The Genre-Bending Peugeot 408 Is Why I Love French Car Design

I’ve constantly experienced a fascination with French cars. I are not able to don’t forget what model to start with struck me, but from a younger age my favored car has generally been the groundbreaking Citroën DS, and French production and concept cars generally fill my personal annually lists of the ideal new car designs. French cars are persistently weird, complicated and superb, with the ideal mix of attractiveness, features and innovation. On Wednesday, Peugeot unveiled its new 408, a style-bending crossover twin of the Citroën C5 X that embodies everything I really like about French car design.

The 408’s over-all silhouette is that of a four-door coupe or smooth fastback sedan, but it has the raised trip peak and vast stance of an SUV. It truly is form of like the outdated AMC Eagle or the Honda Accord Crosstour, equally of which were in advance of their time, but the 408 is far improved hunting than either. The 408 is about 3 inches more time than the equally formed Polestar 2 and has a 2-inch-extended wheelbase, and the Peugeot is fairly substantially similar in height. The small hood, increasing shoulder line and raked rear glass give the 408 an athletic, “feline” stance that’s captivating from each and every angle.

Peugeot gave the 408 the coolest version of the brand’s new confront still. Its grille is produced up of dozens of thin, body-coloration parts that get larger sized the more they are from the heart emblem, flanked by slim matrix LED headlights that attribute Peugeot’s signature fang-like lights spearing down into the decrease gloss-black intakes. Equally, the rear close has the brand’s 3-claw taillights set into a black bar, like on other styles, but the 408’s decrease cladding and built-in ducktail spoiler set it aside.

Over and above what you detect at 1st look, the 408’s structure is entire of fascinating specifics and surfacing. The front doorway and rear shoulder each and every have a few character strains that occur to a stage, which catch the gentle and your eye in a great way and flow down into the angular, upswept rocker panel. The black plastic wheel arches have a pleasant lip to them, and the bodywork that surrounds explained arches is pinched in around the prime to visually boost the car’s width. Cleverly hiding the hinges for the hatch are two “cat ears” integrated into the spoiler that Peugeot suggests improve aerodynamics. Look at out those Ferrari-like fender shields, too!

Past thirty day period I stated the up-to-date Rolls-Royce Phantom has the very best wheels on sale, but the 408 has unquestionably upstaged them with its wheels. The 20-inch kinda-four-spoke wheels have what Peugeot describes as a “disruptive” layout. They glance like a sci-fi ninja’s throwing stars and are not like anything I have observed on a creation car. Other wheels are accessible, with dimensions starting off at 17 inches, but I will not know why you’d choose everything else. The car in these shots is also painted in Obsession Blue, a new shade formulated for the 408.

The 408’s angular inside is super funky too, with the very same i-Cockpit topic as other Peugeot styles. A 10-inch central touchscreen is angled towards the driver, although the 10-inch digital gauge cluster is positioned nearer to eye level. The 408’s air vents are also mounted high up, which Peugeot says increases comfort, and the compact steering wheel has redesigned controls.

Everything is oriented for relieve of use though driving, but the middle console is open so the passenger can use the display screen. Accessible functions involve massaging seats, a Focal sound technique, evening eyesight, a panoramic sunroof and all types of driver-support tech that takes advantage of 6 cameras and 9 radar sensors, like adaptive cruise regulate with semi-automatic lane variations.

The minimum exciting section about the 408 is its powertrains. The normal supplying is a turbocharged, 1.2-liter, a few-cylinder fuel engine with 130 horsepower, but two distinctive plug-in-hybrid setups employing a 1.6-liter four-cylinder are offered. Each powertrain utilizes an 8-pace automatic transmission and front-wheel travel, and the two hybrids have a 12.4-kilowatt-hour battery pack. The most highly effective set up has 225 hp, but no range determine is given. A totally electric powered e-408 is coming subsequent year, which really should be the decide of the litter.

The new 408 will go on sale in Europe at the starting of 2023 prior to growing to other world-wide locations. It will be created both of those in France and in China, with the Chinese variation having the name 408 X because of to the presently existing (and much much more monotonous) 408 sedan in that nation. Regrettably there is no likelihood the 408 will be bought in the US, as Peugeot’s designs to reenter the state ended up shelved by Stellantis a few decades in the past. Merde.