Peugeot 307
The peugeot 307 is a family car produced by the French peugeot manufacturer since 2001. It was awarded the European Car of the Year title for 2002, and continues in production as of 2008 despite the launch of the 308 (its intended successor) in 2007.
The 307 was presented as the 307 prométhée prototype at the 2000 Mondial de l’Automobile. The production hatchback versions were introduced to the European markets in 2001 as a successor to the peugeot 306. The 307 was also sold in Australia, New Zealand and Asia as well; but not Canada, although it was sold in Mexico in 1.6 and 2.0 petrol versions.
It remains in production as of 2008, despite the launch of the 308 (its successor) during the summer of 2007.
The 307s makes use of a reworked 306 platform, that can also be found on the Citroën Xsara as well as the 1991 Citroën ZX. However, the car is larger than the 306 in every direction.
The 307 continued the company’s styling first seen on the peugeot 206 and peugeot 607. With upswept front lights and a steeply rising bonnet leading to a highly sloped windscreen (and the upright rear doors first seen on the 206), the 307 departed from the pininfarina-designed themes employed on the previous two generations of peugeots, as introduced with the peugeot 205, and ending with the (evolutionary) peugeot 406.
Its height is 1510 mm (59.4 in), which is in the middle of the spectrum between small family cars (between 1400 and 1450 mm) and compact MpVs (between 1600 and 1650 mm). Some consider the 307 as a low compact MpV rather than a tall small family car, because of its height and profile.
At launch, the 307 was launched as a 3- and 5-door hatchback, though in 2002 the 307 range was expanded with the introduction of two estates, called the 307 Break and 307 SW. Externally they are almost identical, with the exception that the SW version has silver roof bars and a 3/4 length panoramic glass roof as standard equipment. Internally though, the 307 Break is a conventional estate, while the SW features an optional third row of removable seats so it is more flexible due to its MpV-like configuration. The SW exists because peugeot did not develop a compact MpV spin-off as Citroën did with the Xsara picasso, instead preferring to offer a more flexible version but maintaining the style and road manners of an estate.
The 307 CC, a cabriolet with a retractable hardtop, was launched in 2003 to compete against the new European coupé cabriolets.
In 2004, a four-door saloon version of the 307 was launched in China. The 307 is produced for the Chinese market by the Dongfeng peugeot-Citroën Automobile, a joint venture with the pSA Group. This model is also built in Argentina since early 2004.
also available (from 09/2007 onwards) is a version called 1,6 BioFlex that can as well run on ethanol E85.
In 2005, the 307 was revised to meet the onslaught of rivals which had been launched since the introduction of the 307 in 2001. The front of the car was restyled featuring mildly revised lights, a new bonnet and the removal of the trademark peugeot grille between the headlights. With the latter change, along with a new front bumper, the front of the car was now dominated by a larger air intake, as first established on the peugeot 407, and which was now effectively the company’s new grille.
The 307’s replacement, the 308, was launched in September 2007.
The peugeot 307 WRC, a World Rally Car based on the 307 CC, replaced the very successful 206 WRC in the World Rally Championship in 2004. The vehicle, nicknamed “The Flying Frog” and “The Whale”, was plagued by transmission problems and only began to come into its element in competition towards the end of its factory-supported participation in the WRC. It has three WRC victories to its name, but saw its competition life cut short at the end of 2005 by pSA’s self-enforced withdrawal from top-level rallying. It topped the podium in the series on the 2004 and 2005 Neste Rally Finland as well as in the 2005 Rally Japan. All the victories were at the hands of double world champion Marcus Grönholm. A private undertaking for the 2006 World Championship season by seasoned peugeot preparatory firm Bozian Racing, dubbed OMV peugeot Norway World Rally Team, has since largely assumed responsibility for the running of WRC-spec 307s. Manfred Stohl and Henning Solberg were named as the driving personnel.
The 307 WRC will be remembered for the accident that befell WRC competitors Markko Märtin and Michael park on September 18, 2005, which resulted in park’s death. On stage 15 of Wales Rally GB, Märtin lost control of his 307 WRC and collided with a tree, killing park instantly. This was the first fatality in a WRC event since 1993.
In January 2006, the UK What Car? magazine reported that peugeot has designed a diesel-electric hybrid engine for the 307 that can achieve 83 mpg–imp (3.4 L/100 km / 69.1 mpg–U.S.). The vehicle is in the concept stages. In addition, a diesel-electric hybrid, unlike gas-electric vehicles, could be totally independent of oil since pure biodiesel can theoretically be used in any diesel engine.