Getting used to the Peugeot 408? The 407 SW was also more crossover than estate!

Let’s especially talk about the visual impact of both models, because the 407 made waves in 2004 at least as much as the new 408 recently. Just not in a positive sense, because it took much more getting used to than the graceful 405 and the 406. A huge grille is no longer news these days, but in 2004 we were almost shocked by it. This applied even more to the gigantic overhang at the front, which visually gives the car a wheelbase that is too short. The front seam of the front doors even leaned slightly backwards to provide enough space for the front wheels, while the trunk of the sedan was kept very short. Foreign.

407 SW slightly more balanced than regular 407

With the 407 SW, introduced a few months later, the whole was slightly more balanced, but the design with the divided, triangular windows at the rear was also even more pronounced. One hated it, the other ran away with it. We could have seen the design coming, because Peugeot presented the Elixir study model prior to the 407, a two-door coupe with the same different rear as the SW. Strangely enough, the proportions of that concept car were better.

It is nice that the dimensions of the 407 SW and 408 differ little; the SW is only a few centimeters longer, lower and wider. It was criticized for its too cramped loading space (as the successor to the 406 Break, it also had very big shoes to fill) and it is even surpassed here as a station wagon by the 408, albeit narrowly.

Also with V6

In terms of drive, the differences could not be greater. It is striking, for example, that no 407 SW can keep up with the plug-in hybrid 408. Even the 3.0 V6 24-valve was defeated, just like – and now we are really moving to a different era – the 2.7-liter V6 24V turbo diesel, which was considered very powerful at the time. Because it produces 204 hp and even 440 Nm of torque, but in terms of sprint power and top speed, the 408 still makes it tasty viande hachée with its 1.6 engine and electric assistance. Higher performance, with significantly less thirst. Look, and of course no one has to get used to that.