Peugeot 807 HDi 170 Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Peugeot 807 2.2 HDi 170
Prices: £26,895 - on the road
Insurance Group: 13
Emissions: 191g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 10.6s / Max Speed 127mph [est]
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 37mpg [est]
Safety: Six airbags, ABS with EBD and EBA, ESP
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, mm 4727/1818/1752

POWER TO THE PEOPLE CARRIER

Our Rating: 6.7 / 10

Peugeot’s big MPV is at its best with a suitably deep-chested diesel engine. Andy Enright reports

Buying an MPV people carrier isn’t as straightforward as it might first appear. After making sure that the vehicle can house your family and their gear in a safe and practical manner, any number of people then look for a dotted line to sign on without giving too much thought to the oily bits. Big error. Get the engine choice wrong and as soon as you load the vehicle up it’ll have less acceleration than a continental plate. That’s why if you’re shopping for a Peugeot 807, check the 2.2-litre HDi170 diesel engine first.

When the 807 was first introduced, it was a radically different car to its predecessor, the frumpy 806, as were the two other cars developed alongside it, Citroen’s C8 and the Fiat Ulysse. Since then however, the French company has gone the route of stealthy change, culminating in the most recent package of updates which have come without significant change to pricing.

An underpowered MPV might come with an attractive upfront price but you’ll pay every day with heart-in-mouth moments pulling out onto roundabouts and mile upon mile stuck behind caravans because you don’t have the grunt to overtake them. Factor in the added running costs of an engine that you’re having to thrash to get any meaningful go from and it becomes clear that sending a little more to begin with was the wise course of action. The 807 HDi 170, as its name suggests, packs a 170bhp punch under the bonnet. When teamed with the manual gearbox, this means torque of 370Nm or 407Nm with the heavy duty six-speed ‘Porsche Tiptronic System’ automatic ‘box. Compare that with 203Nm of muscle served up by the 2.0-litre petrol model. No prizes for guessing which I’d opt for.

Like most Peugeots, the 807 is good to drive, with very crisp handling for such a sizeable bus. Find a back road and it’s more enjoyable to hustle than some allegedly sporty coupes I’ve driven recently. There’s masses of urge in the midrange although the sprint to 60mph figure of 10.6 seconds gives little indication as to how punchy this car feels. The gearchange isn’t the last word in sweet shifting slickness, but the automatic features a self-adaptive mode which adapts to the driver’s style or alternatively offers sequential control.

Sheer practicality is a major selling point of the 807. 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, with 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. As avant garde as it is, the 807 doesn’t offer up a solution to the eternal MPV gripe that with all the seats in place there isn’t space for luggage. Perhaps Peugeot should offer subsidised roof boxes with every purchase.

There’s not a whole lot of choice in terms of available trim levels as the HDi170 engine is only available in range-topping Executive guise. As you might expect, this comes with a serious welter of standard kit. This includes the basics like a CD stereo, digital air conditioning, a dash-mounted multifunction display screen and remote central locking, but the real party pieces are the electrically operated sliding side doors which can be triggered via the key fob. Electrically operated front seat