibly similar model of a few years back. Others carmakers prefer to sweep the decks, banishing a festering old model to history with a shiny successor.
Peugeot have taken the latter tack with the 807.
Its predecessor the Peugeot 806 was a likeable enough large MPV People Carrier, if a little old fashioned. Drive an 806 and you were reminded that the cutting edge had disappeared so far over the horizon that you had to frequently check the rear view mirror lest it came around and shunted you in the rear. Largely abandoned in an inconspicuous corner of Peugeots product range, the 806 was left way behind by more modern rivals like the
Ford Galaxy and the
Toyota Previa. If revenge is a dish best served cold, then Peugeot is probably getting an ice cream headache at the moment.
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The 807 is a model which manages to turn the establishment on its head, making what we thought were the class best look a little old hat. The adventurous styling is a major plus in a sea of family hutches, the front carrying its makers family look a little more successfully than that worn by its
Citroen C8 sibling (which along with Fiats Ulysse, shares the same basic design). The flanks are a little more generic, but the neatly styled rear is as good as anything
Renault could come up with. Moreover, the interior is something to behold, with a dashboard that is quite unlike anything yet seen.
Four engines are available; two petrol units and a pair of diesels. The petrol engines are both modern 16v items, the 2.0-litre version generating 138bhp and the 2.2-litre powerplant managing a healthy 160bhp.
The two diesels will also be familiar to seasoned
Peugeot watchers, having seen service in the 607 and 406 ranges. The 2.0HDi 16v is good for 110bhp with its more powerful 2.2-litre sibling generating 136bhp.
Like all Peugeots, the 807 is good to drive, with all the engines having a claim on your attention. The gearchange isnt the last word in sweet shifting slickness, but an automatic is available if this feature grates and the HDi models now come with a 6-speed manual box as standard.
"The 807 is stuffed to its very gunwales with safety equipment."
Prices start at £18,313 for the 2.0-litre LX petrol version, rising to £25,060 for the 2.2HDi Executive SE. Four trim levels are available, starting with LX, rising through GLX, Executive and Executive SE.
Even the entry-level model gets a CD stereo, digital air conditioning, a dash-mounted multifunction display screen and remote central locking, but the real party piece comes when you step up to the GLX model. This features electrically operated sliding side doors which can be triggered via the key fob. If only they were a little quicker or the key fob had more range, the effect would be better but its still pretty slick stuff. They also remove the embarrassment of children opening rear doors into parked cars in public car parks.
The 807 is stuffed to its very gunwales with safety equipment which has resulted in a creditable five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating. As well as the customary twin front airbags, the 807 gets side bags and curtain airbags for all three rows of seats, making it the first car in the world to feature this facility as standard. Anti lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist are fitted on every model, whilst ESP stability control and ASR traction control systems are fitted to all 2.2-litre models from GLX up.
Recognising that driver distraction by children is a contributory factor in a growing proportion of accidents, Peugeot have fitted an ingenious retractable "child check" mirror. This allows the driver to keep a safe eye on the kids in the back or alternatively see what colour the little horrors would like the upholstery to be this week. Practicality is also a major plus. All three rows of seats are mounted on runners, which means that adjusting for optimal legroom is simplicity itself.
There are the usual zillion and one different combinations as to how you can arrange the seats and the front seats even capable of swivelling to create what Peugeot call "a sitting room environment." Somewhat comically, they then append this with "when parked." The 807 excels at shoulder room but others offer more total legroom. As with any MPV, the rear seats are removable, but they are very heavy and even a minor error in aligning the feet with the runners to re-engage them will cause the seats to jam, requiring a hefty shoulder to free them again. The range-topping Executive SE comes with six individual captains chairs rather than the usual two-three-two seating set up. As avant garde as it is, the 807 doesnt offer up a solution to the eternal MPV gripe that with all the seats in place there isnt space for luggage.
Perhaps Peugeot should offer subsidised roof boxes with every purchase. Four-zone air conditioning helps combat the effect of no less than three sunroofs. Multiplex wiring allows for such electronic niceties as light sensitive headlamps, automatic windscreen wipers and speed indexing of the stereo volume, as well as rear parking sensors, guide-me-home headlights and remote control operation of the sunroofs, windows, door mirrors and the sliding doors. The Peugeot 807 looks to have consigned memories of its underwhelming predecessor to history and offers an all-round blend of talents that are unsurpassed in the MPV sector.
Yes, you can buy a bigger MPV or a more powerful one, but nothing combines style, safety and innovation quite as convincingly as the 807. The days when the
Ford Galaxy/
Volkswagen Sharan/
SEAT Alhambra trio bossed this division have well and truly come to an end. In the 807 it would seem Peugeot have their number.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Peugeot 807 range
PRICES: £18,313-£25,060 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 10-13
CO2 EMISSIONS: 189-231g/km
PERFORMANCE: [2.2 HDi] 0-60mph 12.6s / Max Speed 113mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.2 HDi] (combined) 38.2mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Six airbags, ABS with EBD and EBA, ESP
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, mm 4727/1818/1752
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