Peugeot 207 Touring Outdoor

The newest 207 Touring is called the Outdoor for Australia and picks up 16-inch alloy wheels with an extra 16 millimetres of ground clearance under the nose and 21 millimetres more in the tail, thanks to new spring and 205x55 tyres.  There are also bumper extensions and black wheel-arch surrounds. Of course, it still is only front-wheel drive...

But Peugeot believes the boost will encourage more people to tackle typical weekend escape work on gravel roads.  And it only has 150 to sell.  The Touring Outdoor is priced from $30,490 with a 1.6-litre petrol engine and outdated four-speed automatic gearbox, jumping by $1000 for a turbodiesel with five-speed manual. Power is 88 kiloWatts with the petrol motor and the pulling power of the diesel is 240 Newton-metres.

Peugeot claims an extensive equipment upgrade for the new 207 without any change to the pricetag. So the list now runs to twin-zone auto aircon, cruise control, leather-cloth seats, auto headlights and wipers, and a glass sunroof.  There are also six airbags.

The wagon tail in the updated 207 is impressive, with a lift-up glass window inside the regular tailgate, fold-flat rear seats and a luggage capacity up to 1433 litres. There are also storage nets, locating rings and tie-down straps.

AT A GLANCE

Peugeot 207 Touring Outdoor

Price: from $30,490
Safety: six airbags, ESP, anti-skid brakes
Engines: 1.6-litre petrol or turbodiesel
Output: 88kw/160Nm (petrol), 80kw/240Nm (diesel)
Economy: 6.4/7.3L/100km
Emissions: 130/173g/km