| Week at the Wheel | Peugeot 4007 GT HDi |

Inside & Out:

A French cousin of the Mitsubishi Outlander, the 4007 is a quick-fix, niche-filling solution for Peugeot. Adding Peugeot's design identifiers to the Japanese car has proved a tricky task, the wide mouthed front grille being the 4007's strongest feature - for all the wrong reasons. Inside it's much the same, the 4007 a Mitsubishi with Peugeot badges, which means seven seats with easy operation and decent space.

It's simple, clean and uncluttered inside, yes, but lacking the improvement in quality that Peugeot has been demonstrating with its more recent range additions - even in this range-topping electric seated, leather-lined GT model tested here. The 4007's problems are compounded when you consider that Citroen does its own version, which is both smarter to look at and should be cheaper to buy.

Engine & Transmission:

Peugeot adds its own 2.2-litre HDi engine to the Mitsubishi mix, the 156bhp and 285lb.ft it delivers being more than enough to haul the 4007 along convincingly. Sixty-two mph arrives in 9.9 seconds, but it is in the mid range where it's strongest, making the 4007 a comfortable, easy cruiser. The manual gearbox isn't the slickest with the shifts rather lacking in finesse, however the engine's plentiful torque allows you to skip the majority of them - or better still you can opt for Peugeot's twin-clutch automatic. The four-wheel drive system is foolproof in its simplicity, with a large dial selecting between modes, and the 4007 proved to be a useful machine in the deep snow at the start of 2010.

Ride & Handling:

For a tall, off-road capable machine the Peugeot 4007 does a reasonable job on the road. The suspension is taut, that sometimes translating to roughness on poorer surfaces, but it always keeps the body roll in check. It's among the better driving SUVs out there, but there's still precious little steering feel or communication from the chassis.

Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:

The GT model comes comprehensively equipped with leather and electric seats, rear parking sensors, dark tinted rear windows, climate control, 18-inch alloy wheels and xenon lights among its standard specification. You'll pay an additional £1,660 if you want integrated satnav with music storage and rear-view camera, which added to the near £27,000 price is pushing the 4007 tantalisingly close to rivals wearing more desirable badges. Economy is reasonable though, with the official combined consumption and emission numbers being 40.3mpg and 185g/km.

Overall:

With two alternatives from Mitsubishi and Citroen offering exactly the same proposition with arguably more appealing styling the 4007 has its work cut out. It's a practical and easy to drive machine, but ultimately forgettable and odd-looking too. If we really wanted this seven-seat SUV we'd be tempted to get it from a Citroen dealer in C-Crosser guise - with a healthy cash-back offer and more conventional styling to boot.