Peugeot 307 CC Review
Published: 14th January 2005
Peugeot 307 CC
Ease of Use
The Peugeot 307 CC is equipped with a retractable rigid roof with a fully automatic mechanism offering maximum convenience and security. We have noticed that many convertible/cabriolet owners with 'manually’ operated roofs don't seem to take advantage of the changeable British weather and lower their roof's we suspect that this is because they cannot be bothered as it is fiddly to unclip and fold back soft top's manually and you have to be stationary to do so. With the 307 CC this simply isn’t the case you just press a button and the roof takes around 25 seconds to lower and raise. Unlike some cars it can be done on the move at speeds of up to 6 miles per hour. However, we were left embarrassed in traffic when the lights suddenly changed and we only had the roof half way up (all part of the fun really).
The 307 CC is a versatile cabriolet that you can use in the summer and winter, with the all round electric windows up and heater on you should stay as snug as a bug, on all but the bitterest of days.
The roof is poetry in motion, it is just fantastic - we could have spent all day watching it go up and down, cleverly folding and unfolding itself. Remember this is a steel roof and not canvas, so with the roof up you have the security that only Coupe owners normally benefit from. We would like to have seen it operated via the key fob as well as the interior for convenience with one shot up and down functions, but safety gets in the way.
The 307 CC is a very easy car to enter and exit but remember it is a two door car and rear seat passengers will need to be nimble to get into the rear. Of course with the roof down the car is even easier to enter/exit as headroom is increased, well by quite a few thousand miles. The two rear seats can comfortably accommodate two adults, although there is not a great deal of leg room in the rear.
Visibility is very good and the 307 CC is an easy car to park with roof up although you do have to watch out for the rear quarter lights. With the roof down visibility is excellent - our test car featured rear parking assistance which made it easier to judge the rear of the car.
Cabriolet boots usually suffer from having to accommodate the roof when it has folded away but those clever engineers at Peugeot have devised a cunning plan - in Coupe mode with the roof up (you cannot lower the roof) you can accommodate 350 litres of luggage, or if you wish to lower the roof, you have to pull a blind over the space the roof will accommodate when the roof is lowered, this reduces the boot space to 204 litres. If you are going on holiday with two children you will need to plan carefully, but if it is just the two of you, you will be pleasantly surprised by how much you can fit into the car.
One thing that we must mention is the boot button, we thought at first that we could not open the boot from the rear, until it dawned on us where the button was hidden. We not going to tell you as it ruins the fun, but we liked the design.
Safety and Security
The question everyone asks, is what happens if you roll it over - firstly the front windscreen has been redesigned from the hatchback 307. Each of the two front windscreen pillars incorporate a tubular reinforcement manufactured from high-strength steel with a diameter of 54 mm and a thickness of 5 mm. Rejoining the front part of each side member after 'traversing' the 'A' post, these reinforcements limit the deformation of the front windscreen pillars in the event of the vehicle rolling over.
In addition, the separation between the boot and the passenger compartment consists of an imposing box-section vertical bulkhead, the ends of which connect the side of the body at the level of each hinge pin fixture of the folding roof. This bulkhead also supports two aluminium telescopic roll over bars (Ø 38 mm, thickness 3 mm) with electronic rollover detection, which protect passengers in the event of the vehicle rolling over.
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