It’s been around for quite a good few years now, and yet its Pininfarina styling is timeless, making the Peugeot 406 coupe one of the most beautiful in its class.
I’ll change that. It is THE most beautiful. At least to my subjective eye. And appreciation of cars is still a very subjective thing, thankfully.
Smooth and svelte, proportions and curvings that have just that little bit of something which only human genius can actually produce. Building a good-looking car is rather more than mere mathematical formulism.
And, as the pictures show, the styling is such as to require absolutely no embellishment other than the six-spoke alloys and that simple rubbing strip. The discreet sculpting of the boot angle into a spoiler looks almost handcrafted. And no other rear lights shape could be right that what is there.
Enough drooling at the shape. Let’s look at the rest of the package. The car under review is special for two reasons. One, it has the top-of-the-line SE Pack specification which brings on board climate control, cruise control, and - at least in the car I drove - leather of a particularly good variety. Electric controls for the front seats are something I really can do without, though ... they usually take too long to shift between different drivers. (Funny, isn’t it, how a few seconds make such a difference to us these days?)
The real difference, though, is the engine. It’s the 136bhp 2.2-litre turbodiesel which has been getting a lot of good reviewing in the motoring press since it was introduced in the 607 a while back. A diesel in a sporty coupe? Yep. And a nice job of work it is too. But I’ll come to that later.
The interior of the review car was all black, leavened somewhat by darkish grey headlining and pillar trim. But it didn’t in any way seem oppressive, as black can be. Partly because of the very high quality of the plastics used in the dashboard area and the door fittings.
The dash layout itself is classic and simple, a smooth curving binnacle housing the five-dial instruments setup, white numbers on black background, the dials white-rimmed.
The centre console has vents on top, then a screen for radio and trip information, with the climate control and then the radio below that. All buttons well separated and comfortably large. The radio controls are repeated on a steering column stalk.
Other facilities include the very useful Peugeot automatic rain-sensing wipers, and the cruise control is operated by yet another steering column stalk. The leather-gaitered gearshifter has a nicely chunky top, round as it should be, without any of those fancy (and useless) finger indentations.
Knicknack storage in the middle of the front is scarce enough, with space for sunglasses under the radio. The mobile had to be put in a double depression for cups.
Accommodation for people, though, is excellent. A really good driving position can be attained by anybody, thanks to a wide range of seat settings and the reach-and-rake steering wheel adjustment. The pedals have plenty of footroom around them, unlike some PSA Group cars.
For those in the back, things aren’t at all bad once they’ve managed to climb through, with the deeply-depressed seats bringing them low enough to give decent headroom in the coupe shape. Knees are allowed for by similar deep cutaways in the front seatbacks. There’s a drop-down armrest, or a flip-up lid between the seats which provides another pair of cupholders and a flock-lined storage area.
All in all, this 406 has an ambiance hard to beat. Though it should be good anyway, because we ARE talking money here. But later.
As to the boot, there’s enough space to take the luggage for two people who want to do their own version of the Grand Tour to Dingle and back, or even further.
Lighting the engine is a comfortably clatter-free experience despite the fact that it’s an oilburner. And when moving off, the slightly unexpected surge of power low down suggests that there may be more fun in this car than the label ‘HDi’ might indicate.
The shifter is nicely free of any balking, and the pedal controls light and direct ... there could easily have been a heavier clutch feel with a diesel, but they managed not the have it. The steering is quite front-loaded, with a slightly heavier than usual effort required to turn it off dead-centre. It makes for very direct control.
The real power-band proves to be between 1800-3000rpm, and after getting the feel of how the car handles, this makes the possibility of very fun driving in a quite different way to when driving a petrol car, which usually doesn’t have the massive torque of the diesel and otherwise has its peak pulling power at somewhat screamier revs.
With the HDi coupe, it is possible to make very rapid progress across even twisty and undulating terrain, without ever feeling that the car is being pushed hard. The 406 has since its inception been a car renowned for its impeccable handling, and this coupe more than lives up to that reputation.
This business gives one - fortunately or unfortunately - the chance to put some cars on a ‘wish-list’. A list which I’ll probably never manage to turn into reality. But the 406 coupe HDi definitely goes on that list. It was returned with regret.
A few technical details are warranted here. The car was returning around 48mpg during its stint with me. According to Peugeot, it uses something like 30% less fuel than its 2-litre petrol sibling. It has the FAP particulate filter that cuts emissions considerably too, and whenever they start taxing cars here on an emissions basis, it will score well.
The 2.2-litre engine is heavily penalised by our VRT system, though, so one must pay to be cleaner and more fuel-efficient than others, thanks to the blinkered thinking of those whom we pay to decide such things for us.
The 406 coupe range starts off at £28,475, and a 3-litre version with all the trimmings will set you back £38,245 at the time of writing. This top-spec HDi is £34,145. At that it is squarely up against the BMW 3-series 320ci coupe. In Ireland, at this price level, we buy image and badges.
Which is a shame. Because I’d buy the 406 coupe as just reviewed ahead of any BMW 3-series. And not just to be different. To be true to myself and true to value.
BMWs are being tootled around as if they were ten a penny anyhow.
June 2001
by Brian Byrne
