Peugeot at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show

407 SW- the alter ego The quickening pace of changing lifestyles generates new sociocultural trends that overturn established principles, including our relationship with the car. Anticipating these profound movements, Peugeot constantly adapts its different product ranges in all market segments.

Peugeot has created a new family called the 407, to succeed the 406 in the middle upper range that constitutes the Marque’s historical territory. With eye-catching looks that boldly overthrows convention, Peugeot gave this new range a high-tech specification, endowing it with character, dynamism and pleasure.

The 407 saloon, recently unveiled and due to go on sale at the end of April in Europe, is a genuine roadster, versatile and prestigious, as customers loyal to the segment have come to expect.

It is nevertheless an imposing feature of the automotive landscape. Indeed, by proudly sporting a genuinely modern style, expressed by a new overall balance and an even more feline front aspect, it is hardly surprising that the 407 saloon stirs the emotions. Its profile and advanced technology together exert a strong appeal to individuals passionate about motoring, who see the car as a positive reflection of their social and personal status. To appeal to an equally dynamic but even more multifaceted customer base, at ease with the complexity of life today and fond of leisure activities or outdoor sports, either with the family or among friends, the 407 offers an innovative, fluid and elegant silhouette: the 407 SW.

Like the 206 and 307 that introduced the concept in 2002, the SW silhouette has an acknowledged pedigree and offers a genuine alternative in terms of style, as well as a range of even more specialist functions.

Innovative and unique on account of its intrinsic brightness and user-friendliness, the 407 SW has much to offer a diversity of customer profiles.

Exterior style and personality Elegance with a pinch of dynamism remains the common denominator between the 407 saloons and the 407 SW. Set firmly apart from its competitors, the SW and the saloon, excites the emotions with its innovative styling and a look that the Marque has made its own.

Its fluidity is particularly evident in the line which, lingering on the inverted rear quarter panel before ending naturally at the rear wheel arch, takes its cue initially from the front windscreen pillars and runs delicately rearwards across an expansive glass roof enhanced by metallic luggage rails. The waist line, which skirts the side at the level of the door handles, passes through each light and continues horizontally onto the tailgate, where it adds prominence to the Marque’s lion badge.

Its overall length has been increased to 4.763 m, with a rear overhang extended by 87 mm compared to the 407 saloon, allowing easier access to the boot and necessitating major structural reinforcements: a very low-level sill, a tailgate cut very low in the upper part and an original design of the rear quarter panels.

Its overall height is 1.486 m, an increase of 41 mm, due to a new roof design with longitudinal luggage rails, which contribute to the personality of the profile with their aluminium appearance, but are also ready to accommodate luggage or winter sports equipment.

Its chief distinguishing feature is the remarkable size of the panoramic tinted glass roof, measuring 1.6 m2, which extends the brilliance of the equally large windscreen in an uninterrupted sweep rearwards, taking the total glazed surface area of the 407 SW to 4.28 m2. To minimise the consequences of parking collisions, a grained black capping strip protects the angles, while on many versions its base accommodates four proximity detectors to facilitate manoeuvres in reverse gear.

Similarly, to guard against the risk of scratches from luggage, its low-cut part, or “boot sill”, has a grained black capping strip along its upper edge, while a thick transparent film protects the central smooth section.

An “extraordinary” interior ambiance… Uncommon brightness Inside the 407 SW, the ample glass roof endows the passenger compartment with space and light, creating an ambiance that is both open to the outside, warm and intimate. The optimised transparent surface of the roof even envelopes the roof console in an elegant festoon, exploiting every available millimetre of daylight. Manufactured from tinted laminated glass with a thickness of 6 mm, the panoramic glass roof delivers a light transmittance in the order of 20 %, offering unrivalled views of the outside, while limiting energy filtration to 12 %. This panoramic roof can be completely or partially darkened (nine positions), by means of an electric awning composed of four overlapping panels, which fold away discreetly at the rear of the roof. It is controlled by a rotary button on the roof console and includes an auto safety reverse feature. Bathed in light, the passenger compartment can seat up to five occupants.

The luggage compartment The luggage space is an integral part of the passenger compartment and offers a very neat and tidy but nevertheless functional area. The main load space of 448 dm3* is accompanied by side storage areas with a volume of 9 and 12 dm3 respectively. Its ingenious parallelepiped shape offers a width never less than 1100 mm and is perfectly designed to accommodate and protect the items placed in it. A wide strip of ribbed stainless steel forms the load sill with a width of 1071 mm, while the floor of the boot is lined with thick braided carpet with four narrow slide bars, ensuring that two suitcases can easily be laid flat over a length of 1030 mm.

Lined with a thick soundproof membrane, the boot carpet is removable and has a lifting strap and hook extension that provide access to a normal sized spare wheel, stored in a well under the load area. The walls of the luggage compartment are carpeted and house two side storage areas behind thermoformed flaps. On the right-hand side, a six CD loader and JBL bass cabinet can be installed adjacent to the storage area.

New storage and transportation The seats are bursting with innovations to modulate the interior volume and can be moved aside if necessary, while allowing the 407 SW to seat five passengers comfortably.

On all versions, the seat cushions and seat backs of the rear bench seat are divided 2/3-1/3 and fold down to form a virtually flat surface, without the need to remove the curved head restraints, which are particularly compact in the lowered position. The effective length then becomes 1700 mm, increasing the load volume from the top of the seat back to 624 dm3 according to the VDA standard. A ski flap is proposed as standard or as an option, depending on versions, and allows the transportation of long objects with four occupants without the need to fold down the seat back. It can be accessed from inside the passenger compartment to facilitate handling.

On all versions, the front passenger seat is “modular”. This uncommon feature provides an effective length of 2700 mm between the inside of the tailgate and the glove box for the occasional transportation of very long and bulky objects, while the presence of two occupants is assured.

Nine power trains The 407 SW range is equipped with the nine power trains available on the 407 saloon, based on four petrol engines with a displacement ranging from 1.8 l to 3.0 l, and two HDi Diesel engines with a displacement of 1.6 l and 2.0 l, each with a particle emission filter (PEF). Depending on engines, it is possible to have a 5-speed (BE4/5) or 6-speed (ML6 C) manual gearbox, an electronically controlled 4-speed automatic auto-adaptive gearbox (AL4 or 4HP20), or, in the case of the 6-cylinder petrol engine, an entirely new automatic 6-speed AM6 gearbox, developed and built by Aisin A.W.

2004-02-25 Please quote Autoindex.org if You use this news article!