Peugeot 407 SW Review
Published: 10th October 2007
Peugeot 407 SW
Ease of Use
We were drove the Peugeot 407 SW Sport which on the driver’s side has an electrically adjustable seat. The steering wheel can be adjusted for rake and reach, so you should be able to find the ideal driving position, but for some reason neither myself nor my co-tester could get 100% comfortable - maybe that is just us but it did niggle us as we enjoyed driving the 407.
Overall leg and head room is good both for front and rear passengers, the standard panoramic roof gives the 407 SW a lofty ambience.
All round visibility is very good but of course this is always subjective. Our car benefited from rear parking sensors which aren’t strictly necessary but are always useful. From the ‘B’ pillar back the windows have a black tint which helps to keep prying eyes out and gives some protection from the sun for rear passengers.
The main controls are well laid out, the windscreen wipers are rain sensitive, although you do have to prompt them to start. The headlights automatically activate at dusk and in reduced luminosity, such as car parks and tunnels.
The telematics system is a little harder to use and we are not sure if it is that intuitive, but I am sure owners will find their way around the clever features such as a full GSM hands free telephone and Satellite Navigation.
If you are looking at buying a Peugeot 407 SW then I am sure you are interested in its load carrying capability. The first time I needed to lower the rear seats it turned into a frustrating nightmare, I should have read the handbook, although that wasn’t much help. The rear seats fold on a 60/40 split basis, I had already fitted by son’s isoFix child seat in place on the solo 40% seat. I should point out that although there are isoFix fittings in the 407 SW, the seat we use doesn’t sit completely flat on the base of the 407 SW seats nor does the back meet the rear of SW seat - although totally secure, it was far from ideal nor is there a top tether point. What I hadn’t realized was that in order to fold down the 60% (two seats) you have to remove the security net from the back of the seats, which locks all of the seats together. So there I was at Ikea with a tired son, whose seat I had to remove to lower the 60% split as you can tell I was not amused, I suppose that I should have checked first. Anyway the seats nearly fold flat to give you a large clear deck and as the suspension struts don’t impeach on space it is quite useable. Folding the seats down increases the load space from 430 litres to 1365 litres (VDA) and increases the load floor length from 1020mm to 1730 mm, incidentally the 407 saloon can strangely accommodate 407 litres more with the seats up.
The split tailgate enables you to only open the top glass section should you wish, keeping dogs and your cargo safe, whist giving you access to the boot. Business users and load luggers will be pleased to see that the front seat can be folded forward to act as a sort of table or to accommodate longer loads such as a ladder.
Our car was fitted with a retractable tow bar, which although we didn’t use, we thought it was quite clever how it can be removed when not in use, how many of us have bruised shins from tow bars.
