Sedan boasts power and poise

Press, 31 March 1989, Page 29

Sedan boasts power and poise

ROAD TEST: Peter Greenslade drives the Peugeot 405SRi

AS A GENERAL RULE, relations between the French and the British are rather prickly, but Automobiles Peugeot and the burghers of Coventry reached a rapproachement some time ago when it was agreed that a percentage of the French cars would be built by the Midlanders.

Actually, it was probably an instance of needs must when the devil drives, as the French company is traditionally tied to Coventry. It took over some European elements of the Chrysler Corporation which, in turn, had earlier bought out the Coventry-based Rootes Group. The Rootes Group produced Hillmans, Humbers and SunbeamTalbot cars in the' once-glorious past, when Britain almost ruled the waves and all that sort of thing, and the globe was liberally spattered with red.

New Zealanders should be thankful that as far as Peugeots are concerned, the Poms and the Frogs are all buddy-buddy, because the 1.9-litre Peugeot 405 family sedan comes into New Zealand tinder the Commonwealth preference tariff, which means that the base GR version is Within the reach of anyone who has $34,850 to spend. If it were not for the weekly Lotto investment, I’d be prepared to wager that New Zealand’s Guild of Motoring Writers will vote a car in the 405 range as its 1989 Car of the Year. It is no secret that some feathers were ruffled last year when the 5 Series BMW received the guild’s afccolade, but the Peugeot 405 GR is within the reach of many more New Zealnaders than !the Bavarian masterpiece and' in fact, bids fair to knock a 'few of the betterclass Japanese offerings from their perches. The British-built 405 is a car that I and, I’m sure, many others would like to own. I’ve just spent a week with the $41,240 405 SRi which is, of course, fuel-injected by Bosch, and I’d defy anyone to produce a more handsomely specified car of such power and poise. Having driven all the 405 s that are at present offered;~l’d‘say that the SRi is the best, but if I was in a position to buy a 405 I’d hold off until later this month when a fuel-injected version of the GR should go into Peugeot dealers’ showrooms.

The carburettor-fed GR is a fine car but it is not quite as smooth as the fuel-injected versions and at the 405 launch a couple of months ago, my GR seemed to be afflicted with a flat spot which marred the throttle response slightly. Admittedly this was not bad, but after driving the fuel-injected 405 s one becomes intolerant of anything not devised by Herr Bosch. -I , The GRi, I’m given to understand, will retail for $38,400 in five-speed man’ual gearbox form, and at that price it looks a bargain, although it won’t be quite as well specified as the SRi. Nevertheless; the SRi is a family sedan of sporting character and it should hold tremendous appeal for driving enthusiasts.

Its transversley mounted fourcylinder overhead camshaft allalloy engine drives the front wheels without a suspicion of torque steer and develops 93kW at 4500 rev/minj It has bags of torque low down and is extremely willing under all conditions on the road.

But I can’t help feeling that anyone attracted to the SRi would be wise tol wait until the GRi becomes available. Its estimated price in manual gearbox form is $38,400,! and if that proves to be correct it is hard to

believe that its value will be nearly $3OOO less than the SRi. Then again, the SRi is an exceptionally well-equipped car, with electrically operated front windows and door mirrors, as well as having remote control for the door locks, fuel-filler cap and luggage boot lid. The electric windows have a time delay, so they can be closed immediately after the ignition has been switched off. There are also time-delay courtesy lights which could be a boon on winter nights. Add to all that well-bolstered and supportive front sports seats with tilt adjustment, a heightadjustable leather-bound steering wheel, adjustable pillar mounts for the front seat belts, longrange driving as well as fog lights, front and rear spoilers and a four-speaker radio-cassette

; player, and I’m sure most people will agree that this is a pretty i complete package. , Incidentally; if taste runs to t metallic paint, it is a no-cost 5 option. r The French seem to have a 1 thing about headlights and if the SRi is heavily laden and the i lights point skywards a fascia--1 mounted twist switch will lower i them on to the road. i The SRi was upholstered and 5 trimmed with an attractive and r rather durable fabric, the surfaces likely to be subjected to 1 hard wear being faced with vinyl ; of obvious quality. It also enhances the appearance of the > instrument and fascia panel. As ; far as I could determine, the panel cast no reflections on the > flush-mounted Windscreen, but > the days were generally overcast ! most of the time I had the car.

A miles-an-hour speedometer, also less prominently calibrated in kilometres, and a tachometer dominate the Instrument panel. These instruments are perhaps not so clear as they might be, but one soon becomes accustomed to them. This panel is also reflec-tion-free. The various controls are quite conventional, but some thought has resulted in their ergonomic disposition and about the only switch that is alien is the twisttype that regulates the adjustment of the headlights. The steering wheel, leathercovered and quite thick-rimmed, is of relatively small diameter and feels just right. Steering is power-assisted in the most pleasant possible way. Shift-lever action is springloaded towards third and fourth gears and so one must make a

In town the ride is rather ’firmer than one has come to >■ "expect, but it is certainly-‘hot>?t bone-shaking. In fact, although it is probably a little unyielding when compared with most of its contemporaries, the suspension is ever so much more complaint than that of four and five-year-old cars that, if one thinks about it, there is a realisation that immense strides in suspension engineering have been made over a short interval But it is only when the SRi is asked and answers quite serious questions on the open road that one realises what progress has been made by some of the more technically advanced carmakers such as Automobiles Peugeot. French cars have generally had most complaint suspension with almost excessive wheel travel but remarkable stability, considering the extent of the rollangle in corners even taken at relatively modest speeds. The 405 is different, its suspension being almost Teutonically firm apart from the obvious degree of compliance. The SRi always felt four-wheel square on the road and was generally impervious to quite strong crosswind gusts, only the most severe • tending to slightly deflect the car from its path. felt that a slightly higher seating position would have been more to my liking, but I must admit the driving position, the instrument layout and, on top of all that, the sureness of the car’s response to my whims engendered very secure feelings. Although I drove it hard over the test course and completed

-the tun' abput 10 minutes below average, I did not have to speed to;; make up. time* and on the twisty bits I didn't have to hold my breath wondering if it would understeer or oversteer.

Having driven cars costing more than twice as much over the same course in no-better-than-average times and felt like a shower at the finish, I’ll willingly concede that this particular 405 is truly a car among cars.

The winding downhill section, to which I have referred before, was a revelation. If there is any stretch of road that can unweight or radically redistribute the weight of a car, this must be it. It certainly did not worry the SRi and, what’s more, it did not understeer or drift from its own side of the road.

I suppose most road fatalities occur in New Zealand because cardrivers fail to remain on the road in the desired direction. Incompetent drivers, most of whom should have never been given licences in the first place, and mentally unbalanced drivers — which could be a nicer way to describe a drunk — are the authors of their own fates, and such people will keep on killing themselves until something is done by the politicians to ensure that they don’t kill or maim themselves as well as all the innocents abroad. That, of course, won’t happen for purely political reasons and that is why responsible carmakers, such as Automobiles Peugeot S.A., build cars to protect people against themselves.