Peugeot 207 LW

[Plex]

So we've driven the Peugeot 207 GT THP 150 and liked it. It's not quite the 207 GTi - it lacks the final 25bhp, for example - but it's a very promising taster of what is to come when the GTi is launched in March.

Meanwhile, here's an even better taster. The 207 LW, or lightweight, has the 175bhp version of the BMW/Peugeot turbo engine destined for the GTi (to be called 207 RC in France) and already seen in the new Mini Cooper S. It also has suspension tuned for a very sporty, interactive drive, and it has shed a hefty 100kg from its weight.

Excellent, you're thinking, sounds like the 106 Rallye idea reborn. But not quite. Great as a 207 Rallye would be, the 207 LW is actually a bespoke race car designed for Peugeot-supported national championships. You buy it as a kit costing about �17,000 or ready to race at �20,000, (plus taxes for both). Then you register for the championship (�600) and find �200 for each of the six meetings, which to begin with are mainly French-based. You get two races per meeting.

A CD player isn't standard fit
This all sounds like excellent fun, with prize money to be won and a 207 Spider race car for the championship winners, but what we want to know is - how like the 207 GTi is the LW?

I'm at a little racetrack at Loheac, in Brittany, and the surface is distinctly damp. The LW is looking very LW indeed, because all that's left of the interior is the dashboard, a Sparco racing driver's seat and the vital controls. Even the gearlever has all its linkage laid bare, and the door trims are mere sheets of moulded glass fibre.

There is, however, a very stout bolted-in rollcage, which puts back some of the weight lost by the cabin's denuding. Exterior pointers to the LW's purpose include a tailgate spoiler (like the aluminium-look door mirrors, these are as will be seen on the GTi) and Peugeot Sport racing wheels with 225/45 R17 tyres. Also, the ABS and ESP systems have been disconnected and a front/rear brake balance adjuster installed.

So I'm strapped in, I fire up the engine and it relaxes to a perfectly smooth, road-car idle. Out on to the track and the weight loss is very evident: the LW rockets forward with just a whiff of throttle as the turbocharger spools up to speed. As in the Cooper S, there's very little response lag and the 1.6-litre engine feels more like a supercharged unit, or a normally-aspirated 2.0. Once roused it revs with an enthusiastic blare, a little louder than the road cars will be I suspect.

Power out of the first, long bend and on to the straight. There are just five forward gears here, as there will be in the GTi (the Cooper S has six), and the straight is long enough to make fifth gear useful. Now a narrow slow-down gap through cones and a devilishly tight right-hand hairpin.

The LW gets its power down tidily on the exit, despite the lack of electronic aids, and now through the twists and a long, fast left-hander it reveals what I hope the GTi will be like. The LW is a racing car and is set up accordingly, with springs and dampers calibrated for the lower weight and a friskier tail than might be deemed prudent on the road. But in essence the feel will be similar, I'm told, which means a very keen turn-in and much scope for steering on the throttle once in a bend.

Brakes are over-servoed
You can get the tail to slither on this damp track if you back off suddenly, in authentic Peugeot GTi fashion, but it's benign and very controllable. The road-going THP 150 gives hints of this but its ESP system, which can't be turned off above 30mph, nips it in the bud. I'm told the GTi's ESP, however, can be fully disabled, so track-day fun beckons.

So that's what I discover on lap one. On lap two I carry more speed on to the straight, decide not to be fazed by the cones and carry on through them at scarcely abated speed. This bravado is unwise, I now discover. The brakes, firm and positive but snatchily over-servoed, lock up with worrying ease and I end up, albeit gently and without damage, in the gravel. Calibration work is still in progress on the brakes, the Peugeot Sport people said earlier, and I can see exactly what they mean.

Brakes aside, the 207 LW is great fun. If it's an accurate pointer to the GTi then we'll be in for a treat. Now, what about a 207 Rallye?

Source: http://www.channel4.com/4car/di/peugeot/207/5154/1

[NickJr.]

Sweet, can't wait to see the road cars down here. A interior pic would have been nice.
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Killah Rover

[Plex]

I think i posted an interior pic on a different 207 pic here...But for this car none was available..