2007 Peugeot 207 GTi

It was in March of this year that Peugeot’s new 207 hatch became available in Australia and not a lot has been heard since…until now. Peugeot have surreptitiously slipped the GTi version of their 207 hatch into their dealer showrooms with little fanfare or warning.

The new GTi takes the 1.6-litre direct-injection long-stroke turbo-charged petrol engine that was jointly developed by Peugeot and BMW for the new Mini and cranks the boost up. They call it the Turbo High Pressure (THP) version of the 1.6-litre four pot and it manages to squeeze out 128Kw and 240Nm.

The GTi also features an overboost function that allows for short bursts of extra boost bringing available torque up to 260Nm. Peugeot claims the GTi can scamper from 0-100km/h in a modest 7.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 220km/h. It averages 7.2L/100 and is reasonably polar ice-cap friendly with CO2 exhaust emissions being 171g/km.

Weighing in at 1325kg, the GTi features sports-tuned suspension and 17-inch nine-spoke “Pitlane” alloy wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza 205/45-section R17W rubber. A rear spoiler and trapezoid twin chrome exhaust outlet along with “satin black” B-pillar trim and satin chrome door mirrors (a little bit of Audi…) set the GTi apart from it’s standard brethren.

On the safety front, the 207 GTi is right up there with a maximum five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating. A plethora of safety assistants are employed to keep the eager but uneducated (this is Australia after all) driver from damaging themselves or others. Steering Stability System (SSP), Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Electronic Brake Assist (EBA) all work in tandem to reduce braking distances by up to ten percent.

Passive safety features include twin front and side airbags, twin full-length side curtain airbags and seatbelt pretensioning and force limiting.

The 207 GTi is designed to seat four with four individual bucket-style sports seats. There is also a leather wrapped steering wheel, carbon look console and instruments along with the usual drilled aluminium pedals.

Standard kit includes,remote central locking, cruise control with speed limiter, power windows, power/heated wing mirrors, rear parking sensors, a height/reach adjustable steering wheel, an anti-dazzle rear-view mirror, a six-speaker in-dash five-CD sound system with steering wheel controls, dual-zone climate-control air-conditioning, rain-sensing wipers, front and rear foglights, a 60/40-split folding rear seat and automatic elliptical headlights with static directional lighting and wipers.

Pricing for the 207 GTi starts at $33,490 with available options including a panoramic sunroof and metallic paint.

Steane

[Source: GoAuto]