Unsurprisingly, given the Outlander’s strong reception, the 4007 is a decent drive for a large car with high centre of gravity. It also solves the Mitsubishi’s major flaw, with the PSA Peugeot-Citroen 2.2-litre diesel engine replacing the Outlander’s clattery VW-sourced 2.0 unit. The Outlander gets the 2.2 later this year.
The 160PS 2.2 diesel gives plenty of performance for this type of vehicle, but it is a little noisier than expected at idle and gives some vibration nearer the red line. Likewise, there are no major complaints regarding the ride, though it does tend to thump over potholes more than might have been expected. There’s also a fair amount of wind noise whistling round the massive door mirrors at higher speeds.
Peugeot is correct to market the 4007 as a 5+2, saying the rearmost seats are not good for anything above “occasional use.” The mechanism neatly raises and lowers the third row easily, and they sit flat when stowed for a usable boot area. Access to the third row is also easy, more than can be said of the second row, which suffers from a slightly narrow door opening.
But the 4007’s biggest problem is residuals. The French brand disputes IDS Topcalc’s negative verdict on what the off-roader will be worth after three years, but that’s the figures the RV experts are putting out to the market, and it places the 4007 last among the latest band of off-road arrivals. That and high servicing costs make the otherwise impressive, if not pretty, new Peugeot a tricky business proposition.