Peugeot’s diminutive 107 is the first product from the PSA-Toyota tie-up to arrive in South Africa, where its compact styling and super-friendly looks could make it hard to ignore this munchkin.
By Hailey Philander
Peugeot’s diminutive 107 is the first product from the PSA-Toyota tie up to arrive in South Africa, where its compact styling and super-friendly looks could make it hard to ignore this munchkin.
The 107 is the first car bearing Peugeot’s distinctive leonine grille to enter the market significantly below the (psychologically) important R100 000-barrier.
All local 107s – there are three models – are powered by the Toyota-sourced 998 cm3 three-cylinder and available only in the five-door bodystyle. Described by Peugeot SA’s managing director Kees Jan Boorsman as "rock bottom as rock bottom can be", the 107 may be "cheap and cheerful", but won’t be as bargain bin as you’d expect.
Starting at R89 900 for the base XR, all models are equipped with dual airbags, electric power steering, ABS, EBD and CSC cornering stability control as standard. The up-specced XR costs R94 900 and adds air conditioning and an MP3 compatible audio system, while the range-topping X-Line comes with two side airbags, central locking, electric windows, a rev counter and colour coded mirrors. Its price at launch is R103 900, though this will be bumped up to R105 900 by the end of the first quarter 2007 when alloy wheels are added.
Peugeot SA executives went to great pains to describe that while the 107 shares everything but its bonnet, headlamps and lower front panel with Citroen’s C1, only its windscreen and front doors are shared with Toyota’s Aygo.
Incidentally, while Citroen’s C1 is being primed for its local unveiling, Toyota’s Aygo is still being considered for this market. At the moment, another Toyota offering, the Yaris T1, is the 107’s most direct competitor, both on price and in the fact that they have a common 1,0-litre engine.
Delivering a healthy 50 kW at 6 000 r/min and 93 N.m at 3 600 through a five-speed manual shifter, the 800-kg 107 is no slouch when it comes to tackling the demanding urban strip around Camps Bay, or the numerous hills dotted around the Cape Peninsula. From about 3 500 r/min, the three-cylinder emits a delightful whinny before charging up and bursting forth. Its eagerness to entertain is noble, and never feels underdone, even while its two occupants enjoyed the luxury of air-con to counter the blazing late spring sun (and to avoid the notoriously gusty Cape Doctor).
The car’s compact dimensions make it an ideal city companion, allowing you to tuck the malleable little one into all the gaps you need. Its comfortable on the road, too, and dynamically, it’s quite sound, aided by the wheel-at-each-corner stance.
The interior is dominated by the funky, yet functional and neat facia. The audio unit juts from the top of a central hangdown dominated by a translucent white plastic section with what looks like twin "headphones" allowing you to control the cabin temperature. The speedometer and rev counter are quirkily arranged in the line of the driver’s vision. The cabin may not house a conventional cubby, but storage space in the centre console, facia, doors and dash are ample. Two drink holders are provided just ahead of the gearshift.
Open the rear doors, which cleverly meet up with the rear lamp strips for maximum space usage, and you’ll find the cabin to have enough room for four adults to sit quite comfortably. Pop the button on the rear fender and prepare to be confronted by a ridiculously small boot area (with a high load sill, to boot!) but toss the 50:50 split rear seats down, and it offers a lot more room to fling your stuff into.
Fortunately, if you’re shopping in this segment of the market for a small, reliable runabout, lots of space will hardly be a prerequisite for you deciding on the car of your (present) dreams. At the coast, the 107 offers as pleasurable a drive as many of its bigger-engined rivals, but returning a combined fuel index of 4,6 l/100 km and a crucial four-star Euro NCAP rating could sway some buyers in its favour. The 107 hits Peugeot dealerships from November 18.