Much of the criticism of Peugeot’s 207 has centred around its pace, or rather, its lack of pace.
The 207 is a much bigger car than the 206, yet the engines (until now) have not been made any more powerful to cope with the extra bulk.
The 207 GT changes all that. In comes the turbo-charged 1.6-litre engine used in the Mini Cooper S, but instead of the Mini’s 175PS output the Peugeot’s produces just 150PS. Yet this is not a problem because the 207 feels quicker than its claimed 0-62mph time of 8.7secs, thanks mainly to power and torque being available from low in the rev-range. This leads to a touch of wheel-spin if you’re overly heavy with the accelerator in damp or slippery conditions, but in the main it just makes for an easy to drive, fun, hatchback.
Peugeot hasn’t been tempted to go for a super hard ride to make the car feel sportier either. The comfort levels are excellent and the suspension does an great job of making the driver feel comfortable and secure on the road – even the more bumpy ones.
Match this quality with a smooth and easy gear-change (something the 206 GTI lacked) and a well-spaced pedal arrangement (also missed by the car’s predecessor) and you have a superb hot-hatch.
Except that really with only 150PS, these days, that’s not enough to be classed as ‘hot’. For the hot version you’ll have to wait a few more months when Peugeot introduces its new 207 GTI using the Mini’s 175PS 1.6-litre engine.
It’s hard to see the GTI bettering the all-round ability of the GT, but it will no doubt be quicker and solve the one issue with the GT – that the anti-skid control can’t be turned off above 30mph and this can limit your fun in some driving conditions.
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