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THE French have always held a special place in the world of fashion, most of the top couturiers have been Paris based and have always been known for their avante garde approach.

But it goes beyond just exclusive fabric draped around an anorexic ramp model, there is a flair and style that only the French seem to produce, the expression chic I believe sums it up.

This adventurous outlook on design is found in many Gallic items, not least their cars, love "em or hate'em, you cannot deny that the French manufacturers have produced some incredible designs.

Latest to hit our shores is the Peugeot 207, available in a range of petrol and diesel engines from standard sedan to convertible the 207 is certainly very pleasing to the eye.

This week we had the opportunity to evaluate the Peugeot 207 1.6 HDi XS.

The visual impact of the 207 is striking, from the huge air intake, the rampant Peugeot lion on the nose and sleek head light clusters that stretch almost half way along the front fenders the eye follows the massive slanted windscreen through to one of the neatest tail ends that I have seen for quite an age.

It is a personal gripe of mine that many rear end treatments look as though the design team wanted to go home early so it was a quick job on the back end and off to the pub.

But not on the 207 this one works! The whole package is set off by 16' alloy wheels shod with 195/55 R16 rubber.

The interior does not disappoint, with black trim all round offset with aluminium coloured accents, the car has a sporty appearance, instrumentation is white faced with chrome bezels.

The leather covered steering wheel is adjustable for both height and reach. A CD/radio combination sits just below the binnacle housed information display panel, the centre consul carries controls and display panel for the dual zone climate control.

Front windows are electrically operated with the rear being manual, electrically adjusted and heated exterior side mirrors are standard on this model.

One of the complaints I have on recent Peugeots is the steering column mounted ancillary controls, in this case the cruise control and the audio system remote.

With the steering wheel in the straight ahead position they are completely hidden from view, perhaps one gets used to tactile sense only, but I find it a little annoying as I never seem to find the right button whenever I want it.

Seating is supportive
Seating is very supportive, with very good lateral bolsters to keep you solid in the seat. The rear seats are able to fold down in 1/3 or 2/3 capacity and with the generous boot capacity it will handle copious amounts of luggage.

Safety is an area well covered in the Peugeot 207, ABS, EBD and EBA, along with adaptive driver and front passenger airbags, plus front side airbags and curtain airbags for both front and rear occupants.

Couple all this to crumple zones front and rear with side impact protection and it becomes obvious why the Peugeot 207 has a 5-Star Euro NCAP rating.

The 1 560 cc diesel engine produces 80 kW at 4 000 rpm and 240 Nm of torque at 1750 rpm, coupled to a five speed manual gearbox, the 207 HDi performs very well. The engine is smooth and relatively quiet in comparison with some small engine diesel passenger cars that I have driven recently.

The gearbox is good with nicely spaced ratios, but oh! dear, why is it that Peugeot still have that very wobbly feel to the gear lever. Sure it has no effect on shifting through the box, but it would be so much nicer it the lever felt a bit more positive.

In the handling department the car is excellent, very neutral and sure footed, even when driven fairly spiritedly the 207 stays comfortably on line and inspires confidence in the driver.

Steering is nicely weighted and I felt gave good driver feedback, something missing in a lot of new cars, braking was also good and even with very hard applications I never experienced fade.

I have saved the best for last, yes I know that diesel has increased in price recently, but who cares when you get fuel efficiency like this.

On all types of driving from heavy traffic to open road I returned an average consumption of just 5.8 litres per 100 km! Now that's impressive!

Overall the Peugeot 207 1.6 HDi XS is a very sound package and well worth a very serious look and priced at R173 300 with a three year 100 000 km warranty, a 12 year anti-perforation and three year paint warranty, plus Peugeot's Assistance and Service care, it should make its mark in the small diesel passenger car sector.

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