Opposite / Peugeot test drives

The main disappointment from meeting the new French coupe-cabriolet is its character. The car is rather heavy: the curb weight reaches 1352 kg. And under the hood, meanwhile, there is a modest 1.6-liter engine producing only 120 horsepower. To top it all off, this engine is paired with a four-speed automatic transmission — as if specifically to tease a driver like me. As a result, this cute little car, which by its looks should bring joy to its owner every second, actually does so only on a warm sunny day — when the folding roof hides in the trunk.

You drive, enjoying the open sky, passersby follow you with their eyes. You don't want to rush anywhere — on the contrary, you want to stretch out the pleasure. However, it will stretch out on its own: the car frankly "doesn't go." Acceleration to a hundred takes almost 13 seconds. The 207 CC picks up speed with obvious strain, and the gears of the "automatic" are somehow endless. Theoretically, it could even fly if you really "rev up" the engine. But in the city you constantly have to brake. And then — painfully accelerate again. A real torture!

At the same time, the car's suspension is well assembled, the body is rigid and doesn't make a sound even with the roof folded. After all, the 207 CC does have a truly spirited engine in its arsenal — a turbocharged one developed jointly with BMW engineers. And paired with it — a manual transmission! Heck, even for the atmospheric engine, a "stick" begs to be used. But marketing insists: a ladies' car must have an "automatic." And it is precisely the weakest version of the 207 CC that becomes the best-selling in Russia. So it turns out that drivers with gasoline in their veins get a strange combination of an atmospheric engine with an "automatic" for a test. Although, honestly, women's driving style is rarely aggressive. And as a calm means of transportation, the Peugeot 207 CC is a fully accomplished car. Even the stability control system here fully disengages only up to 60 km/h — no hooliganism.

And yet you can feel it: fly into a corner faster, sharply lift off the gas — and the car is ready to slide into a drift! But the ESP immediately reminds you of itself, making it clear that less strict settings are the privilege of the most powerful modification. And the appearance of the "lion," frankly, doesn't grab me either. The only exception is the profile with expressive stamping on the lower part of the body and some angles with the roof down. In all other cases, I'm only ready to admit: this car is likely to appeal to women — their glances spoke eloquently about that. They all clearly would have wanted one for themselves. To go shopping with a girlfriend, then fold the roof and head to some trendy beach, then to a stylish cafe, and after that — effectively intrigue some gentleman behind the wheel of an open SL.

But these simple feminine joys are absolutely alien to me! And to somehow justify my presence behind the wheel of this car, I have to put the roof down. Frankly, I would rather have spent the whole test sitting in the passenger seat. And it would be highly desirable for a girl to be driving (we once drove with a male colleague and caught ambiguous looks). Then, perhaps, I would have found some harmony in my relationship with this Peugeot. But as it is, parting with the coupe-cabriolet didn't become a sad event for me.

PRICES AND TRIM LEVELS

The Peugeot 207 CC is available in two trim levels. The base version is called Dinamique and costs about 750,000 rubles at dealers. For the Sport trim, you'll have to pay 805,000 rubles.