Is it me or are all new cars just becoming ridiculously heavy?
Hired a Peugeot 207 last weekend, and was generally impressed. Yes it had that 'large car feel', and everything seemed tight and rattle-free. But - the doors felt like they'd come from a bank vault, and despite being a 1.4 petrol which by rights in a small car should have felt fairly lively, the car was completely gutless. Changing from 1st to 2nd gear left you in a huge hole with no torque, and even the slightest acceleration on a motorway needed a downchange.
It turned out to be reasonably economical (early 40s which isn't exactly earth shattering), but surely this can't be the way forward. I know Mazda and Ford are cutting weight from their small cars, but what are the other makers doing?
