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Welcome to Motown!

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

Have you ever heard of Motown? No, nothing to do with soul music, but a nickname given by a PR man to the area around the start of the Naas Road which is proliferated by car companies.
The first car importer you hit when you make your way to Motown from Dublin city centre is the Gowan Group. Recently I tested Citroen’s first SUV, the C-Crosser, now it’s the turn of Peugeot, the other company in the Gowan Group, to eventually get in on the SUV act with their new 4007.
The 4007 is built on the same platform as Citroen’s C-Crosser and Mitsubishi’s Outlander. So it’s a tough call to make and ultimately it will come down to the brand you are loyal to. The entry price for the Peugeot and Citroen is similar, while the Outlander is slightly cheaper.
I drove a black 4007 and I must say it looked very impressive. The front headlamps would do any sports car justice and the two silver roof rails definitely do add to the SUV effect.
Women are supposed to wear black to make them look slim; indeed I’ve known a few men to opt for black for similar reasons. But there is no need to try and make the 4007 look slim as it’s very neat especially the rear end. The only place you will see any colour other than black in the 4007 is the rear door, where there is a nice touch of chrome as you open it. To be fair there is also a touch of chrome inside.

Like all SUVs, the 4007 is very high and the seating position gives you an excellent view of the road. There are no problems with any pillars to hide your view and overall I think it makes for very safe driving.
In the cabin everything is well laid out and decent size knobs are provided for the radio. The back seat could hold three well built adults, whether they are wearing black or not.
I won’t say that the diesel was very noisy, but there is no doubt you will know straight away that it is a diesel. In some other diesels I have driven recently you would have to double check to see if it was petrol or diesel they were so quiet.
But diesel is the new black as everybody wants one to cut down on the C02 emissions and avail of the benefits of Mr Cowen’s recent budget. Therefore you might like to wait until July 1 for the best deals.
I drove the ST version which gives you an option of five or seven seats and goodies like cruise control and MP3 player. Like most SUVs if you opt for seven seats there is very little luggage space left. You can switch from two-wheel to four-wheel drive by means of a switch located near the gear lever. I didn’t get an opportunity to drive the 4007 off-road but it felt like it could handle any terrain.
Prices start at e40,200 for the 4007 five-seat SR model and go up to e47,395 for the top of the range seven seater. All are powered by a 2.2 litre diesel engines. Peugeot say they expect to sell between 150 to 200 units in Ireland this year.

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