Essential Motoring 101

I had a few first-time experiences with different cars last year and I must say it all summed up to me ended up being enlightened and awed by what these metal creatures had fared. First impressions on the latest Peugeot 407 certainly did not disappoint me either.

The pug emblem

The flamboyant Peugeot Blue Box in Glenmarie Shah Alam was the meeting point before starting the journey to Lumut for a nite’s stay in the cozy Swiss Garden Resort. If you dont know what’s the Blue Box all about, it offers sales, service and spare parts to all Peugeot car owners, for both older and new vehicles in Malaysia.

This is a serious commitment by Nasim Sd. Bhd., the sole distributor and license holder for all Peugeot cars in Malaysia, to further enhance the French brand.

For the first time also, I got to meet the boss of Nasim Sdn. Bhd., SM Nasarudin SM Nasimudin, also the newly elected executive director and chief executive officer of the Naza Group, who flagged-off the convoy of 6 test cars.

Handsome yet sporty

Seated in the front passenger side, I marveled at the in-dash monitor that houses a GPS navigator. The sunny skies hindered my vision on the GPS so, naturally, the seats needed the adjustments – within a few workings on the buttons. Indeed a thoughtful feature added to the luxuries of the vehicle.

Inside the 407’s engine bay sits a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder DOHC 16 Valve engine with VVT (Variable valve timing) and is of the Euro 4 standard. Maximum power is achieved at 6,000rpm with 140 horses to tap, and 200Nm of torque is available at 4,000rpm.

On initial pace of the 407, comfort immediately manifested in the ride of the car. Being a little adventurous, we veered off to the Kuala Selangor trunk road instead of the provided pre-planned route of the GPS. Maybe I was more familiar with the Garmin Nuvi GPS interface but the one pre-fitted in the 407 seemed somewhat unfriendly. It was quite difficult to navigate (no pun intended) in the interface of the navigator.

Aston Martin wannabe?

Accelerating the car was seamless but it roared when the accelerator was kicked down further. With the 4-speed automatic transmission with manual sequential gear shifting, power was constant on the horizon, but, it would be more fuel-efficient if a fifth gear existed. Overtaking heavy vehicles on the small roads was a bit of a drag but turned out to be easy if you change to manual gear shifting. Down shifting the gears responded positively without much drop in torque, unlike the cars of such similarities which I had driven, plus, it was pretty silky.

The 407 came with automatic air-cond served its passengers diligently in that blazing sun. The car cleverly responded to every shock and unevenness of the Kuala Selangor stretch without hurting my bottom at all. Shock dampening on the 407 was superb all the way even at high speeds of up to 170kmh, which, I have to laud here, was delivered by the variable damping system programmed into the suspension of each wheel separately.

At such speed, the vehicle provided calm and excellent support, hence, there was no chance to test all seven airbags of the Peugeot 407, thanks to its anti-skid system and Pirelli tyres on all four corners. The 407 comes with a knee airbag for the driver too.
The drive along the trunk roads towards Lumut was worth wanting more. Bear in mind the road surface was not like of the North-South Expressway, but it felt like it on the 407. Some parts of the roads were bending and the vehicle responded confidently with its Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) feature.

Note the gaps in the zero – its the button to pop-up the booth

Putting the car into stops was never challenging thanks to the superb gripping power of its disc brakes, enhanced by ABS with EBD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution) and EBA (Emergency Brake Assist). The Anti-skid regulation system (ASR) somehow helped in keeping the car stable although it meant to prevent it from skidding in slippery conditions.

A scrutiny on the dashboard and its paraphernalia were baffling with the many homogenous buttons that reads the same to me. The multi-function display mounted on the dashboard was a bit graphically challenged with its monochrome scheme too. The buttons to adjust the air-cond temperature needed a lot of getting use to if you had own a Japanese car, though.

Open the glove box revealed a compartment too small for a car this size but because it also houses the fuse box for the car, I had to keep mum about it. However, its capacity was big enough to store two 500ml bottles of mineral water, chilled from the onboard air-cond system.

The comfort in the 407 was seeping in fast and that resulted in me being lulled to sleep As a responsible co-driver, I was adamant to keep awake – I turned on the CD player and selected Disc 1 of the 6-disc changer. Music was crisp on all 6-speakers, courtesy of JBL.

Upon reaching the destination, we decided to detour for a teh tarik fix. I realized the 407 has a long overhang on its front end, which certainly not the right car to own if you live in a kampong environment. One might agree that the 407’s face resembles a whale shark, a low and wide gaping mouth, but the number plate do not seem to blend with its nose. It was located too low on the bumper, and might get in the way of road objects at that height. Now here is an improvement that Nasim would need to do.

Exiting the car was nothing to complain but unlocking the car was quite a troublesome – the button to unlock the door was no where to be seen, or was it just me? I didn’t realize that the button was in between the countless buttons on the dashboard, but it doesn’t work the way I wanted – it was the button to activate/deactivate the automatic door locking feature. But, still, that feature got the job done.

A close fight with the Camry and Accord

It was assuring to drive the 407 in twilight conditions. The xenon headlights provided crisp clear road vision, without blinding oncoming vehicles.

This time the car carried five adults and was given a roller-coaster ride by a seasoned media driver. We were tossed about during the attacks on tight corners that lead us from the hotel to Lumut town. No unwanted surprises from the car, instead, it provided excellent road grip and skidding control that no tyre screeches were heard at all.

The Peugeot 407 was made for riding comfort but also capable for spirited driving if one needs it. The journey back to KL posed no strain on the engine, under the hot weather, even with full blast of the air-conditioner.