Peugeot 4007? Hmm. What’s new that we can tell you about that? It’s still a renosed, rebadged Mitsubishi Outlander, it still has a Citroën C-Crosser sibling, and it’s still pretty decent if rather pricey and lightweight. Only now you can mix Mitsubishi’s dual-clutch six-speed transmission with PSA’s 2.2-litre HDi turbodiesel. A fine pairing? Let’s find out.
Mitsubishi? Dual-clutch? Must be rally-bred then
Funnily enough, if you buy the Outlander you can only pair this transmission with a ropey petrol 2.4 four-banger. But the Outlander is Lancer-based, and this six-speeder is Evo-related, which makes it quick to shift and so efficient in use you’ll barely notice it.
Problem here is that the manual 4007 HDi, while hardly quick, at least feels decently brisk, able to measure out its 285lb ft of torque against six well-spaced ratios. With the self-shifter, the 4007’s engine comes across as busy and a bit lacking. So it may be rally-bred but it just isn’t going to make you feel like Sebastien Loeb.
It must have some advantages, surely
Well, it means you can get along quite lazily. Pootle and the engine burbles gently in the background while DCS snaps through the ratios and lands you in top. Gun it and it will kickdown smartly at the expense of silence, and there’s a Sport button that means it will hold on to ratios for longer – yet there’s little performance advantage to be gained from caning it. Paddleshift grants you greater control over engine braking and pulling out of corners on twistier roads, but the manual tranny is hardly a pain to use.
So maybe it’s a bit greener and more economical in use? If only. The official figures grant an advantage of 1.5sec to 62mph, 1mph at the top end, 7g/km and 1.7mpg in favour of the manual, which is also £1175 cheaper to buy. And in actual real-world use, we managed only 31.5mpg whereas Mark Walton achieved 33.2mpg in his very similar manual C-Crosser long-termer.
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How about the rest of it?
Par for the 4007 course – which is a good thing. Few mid-size SUVs are quite so practical, thanks to seven seats (even if the rearmost bench is more jump-seat than loungechair), a split tailgate with Range Rover-style gin terrace, sliding rear seats that fold and flip at the touch of a button in the loadbay, and a big, square boot. There’s loads of room in the passenger compartment too.
Recent tweaks include a few splashes of chrome about the dash, and GT spec glues a few leather swatches about the place, but it’s still very plasticky and lightweight-feeling.
It drives well though. The steering is remarkably high-geared for an SUV, and very linear in its response. You sit quite high yet there’s little roll, and the ride feels well-damped and buoyant.
It’s showing its age in terms of motorway refinement though, with too much road noise on coarse surfaces, and dominant wind noise at a cruise.
Verdict
Despite its obvious appeal as a self-shifter, DCS fails to show the 4007 in its best light. It’s a decent drive despite it, while economy and emissions suffer slightly too. It’s difficult to recommend when the manual drives so well – and the near-£28k asking seems very steep. Best bet? Enjoy the 4007’s arch practicality and engaging drive, but shift ratios yourself and spend as little as possible. You can definitely live without that leather-edged dashboard, too.
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