{"id":19269,"date":"2026-06-24T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/?page_id=19269"},"modified":"2026-06-20T11:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:26:00","slug":"peugeot-307-wrx-7-autoart","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/peugeot-307-wrx-7-autoart\/","title":{"rendered":"Peugeot 307 WRX #7 – AUTOart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
2005 Peugeot 307 WRX #7<\/strong>
Pilots: M. Gr\u00f6nholm \/ T. Rautiainem
Team: Marlboro Peugeot Total<\/em> 
Race: 3rd overall (WRC class) at the Deutschland Rally 2005<\/strong>
AUTOart - 60556 (diecast)<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Published 06\/24\/26<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Formed in 1981, Peugeot Sport<\/strong> was Peugeot\u2019s racing arm. More specifically, it was their rallying<\/em> arm. In 1984 they developed the 205 T16<\/a>, one of the inglorious Group B Monsters<\/strong>. However, with the demise of Group B, they abandoned rallying. But in 1999 they came back to the dirt, with the 206 WRC<\/a>. And just like the 205 T16, the 206 WRC delivered. With the always colorful Marcus Gr\u00f6nholm at the wheel, the 206 WRC won the WRC in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Yet, despite the success of the 206 WRC, Peugeot\u2019s higher-ups were already thinking about its successor. Work on the new 307 WRC<\/strong> began at the end of 2000, based on the new 307 hatch. However, that\u2019s when the Marketing department stepped in. Since the new  307 CC<\/a> (Coup\u00e9 Cabriolet) was about to come out, they wanted the CC as the base car.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
From the 206 WRC, the 307 only inherited the steering wheel and the brakes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In fact, Marketing was adamant about the 307 CC; if it wasn\u2019t possible, then Peugeot should stick with the 206 WRC. Turning a cabriolet into a WRC-legal car was no small feat, yet Peugeot Sport managed. In fact, the CC\u2019s lower roof and narrower body, compared to the regular 306, produced an aerodynamic bonus. The chassis had a unitary steel construction, with a McPherson suspension system with shock absorbers front and back. The engine was the same one used in Citro\u00ebn\u2019s Xsara WRC<\/a>, the XU7JP4. It was an aluminum inline-4, transversely mounted up front. Displacing 1997 cm\u00b3, with a Garrett turbo it delivered 224 kW (300 hp). The gearbox was initially a sequential Hewland 4-speed, but later replaced with a 5-speed unit. The first prototype was ready in December of 2002, and the following year Peugeot Sport\u2019s drivers tested the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
Ready to race, the 307 WRC weighed 1230 kg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Peugeot Sport, now Marlboro Peugeot Total<\/em>, debuted the 307 WRC at the 2004 Monte Carlo Rally. And the car started out well, with the team finishing in fourth and fifth. However, despite the good show at the Monte, the 307 WRC was fraught with reliability issues. The transmission system was especially problematic, demanding the replacement of the 4-speed gearbox with a 5-speed unit. With all the issues, during the 2004 season the 307 WRC only managed seven podiums. The only win took place in Rally Finland, in August. Though fast and with good handling, the 307 WRC just wasn\u2019t reliable. With the poor results, Peugeot finished fourth in the manufacturers’ championship, and Marcus Gr\u00f6nholm fifth in the drivers’ championship. And making things worse, in November 2004, PSA announced that Peugeot (and Citro\u00ebn) would withdraw from the WRC after 2005 \ud83d\ude0c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
The 307 WRC was the first car to abandon the norm of being a 3-box saloon or a 2-box hatchback in the WRC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
With just one more season to go, Peugeot was hard-pressed to finish their WRC campaign on a high note. By the end of 2004, Peugeot furiously worked to fix all the issues with the car. For 2005 they also revamped the aero package, to increase downforce and improve cornering. The team also changed their roster, with Markko M\u00e4rtin and Michael Park joining Gr\u00f6nholm and Rautiainem. And just as important, Pirelli replaced Michelin as Peugeot\u2019s tire supplier. All those changes improved the car\u2019s performance, but it wasn\u2019t enough to beat S\u00e9bastien Loeb\u2019s Xsara WRC. By the end of the season, the 307 WRC achieved 10 podiums. However, Gr\u00f6nholm achieved two wins, once again in Finland and in Japan. Gr\u00f6nholm drove this 307 WRC #7 to third place<\/a> at Rally Deutschland. With that, Peugeot finished second in the manufacturer\u2019s WRC, while Gr\u00f6nholm was second in the driver\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
Unfortunately, AUTOart doesn\u2019t supply the decals to complete the livery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Well, the 307 WRC did not follow the path set by the 205 T16 or 206 WRC. Looked beautiful, was a very interesting concept, but ultimately, flopped. In fact, Marcus Gr\u00f6nholm had some choice words<\/a> about it \ud83d\ude02. Nonetheless, I think it looks great. And in model form, is one more reason to mourn AUTOart\u2019s decision to abandon 1:43 \ud83d\ude25. A dandy of a 143rd<\/sup>! Especially because this is the night version, with the auxiliary light bar up front. However, AUTOart is not Ixo, so it didn\u2019t come with the decals to complete the livery. Because of the anti-tobacco law, in Germany the Marlboro logo was displayed as the \u201cbar code logo\u201d<\/a>. I will try to get the correct decals, but since I\u2019ll have to import, it won\u2019t be very easy. If I do, however, I\u2019ll certainly post an update. Wish me luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2005 Peugeot 307 WRX #7Pilots: M. Gr\u00f6nholm \/ T. RautiainemTeam: Marlboro Peugeot Total Race: 3rd overall (WRC class) at the Deutschland Rally 2005AUTOart – 60556 (diecast) Published 06\/24\/26 Formed in 1981, Peugeot Sport was Peugeot\u2019s racing arm. More specifically, it was their rallying arm. In 1984 they developed the 205 T16, one of the inglorious … Continue reading “Peugeot 307 WRX #7 – AUTOart”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19269","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19269"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19397,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19269\/revisions\/19397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}