Category: Large Family 
Price Range: £18,045 to £24,295
Fine ride, good to drive, generous standard equipment.
Interior feels dated, love-'em-or-hate-'em looks.
Fine-driving 407 remains a good car, just one that's outshone by its main competitors.
Peugeot has never cut corners with the 407's drive.
The revised car uses the double-wishbone front suspension from the original car although spring and damper rates have been re-worked.
We drove the new Euro 5 compliant 138bhp 2.0-litre diesel and we were stunned by its ability, especially at high speed where it proved well able to filter out bumps. Only at lower speeds did some of the nastier road imperfections become noticeable. It's a great effort considering the 407 is as agile as ever, with fine composure, high grip levels and enough information about the road conditions coming through the cabin to make the driver feel really involved.
The new engine offers 4bhp more than the previous Euro 4 effort and it is noticeably quieter, but it's still found wanting when mid-range shove is required for more urgent overtaking manoeuvres. Performance is reasonable, but not sparkling: the 0-62mph sprint takes 9.8 seconds.
The other diesels available include the unchanged 168bhp 2.0 HDI and the efficient 109bhp 1.6 HDI that has been tweaked for better fuel economy and lower emissions.
The only petrol engine available - until a new lower polluting 1.8 arrives - is a Bioflex 2.0-litre than can run on E85 ethanol-petrol.
The 138bhp Bioflex feels noticeably down in torque and pace (148lb-ft v the 240lb-ft for the punchier diesel) but it feels even more agile than the HDI alternative. Unfortunately, there's only a five-speed manual, which is outgunned by the diesel's six-speed box, and this is particularly noticeable on motorways where things get particularly noisy: the diesel is much more usable and refined.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Peugeot 407
wrote on 10 10 2007