timbo

Ouch! ouch! ouch! stop it, Gomez....I know...me bad ....ok, ok Revolver I was just joking about diesels

Ok, in my quest to check out possible RX-8 replacements I had a test drive of this...because it was there!

First, it is not a bad looking coupé, but not nearly as nice as the previous Pininfarina designed model. And it has a front end that can only be described as the wide mouthed Frog. Hey, Hymee -- there's a big market for your grills at Peugeot dealers

It is big and, in black, the colour I test drove seems really big -- bigger'n a Munro even . At 1850Kg, it is a tad on the weighty side, too. All driving through the front wheels. I did not have high expectations even though it has 150Kw and 450Nm.

The diesel only comes in a 6sp auto, and I understand it is manufactured by Aisin, the same company that supplies Mazda trannies -- manual and auto.

Inside, it is quite nice....there's lot's of glass and compared to the 8, one feels much less shut in. It's an all leather upholstery, which comes in black, tan, red (a deep red) and cream; the red of the test car was quite nice and dark enough not to cause too many problems. The front seats were comfortable but nowhere near as enclosing and supportive as the 8's. This car has two of the biggest and heaviest doors I've ever experienced, and I reckoned if you parked driver's side up on a decent slope, you might not get out Getting into the back seat -- even with the big door -- required a much greater level of contortion than for the 8. But space and legroom was ok once you got there.

Ok, so it's on with the engine, and away we go. First thing you notice is...nothing! The interior is well insulated, the windows are double-glazed, and the engine mounted specially to minimise vibration, so there's not much to tell you apart from the lights and guages. Into gear, throttle down and off you....waft. And with 450Nm from 1900rpm, it's a surging waft, if you get my meaning. As different to the 8 as it gets, with torque the order of the day. The shift is also very smooth when left in auto, and smooth still when used as a tiptronic. Waft, waft, waft.

At low speeds the steering is too light, and there's not much feel at any stage. The suspension has two modes -- soft waft and sports waft. On Canberra's smooth roads I could barely tell the difference.

At spped, you have a strong sense of the amount of weight up front, even though the engine is set pretty well back. Obviously, I couldn't really throw it at some corners, but it felt controlled in the same sense as all FWD feel predictable. There's ESP and all that stuff, so I guess that'll intervene before you do anything too silly.

But the big thing is that torque. Up a hill that I have to drop a couple of gears in the 8 to fly up, this beast just dug its toes in, and hauled. I reckon you could pull a coupla horse floats with it...and a disk plough

Nah, not for me...not into that level of wafting yet But a serious alternative to some of the other Euro coupés, if it is at all reliable (I know, 'mez...there's no way it can be ) I liked the auto tranny, though -- no clunks of banks...just the right gear at the right time.

Funny for such a big car, the boot is pretty small....bigger than the 8, but not by too much. But it does have a full size, alloy spare.

The model I drove is $79k otr...and here's the thing. I reckon it's much better equipped, dollar for dollar, than the 8. Actually the one thing about this test was that it reinforced my view that Mazda needs to seriously upgrade the 8 pretty quickly, or its previous value for money lead will disappear. The Pug has adjustable suspension, directional bi-xenons, front and rear park assist, reach and rake adjustable steering wheel, two memory fully adjustable electric seats, reasonable computer display, integrated BlueTooth, JBL stereo...airbags everywhere...and is well insulated. Of course, the downside of all that is weight, but there's some stuff in the Peugeot that Mazda could do and not add much weight.

Finally, back to the tranny. I guess we'll have to see what happens with the new auto 8 and whether it has the 4 port or 6 port motor. But, if your daily drive is almost always city traffic, the new auto might be a reasonable drive. And, if it can handle 450Nm in the Pug, it might be a tasty back end for a supercharged Renesis in the same circumstances.

Peugeot quotes around 11L/100k city and 6.7 hwy, so there's no doubting the fuel economy...but it's a lot of money to spend to...er...save fuel

C'mon

Give me your best...at least I give you a bit of entertainment

xxup

It was sure nice knowing you Timbo... Let's hope that Gomez makes it swift and painless for you..

timbo

Yep, I admit 'tis a worry, given his reputation as the forum's resident Alfa male !

xxup

Let's face it Timbo - your life must be getting pretty dull if you are seriously considering P cars and diesel at that! Gomez will probably make this point to the police.. Verdict -> assisted euthanasia...

xxup

ha ha that's a pun....

Revolver

Im too busy spluttering to get any words out...

azzaboynt

timbo driving to work wearing a beret eh? munching on his french bread, muttering to himself with a sour look on his face. not to mention the striped tshirt.

xxup

Now there's an image....

Revolver

pfft, not to mention being a cheese eating surrender monkey...

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

LOL... Has anyone tried this:

Go to www.google.com and enter "French military victories" and then click "I'm Feeling Lucky" which takes you direct to the first hit...



Thanks for the review, Timbo.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Revolver

I know 3 other blokes with this kinda Peugot - they're all comfortably into their 50's. Comfortably.

Demographics - fascinating stuff.

xxup

Timbo - stop this premature ageing and extend the lease until the real series II RX-8 comes out.. The thought of the Nats champion driving a P car could be too much for some..

Gomez

That's quite the opening post. I note you elected not to torture us further by including a picture of said turd-mobile. Merci beaucoup.

Double-glazed you say!! So it's as heavy as a house AND equipped like one! Maybe when I'm old and senile I'll buy one and move to the Gold Coast to retire in it. I'll fit right in with the strange and colourful weirdo's in that neck of the woods...

More later......

timbo

Geez, guys...thanks for being so gentle and accommodating an old bugger

Actually, nowhere did I say I was going to buy one...just some interesting comparisons.

So, what else whould I try? (yes, either extending the lease or rolling over is looking like the top option...but I have a bit of a BT,DT feeling.)

Oh, and [sacrilege] the Pug reminded me of nothing so much as a Cosmo 20B I once drove [/sacrilege]....(waits for screams from DMRH )

And it also seemed well put together....not like the RHD versions of smaller Pugs, which are actually made by Poms

Revolver

It's a tough crowd Timbo - remember the howls of protest when I playfully compared the 8 to such beasties as the 130i and 3 MPS. And they weren't French heaps of crap either....

They're not called Pugs for nothing - every single Peugot is an annoying dog owned by people with more money than sense (with the slight possible exception of the original 205 GTi).

Revolver

You have a what?????

This is a family board you know.