TAKING A DETOUR HAS ITS REWARDS
Down country roads French-style
In the battle of the prestige car market, the Peugeot 607 may not figure in
buyers' thinking, and that's a shame. If they can ditch their prejudices,
they's discover a car of realclass, writes Rod Easdown.
If the world was a fair place Peugeot's new 607 wouldn't face the uphill
battle it does to
attract buyers. This is a very good car, and also good value at $79,990, but
every person who winds up owning one will have, at some point during the
process,
rejected the notion of a BMW or a Mercedes-Benz.
In Australia at least, every buyer in this territory considers those two;
many are sufficiently blinkered not to adventure beyond them. It's a pity -
there are.some very good cars wearing less imposing badges and this one
offers a powerful inducement to make the crossing of the Rhine.
Start with space. The car is 4.9 metres long and the room goes into a cabin
that feels more generous than those offered by the Germans at this money.
It's airy and wide enough to keep your relationship with the front passenger
strictly professional.
The rear is roomy and comfortable and the boot's OK. Delightfully, you can
open this by pressing in the middle of the "O" in the 607 badge on the lip.
Leather is standard, as are power seats with a couple of memories and an
air-conditioned glovebox.
Automatic climate control operates independently on both sides, or you can
have one side set manually and the other on auto. The equipment level
includes automatic wipers and headlights, a warning if a tyre has deflated,
mirrors that dip on reverse to show the kerb and a trip computer that I
found a bit fussy.
The Clarion cassette head.unit and six-CD stacker are strictly working
class but they're saved by JBL amplification and speakers to yield a sound
that's quite detailed and lush.
The 607 is surprisingly agile for a big thing. Even pushed hard into sharp
corners it remains nonchalantly neutral and ever compliant - it's actually
pretty hard to upset. This makes it quick point-to-point and it cruises with
wonderful aplomb and very low noise.
The steering is adequately communicative, but the wheel action is so light
that it's easy to reef on too much lock in the suburbs. On the highway,
where you have a better feeling for things, this doesn't happen.
The 607's four-speed automatic gearbox is fine although I intensely dislike
Peugeot's ilpproach to the "sport" setting. It hangs on to lower gears at
all costs and resolutely refuses to change up, no matter how carefully and
for how long you feather the gas.
Ignore it and use the: tiptronic-style manual instead for a far more
pleasing result. It's fast and easy, which means you use it a lot and enjoy
yourself in so doing.
It's important to go down a gear or two for tighter turns so you'll get the
best power down for exit - when left in to its own devices, the auto takes
just a tad too long to get down and the result can seem a bit dramatic.
The sport setting for the shocks is more successful. It gives you a genuine
choice between a very high quality ride and hunkered down sporty driving,
with more communication through corners.
There's a stability control and it kicked in on me a few times, mostly while
I was having fun in the dirt. This is a good system in that it tends to be
unobtrusive - you can hair around doing silly stuff and only occasionally
hear mother's voice telling you it's timc to come in for a nap.
This is a very quick car on an unsealed road and again remains hard to
upset.
But performance is something you have to work for because there isn't a mad
amount of powcr from the three-litre V6. The figures are 152 kW at 6,000 rpm
and 285 Newton metres of torque at 3,750 rpm, but it feels like a little
less. I guess there is 1,580 kg to haul around.
You need to be in the right gear at the right time if you want to keep
things cooking, and even then, you'll long for just a bit more.
You wouldn't be feeling this way, of course, if the car didn't invite frisky
driving.
And should you get a bit too silly, the brakes are a piece of work, with
tremendous bite and good feel. Hit them hard enough to kick in the ABS and
the hazard flashers trip, turning off again when you accelerate.
Around town, you'll certainly be conscious of the need for some generous
pedal to get off the line smartly. Otherwise the 607 is fine through the cut
and thrust and can be quite entertaining. And it's comfortably quiet at all
times.
But while this is a completely competent limo around the city, it's a
country car at heart. Peugeots have ever been thus.
I had a strange experience with this car. Every time I turned on the
ignition, the radio started pumping out Triple J even though, at ignition
off, it had been set to ABC Classic FM. I may have figured out what was
happening.
On reaching for the key to turn off (or maybe to turn on), I must have
nudged the lower right wand that controls the sound system's major
functions. Ergo the jays, which was the next station preset along. I'd
prefer to think, however, that the 607 has been possessed by the Triple J
poltergeist.
Down country roads French-style
In the battle of the prestige car market, the Peugeot 607 may not figure in
buyers' thinking, and that's a shame. If they can ditch their prejudices,
they's discover a car of realclass, writes Rod Easdown.
If the world was a fair place Peugeot's new 607 wouldn't face the uphill
battle it does to
attract buyers. This is a very good car, and also good value at $79,990, but
every person who winds up owning one will have, at some point during the
process,
rejected the notion of a BMW or a Mercedes-Benz.
In Australia at least, every buyer in this territory considers those two;
many are sufficiently blinkered not to adventure beyond them. It's a pity -
there are.some very good cars wearing less imposing badges and this one
offers a powerful inducement to make the crossing of the Rhine.
Start with space. The car is 4.9 metres long and the room goes into a cabin
that feels more generous than those offered by the Germans at this money.
It's airy and wide enough to keep your relationship with the front passenger
strictly professional.
The rear is roomy and comfortable and the boot's OK. Delightfully, you can
open this by pressing in the middle of the "O" in the 607 badge on the lip.
Leather is standard, as are power seats with a couple of memories and an
air-conditioned glovebox.
Automatic climate control operates independently on both sides, or you can
have one side set manually and the other on auto. The equipment level
includes automatic wipers and headlights, a warning if a tyre has deflated,
mirrors that dip on reverse to show the kerb and a trip computer that I
found a bit fussy.
The Clarion cassette head.unit and six-CD stacker are strictly working
class but they're saved by JBL amplification and speakers to yield a sound
that's quite detailed and lush.
The 607 is surprisingly agile for a big thing. Even pushed hard into sharp
corners it remains nonchalantly neutral and ever compliant - it's actually
pretty hard to upset. This makes it quick point-to-point and it cruises with
wonderful aplomb and very low noise.
The steering is adequately communicative, but the wheel action is so light
that it's easy to reef on too much lock in the suburbs. On the highway,
where you have a better feeling for things, this doesn't happen.
The 607's four-speed automatic gearbox is fine although I intensely dislike
Peugeot's ilpproach to the "sport" setting. It hangs on to lower gears at
all costs and resolutely refuses to change up, no matter how carefully and
for how long you feather the gas.
Ignore it and use the: tiptronic-style manual instead for a far more
pleasing result. It's fast and easy, which means you use it a lot and enjoy
yourself in so doing.
It's important to go down a gear or two for tighter turns so you'll get the
best power down for exit - when left in to its own devices, the auto takes
just a tad too long to get down and the result can seem a bit dramatic.
The sport setting for the shocks is more successful. It gives you a genuine
choice between a very high quality ride and hunkered down sporty driving,
with more communication through corners.
There's a stability control and it kicked in on me a few times, mostly while
I was having fun in the dirt. This is a good system in that it tends to be
unobtrusive - you can hair around doing silly stuff and only occasionally
hear mother's voice telling you it's timc to come in for a nap.
This is a very quick car on an unsealed road and again remains hard to
upset.
But performance is something you have to work for because there isn't a mad
amount of powcr from the three-litre V6. The figures are 152 kW at 6,000 rpm
and 285 Newton metres of torque at 3,750 rpm, but it feels like a little
less. I guess there is 1,580 kg to haul around.
You need to be in the right gear at the right time if you want to keep
things cooking, and even then, you'll long for just a bit more.
You wouldn't be feeling this way, of course, if the car didn't invite frisky
driving.
And should you get a bit too silly, the brakes are a piece of work, with
tremendous bite and good feel. Hit them hard enough to kick in the ABS and
the hazard flashers trip, turning off again when you accelerate.
Around town, you'll certainly be conscious of the need for some generous
pedal to get off the line smartly. Otherwise the 607 is fine through the cut
and thrust and can be quite entertaining. And it's comfortably quiet at all
times.
But while this is a completely competent limo around the city, it's a
country car at heart. Peugeots have ever been thus.
I had a strange experience with this car. Every time I turned on the
ignition, the radio started pumping out Triple J even though, at ignition
off, it had been set to ABC Classic FM. I may have figured out what was
happening.
On reaching for the key to turn off (or maybe to turn on), I must have
nudged the lower right wand that controls the sound system's major
functions. Ergo the jays, which was the next station preset along. I'd
prefer to think, however, that the 607 has been possessed by the Triple J
poltergeist.
Vastaukset 2
Vanhimmat
Etta terveisia vaan taalta australian lammosta. Taalla on paljon Peugeoteja. Niita myos arvostetaan enemman kuin siella pohjolassa.
Tunnetusti moni asia on imago kysymys eikä niillä ole mitään tekemistä auton todellisen hyvyyden kanssa. Joillain automerkeillä on ainoastaa jäljella entinen imago... Ottaisin 607 heti jos joku antaisi.