Roadtest: Peugeot 207GT The Peugeot 207 GT might not have the muscle of the upcoming GTi, but provides enough fun to raise a grin. Paddy Comynreports
Knowing that you have the second-best of something is usually pretty disheartening. You have the semi-detached house instead of the detached house, the low-fat milk instead of the full fat variety, Diet Coke instead of "the real thing". But like reaping the rewards of a trim waistline and a longer life, opting for the less than full-fat version can be rewarding in the long run.
Peugeot are past masters in the art of the hot-hatch with their 205 GTi gracing the walls of many teenagers and as well as gracing too many hedgerows throughout the mid-1980s. Its wicked blend of telepathic handling and pre-Euro NCAP flimsiness made it a truly intoxicating and all-too often scary ride. Its success and its links to the truly immense 205 T16 Group B Rally car made it a legend.
Following in the tyre-treads of such an iconic car was always going to be difficult, and the 206 GTi failed to spark the imagination of the fast Peugeot fans. So it seems Peugeot have some making up to do to the faithful.
The 207 GTi 175bhp is due to arrive in Ireland later this month and promises to be the high-caffeine, high-octane car that will once-again have our pulses racing. The 207 GT is already in Irish showrooms. With 150bhp, it is less "full-on" than the GTi version is likely to be, but with what will be a significantly smaller price tag this car might just deserve a little bit more attention.
In the past it was the most basic versions of the 207 that gave us the biggest thrills and thankfully it seems that Peugeot have not forgotten to leave some fun in their GT.
The GT is their warm, if not quite boiling, hatch. Visually, there is very little in the way of clues as to the 207 GT's identity. Firstly there are no GT badges but rather only 17" Hockenheim alloy wheels, a body kit with subtle spoilers and a panoramic sunroof help the GT model stand out.
With very little in the way of fuss as to this car's arrival into Ireland you would get the impression that we are supposed to get much more excited about the GTi which was to have a 30 per cent stiffer set-up and a likely €30,000 price tag, but after spending some time in this car I'm not sure that you should wait.
I will deal with the bad stuff first and as usual with this brand it is the gearbox. The gearbox and gearchange is imprecise and rubbery and this is plain annoying. Plus there is the steering, which is electric and gets heavier at speed and self-centres a little too artificially.
Ok, now that is out of the way. The other characteristics of this very likeable car must be applauded and the first of these worthy of praise is the limpet-like grip that it displays. Pulling away from a standing start there is no wheel spin and while, as I have already mentioned, the steering is a bit on the artificial side, the control offered by it is first class. Under the skin, the front suspension of the GT version has been made more rigid and for the rear suspension, the stiffness of the rear torsion beam has been increased by 12.5 per cent compared with the 1.6-litre HDi 110bhp version. These are welcome tweaks.
I haven't had this much to smile about in a car in a very long time. It's a really fun car to drive in the greatest traditions of Peugeot.
The traction control is not switchable and while this might annoy the true enthusiast or track-day hero, for the rest of us it will only intervene when things start to get really hairy. Unlike many cars of this type the GT doesn't feel overly stiff and isn't at all bone-shaking, and this makes it perfect for mixing between town and country driving.
As it is only a three-door, it is never really going to cut it as a family car but the room for driver and passenger is generous and your occasional rear-seat passengers won't grumble too much either.
Powering the 207 GT is a 1.6-litre engine that came about as a result of co-operation between PSA Peugeot Citroën and the BMW Group. This unit uses a twin-scroll turbocharger.
As the name "Twin-Scroll" suggests, the exhaust ports in the cylinder head are grouped in pairs in the exhaust manifold and the turbocharger. This combines the exhaust gases exiting from cylinders 1 and 4 and from cylinders 2 and 3.
These two columns of exhaust gases arrive in "scrolls" whose combined flow drives the turbo charger's "turbine" to provide the maximum possible boost. The result of all this is a very responsive engine that feels very lively from as little as 1,000 rpm, reducing the response time or turbo lag which is often a criticism of turbocharged cars.
This is a very smooth engine that has a great spread of torque. The resulting performance is thus rather good. 0-100km/h takes just 8.7 seconds and the top speed is 210 km/h.
The GT doesn't just get some fancy wheels and a gutsy engine as part of the package.
At a modest enough price, this car is pretty generously equipped. There is an electric panoramic sunroof, automatic air conditioning and dual climate control, remote central locking with an alarm, a CD player, low tyre pressure sensor, rear parking aid, static directional headlights and a leather steering wheel.
There is a two-tier system developing in the hot-hatch world and the 207 GT would definitely occupy the warm lower tier, with the new wave of 200-ish bhp cars such as the upcoming Opel Corsa OPC and Renault Cliosport occupying the top tier.
With most of these costing up to €30,000 and offering the sort of hardcore performance that is only really coveted by a select few, we will most likely see an increase in the popularity of the warm hatch, which in truth would themselves have been considered scorching just a few years ago.
Cars like the Mini Cooper, VW Polo GTi and Suzuki Swift Sport come to mind as natural rivals to the 207 GT. We have driven all of these but for this writer anyway, the Peugeot wins that particular lower league championship.
The fact is that over the course of my time with the car I had more perfectly legal fun in this car than I have had in cars with twice the power.
THE 207 GT IS ONE of the best handling cars that Peugeot has built since its heyday and because it manages to do this in quite a subtle yet stylish way, I fail to see why one would need to dish out more money for the stiffer and slightly more powerful GTi. I am going to need much convincing about that later this month.
In the meantime, if you have €25,000 to spend on a car, then you won't go too far wrong with the GT.
If you want to impress the boys down the local supermarket car park on a Saturday night then you might want to wait for the GTi or perhaps get the steroid-fuelled Corsa OPC instead.
However, if you want a car that looks discreet, is very well equipped and not just in terms of gadgets and gizmos but in safety equipment too, and that will have you beaming from ear to ear and searching out the long and winding way home then buy this car.
FACTFILE
Peugeot 207GT 1.6 CC: 1,598 0-100km/h: 8.7 seconds Max Speed: 210km/h Bhp: 150 Consumption: 7.0 l/100km (40.3mpg) Price: €24,515
ENGINE:
1,598cc four-cylinder turbocharged engine putting out 150bhp @ 4,000rpm and 240Nm of torque @1,400rpm. Five speed manual transmission.
SPECIFICATION:
Standard features on GT version include: ABD with EBD and brake assist; ESP; six airbags; radio/CD; air con with dual climate; remote control central locking and alarm; rear parking aid, electric panoramic sunroof; leather steering wheel; 17" Hockenheim alloy wheels; low tyre pressure sensor.
L/100KM (MPG)
URBAN: 9.3 (30.3)
EXTRA-URBAN: 5.6 (50.4)
COMBINED: 7.0 (40.3)
CO2 EMISSIONS: 166g/km
ANNUAL ROAD TAX: €391
PRICE: €24,515