Take Note get a 107 (Peugeot 107 5-door)

Member Name: ImVeryNice

Product:	Peugeot 107 5-door
Date:	20/09/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: that Toyota engine, excellent fuel economy, roomy for its size, has character

Disadvantages: Tiny boot, only four seats, small door mirrors, low level of equipment

This is a review I should never have written. I had in fact hired a Nissan Note but the car I was offered was unroadworthy with a missing rear screen wash and broken door mirror (I only noticed after I had loaded all my bags into it at the airport). My protests produced a blank response, apparently no cars available although I could see brand new Notes in perfect condition parked next to "mine". Then came the offer of a high mileage Nissan Micra (tempting!) but by this time my eye had been taken by a flock of Peugeot 107s in exciting shades of red, black, blue and yellow. Could I have one of these? Yes, indeed and I could even choose the colour (I went for the very yellow). Well done Budget Car Hire! I had secured ... wait for it ... a free downgrade!

Now to the 107. First job was loading in our luggage. We had only two cabin bags and these fitted with room to spare in the Note's boot but when I opened the 107's (in fact just the glass opens) I literally burst out laughing. The boot was little more than a slot. I could get one bag in but the second one had to go on the back seat unless I removed the parcel shelf.

Next up driving the car. My immediate impression was of the immense speedometer, masses of painted metal and very little else. This was obviously a back to basics motor in the fine tradition of the VW Beetle and the original Mini. Starting up the engine noise is quite noticeable with a characteristic offbeat note (it has only three cylinders) and it seemed to struggle just moving off. My first touch of the brakes was a little unnerving too - a bit spongey with not much bite. I had several hundred miles of mainly motorway driving ahead of me and I was beginning to wonder if I had made a mistake, but I was wrong.

This car has a superb engine. The lack of low down down torque and a slight resonance at 65 mph in top were the only faults. I loved the offbeat exhaust note and the turbine-like smoothness and mechanical refinement at higher speeds was impressive. All this courtesy of Toyota. My car had no rev counter and it was surprisingly easy to leave it in 4th instead of 5th at 70 mph. The engine remained smooth and unfussed even so. There is absolutely minimal sound deadening under the bonnet or inside the car so this is a tribute to the intrinsic refinement of the engine.

I had expected a car of this size to handle as if on rails so I was surprised to experience significant body roll and only moderate grip when I challenged it a little in this department. Nothing untoward though and very much in the tradition of some older small French cars. The payoff was a reasonably supple ride on most surfaces.

You wouldn't expect a car of this size to be huge inside but it is probably the roomiest car in its class with leg-room both front and rear for adults up to 5 foot 8 at least. Rear head-room is tighter though. The very clever 5 door (the doors almost come to the back window) allows good access front and back. There are only four seats though with no centre seat belt in the back.

You would expect good fuel economy from a modern 1 litre car but I was impressed to find I had averaged over 60 mpg in 800 miles of mainly motorway driving despite encountering some heavy traffic jams and bad weather. The digital fuel gauge though is very small and not very accurate. You can drive over 100 miles before the gauge moves, useful if you need to return a hire car "full". On the other hand, the speedometer was quite accurate when checked against my sat-nav over-reading by 3 mph at 70 mph.

Creature comforts are minimal as you might expect. Mine had front electric windows but no air con or rev counter. A strange omission was the lack of a recirculation facility on the heating system (models with air con have this). There are small door pockets and a front parcel shelf but no glove box. You only get one large windscreen wiper but thanks to clever geometery it works as well as two. In fact everything works just fine and makes you wonder why we insist on so many "extras" on our cars these days. I remember when even a heated rear window was a luxury.

After a few days with the car I had adapted to the brake feel and learned to use more revs than normal to get moving and in fact it is quite nippy once you're used to it. The engine revs so smoothly and easily it is easy to get the best out of it. The brakes remain a slight disappointment though. Perhaps because drums are used at the rear the feel is never quite in keeping with the quality of the power unit.

Another small gripe is the small door mirrors with curved glass that distort distances.

At the end of my week with this car I felt that I had encountered what could become a classic in time. Practical, a great engine, cheap at around 7K and with that ingredient missing from so many modern cars: character. I might even buy one!

By the way, forget the diesel model. With considerably less power and effectively the same fuel consumption it cannot be worth paying extra for. You also swap a Toyota engine for a PSA unit which is generally a raw deal.

Summary: An original and inspired design. Bigger inside than it looks apart from the boot.

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