By John Simister
Specifications
Price:
From £22 790 to £25 490 (R329 000 to R368 000).
Engine:
2178cc, four cylinders, 16 valves, turbodiesel, 116kW at 4000rpm, 387Nm at 2000rpm.
Transmission:
Six-speed manual gearbox, all-wheel drive.
Performance:
198km/h, 0-100km in 9.9sec, 7.3 litres/100km.
We've already tested this car, but hear me out. When you first read about it it was called the Mitsubishi Outlander. When you encountered it a second time, appraised by an Independent colleague, it had transmuted into a Citroën C-Crosser.
Today's incarnation is as a Peugeot, the new 4007 and yes, each has been considered for SA release, but apparently in both cases Europe is taking all the available stock and South Africa isn't getting any.
The 4007 is Peugeot's second off-roader and its third production vehicle with all-wheel drive.
Second off-roader? Well, you need to be familiar with the French military to know about the first, which was a rebadged, Steyr-Daimler-Puch-built Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen fitted with a properly French Peugeot diesel engine.
And the other 4x4 was the excellent Peugeot 405 Mi16x4, a sporty sedan with extraordinary roadholding and the dynamic flair for which the company was once famous.
This is, I think, the first Japanese-built Peugeot unless someone in Japan made Peugeots under licence in the 1950's, as Hino did with the Renault 4CV and Isuzu with the Hillman Minx.
The difference is that the 4007 is a Japanese design, albeit with Peugeot's own 116kW, 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine whose carbon footprint is considerable, having travelled halfway across the world and back even before reaching its first customer.
And under the skin lies a platform born of the now-dissolved marriage between Mitsubishi and DaimlerChrysler.
It's also to be found beneath the new, European-styled Mitsubishi Lancer(including the hot Evo model)at one extreme and the Jeep Patriot at the other, taking in the Dodge Caliber faux-4x4 and Avenger sedan, the Chrysler Sebring and the Jeep Compass on the way.
Brand DNA? What's that?
Peugeot has tried to enact some gene therapy on the 4007, though. The big-mouthed front end is proof of that. The tail has lights different from the Mitsubishi's, and there's a matt silver strip between them.
Questionable brand identity
Thus is a Mitsubishi made into a Peugeot, just as Citroën made it into the C-Crosser. Brand identity is reduced to new pieces of plastic front and rear. Does it matter?
Depends on whether a car is a manifestation of a company's unique approach to design and engineering and the richness of its heritage or just another consumer durable.
You could, with your eyes half-closed, convince yourself that the 4007 is a proper Peugeot. It has the bold wheel-arches with flat edges. It has the reverse-slope rear side windows, the giant lion badge.
And who can blame Peugeot for wanting to cash in on buyers' continuing love of SUVs, especially when it can do so with so little investment by buying, in effect, an off-the-shelf product?
So you would expect the 4007 to be just like an Outlander, both to be in and to drive. And do you know what? It... isn't.
Different finishes alter the interior's tone significantly. The metallic, motorbike-inspired look is toned down and, crucially, the fascia has a skin of soft vinyl, even if it's still not actually padded. The 4007 feels more upmarket than the Outlander.
Gruff VW turbodiesel
Then you drive it. The Mitsubishi is a pleasant machine to pilot, surprisingly agile for its size (it's a seven-seater provided the rearmost two passengers are of primary-school age) but let down by the gruffness of the two-litre VW turbodiesel in the most obvious version to buy. Peugeot's 2.2-litre diesel, however, is a smooth, civilised piece of machinery.
We know this from its use, with twin turbochargers, in other Peugeots and Citroëns, and from its installation in the Land Rover Freelander, in which form it has, as here, a single turbo.
And it makes the Peugeobishi feel like a refined, quality car, quiet on the cruise and discreet when worked harder.
The engine sends its efforts not through a Peugeot gearbox but instead a Japanese Aisin unit, married to a lever and linkage with a much more positive action than is usual in a Peugeot nowadays.
Think about what you're doing
The gearbox, of course, is attached to an all-wheel-drive system. It's one you can play with, one which makes you think about what you're doing.
There's a big knob, just behind the gearshifter, whose three positions select front-wheel drive only, automatic all-wheel drive or locked all-wheel drive for maximum traction.
All that most people will need, 98 percent of the time, is front-wheel drive. On that basis they might as well buy an MPV, but a 4x4, even acting as a 4x2, is clearly cooler.
Auto 4x4 mode diverts the engine's efforts to the rear wheels when the fronts aren't coping but it makes fuel consumption a bit worse owing to inevitable power losses in the drive coupling.
However, it also makes the driving experience a little sharper, making the front wheels less likely to run wide if you enter a bend too quickly.
Faster than the Outlander
The keen driver's mode of choice should be 4WD Auto, and clearly it's the one for wet, icy or loose-surfaced roads. The 4007 copes off-road in 4WD Auto, too; it's no Freelander, but you'll be amazed how far it gets.
On the road, it's faster than the diesel Outlander, and sweeter. It reaches 100km/h in 9.9sec compared with 10.8 and can do 198km/h (185km/h for its Japanese-badged rival). The downside is thirst: 7.3 litres/100km average (still impressive for an SUV) against 6.8.
Continuing the comparison, the Peugeot rides a little more smoothly but feels a little less agile. Win some, lose some.
Like the Mitsubishi, the 4007 has centre-row seats that fold automatically at the press of a button. And the rearmost, two-person bench folds neatly, almost undetectably, into the boot floor.
It's a very basic bench, though; it has proper seat belts but adults would have their knees under their chins. Trim levels are SE and posher GT, the latter with bigger wheels, leather seats, tinted rear side windows and more toys.
The options list offers yet more toys, including a colour reversing camera.
Holding its value
A 4007 SE costs from £22 790 (R329 00). The Outlander - from £19 449 (R280 000) - is what it says it is rather than pretending to be something else, looks better to my eyes and may well, given the superficial nature of buyers' associations of brands, hold its value better. Soon, too, the Outlander will get the option of the Peugeot engine, although that will raise its price.
The 4007 is a good car of its type and if you need an SUV and there's a Peugeot dealer nearby, go right ahead. Ditto C-Crosser and Citroën dealer.
But, speaking as someone who regards cars as something more than white goods, I'd rather have the genuine Mitsubishi and live with that hard fascia.
The rivals
Honda CR-V i-CTDi
£20 000 (R288 400). SA price R326 900.
Styling apologises for being an SUV, but the CR-V has the best-quality interior in the class and is best to drive, with a terrific diesel engine. Peugeot has more seats, though.
Land Rover Freelander 2.2 TD4
£20 935 (R302 000). SA price R339 000.
New, roomier Freelander is best in class off-road and good to drive on-road, if a touch firm over bumps. Interior uninspiring; base model short on equipment.
Mitsubishi Outlander 2.0 Di-D
£19 449 (R280 000).
The car that the 4007 really is. Mitsubishi's version is cheaper but lacks Peugeot's pace, quietness and perceived interior quality. Against that, it's authentic.