Peugeot Pars

After 10 years of manufacturing the Peugeot 405 in Iran, the company designed the Peugeot Persia as its facelift, with a front end similar to that of the Peugeot 406 (and the Peugeot 605). The Peugeot Persia was soon renamed Peugeot Safir and eventually Peugeot Pars because of local copyright problems. The Peugeot Pars has been made in multiple variants. The 16V, ELX and LX models use more powerful PSA 16-valve engines and a few other improvements.

Peugeot Pars (X9)
Overview
Manufacturer	Iran Khodro
Also called	Peugeot Persia Peugeot Safir Peugeot Khazar 406 (Azerbaijan)
Production	2000–present
Assembly	Cairo, Egypt (AAV) (2008–2015) Tehran, Iran (1999–2023) Thiès, Senegal (SenIran), (2012-present) Neftchala, Azerbaijan (Khazar) (2019–present) Iraq (2012–present)
Body and chassis
Class	Large family car (D)
Body style	4-door sedan
Layout	FF layout
Platform	Peugeot 405
Related	Peugeot 405 Peugeot 406 Citroën Xantia
Powertrain
Engine	1.8L XU7 8V I4 1.8L XU7 JP4 16V I4 1.6L TU5 JP4 16V I4 1.8L XU7+ 8V I4 1.9L XUM 8V I4
Chronology
Predecessor	Peugeot 405

The following variants are, or were, available:

• Pars (XU7 L3 engine, 8 Valve, 100 Horsepower (83 Horsepower in CNG/Bifuel Variant), 153 Nm of Torque (135 Nm in CNG/Bifuel Variant) - gasoline or Bifuel (CNG/gasoline)
• Pars LX, Pars automatic and Pars ELX-TU5 (TU5 Engine, 16 Valve, 105 Horsepower 142 Nm of Torque)
• Pars 16V and Pars ELX (XU7 L4 Engine, 16 Valve, 110 Horsepower 155 Nm of Torque)
• Pars ELX XUM (XUM Engine, 8 Valve, 105 Horsepower 155 Nm of Torque)
• Pars ELX XU7P (XU7P Engine, 8 Valve, 97 Horsepower 146 Nm of Torque)

The PSA-borrowed engine is XU7JP (code LFZ, known as L3 in Iran) 1.8 L SOHC with two valves per cylinder capable of producing a maximum power of 101 PS (74 kW) at 6000 rpm and a maximum torque of 153 Nm (15.6 kgf m / 113 ft·lbf) at 3000 rpm which is controlled by the SAGEM SL96 ECU. The same engine was already in use in various PSA Peugeot Citroën passenger cars.

This version uses a 1.6 L, 16-valve engine. The PSA-borrowed engine is TU5JP4 (code NFU, known as TU5 in Iran) DOHC with 4 valves per cylinder capable of producing a maximum power of 109 PS (80 kW) at 5800 rpm and a maximum torque of 142 Nm (14.47 kgf m / 104.73 ft·lbf) at 4000 rpm which is controlled by a Crouse or Bosch ECU. The same engine was already powering The PSA Peugeot 206 (Type 5 and Type 6 only.) and the Peugeot 405 SLX , The situation was the same with the Runna As Well.

 

The upmarket version named ELX features smart instrument cluster, multi-purpose Persian-reading dashboard telematics, alarm with door auto-lock, park assistant, electric Recaro cloth seats equipped with heater/cooling fan, luxury dashboard trim, passenger illuminated vanity mirror, 4-disc brakes with ABS/EBD, and finally rally alloy wheels.

The PSA-borrowed engine is XU7JP4 (code LFY, known as L4 in Iran) 1.8 L 16-valve DOHC with 4 hydraulically adjusted valves per cylinder capable of producing a maximum power of 109.0 bhp (81.3 kW / 110.5 PS) at 5500 rpm and a maximum torque of 155.0 N·m (15.8 kgf·m / 114 ft·lbf) at 4250 rpm which is controlled by Bosch Motronic MP 7.3 ECU. The same engine was already in use in the PSA's Peugeot 406 LX 1.8i 16v, Citroën Xantia SX 1.8i 16v, and Citroën Xsara VTS 1.8i 16v

IKCO stopped the production of the Pars ELX and unveiled the Pars ELX XUM, With a much more similar design however it had a different powertrain, A 8 Valve 1.9L PSA XUM Engine Which made 105 Horsepower and 155 Nm of Torque The new ELX XUM trim level was also more equipped, this time around coming with a new steering wheel which had buttons on it to control multi media, A Passenger Airbag, Handsfree For the Radio, New black and beige trimming and Wood trimming, new Gauge Cluster. The ELX XUM stopped production in 2017.

When the production of the ELX variant had come to an end in the year 2017 the trim lineup for the Pars seemed empty, The solution was to bring back the iconic trim which happened in 2022, this time however with more features, like Cruise control, Rain sensor, Tire-pressure monitoring system, In-car entertainment system which included a Touch Screen Display, Etc.

Whilst much more equipped than the previous ELX trim level, It instead had much weaker powertrain options, a 1.8L XU7+ Straight-four engine and a 1.6L TU5 JP4 16 Valve Straight-four engine which was already seen in the Peugeot 206, Peugeot 405 SLX and the IKCO Runna. The 1.8L XU7+ was a first timer engine for IKCO which was soon put in the IKCO Arisun.

Not as equipped as ELX, this model was simply an upgraded version of Pars in aspects of engine and rear brakes. The 16V employed a more powerful 16 valve engine, and rear disc brakes, but ABS was not available even as an option. The 16V model's production lasted less than a year; began on the second quarter of 2003 and ended on the first quarter of 2004 (making them 1382 model year based on Persian calendar), the same time it was replaced with the ELX model.

The Iran Khodro website contradicts this information, saying that a non-ELX 16V variant was still produced in 2009 (and with drum brakes in the rear).

Many Iranian car industry critics believe its production was a case study of the Iranian car market capacity performed by Iran Khodro before beginning the production of ELX to see if people are interested in more powerful and luxurious versions of Pars.

As an improvement over the Pars, the 16V utilizes solid disc brakes on rear wheels, but unlike the ELX which is equipped with an advanced ABS/EBD, the 16V model uses the same vacuum booster, master cylinder, distributor, and hydraulic lines in its braking system as the standard Pars.

The more powerful LFY engine (later used on the ELX) fitted to the 16V models grabbed the interest of the authorities who are always seeking for high-performance yet inexpensive cars as service vehicles. A large number of 16Vs were produced according to requests registered by Iranian governmental organizations. 16Vs can be seen as parliament service cars and also motorcade escorts.

 

In July 2023, The Peugeot Pars received a facelift due to not being able to meet modern standards, IKCO used the front bumper from the IKCO Arisun, a product made by the same manufacturer. They also managed to just barely fit a daylight system on the new Pars, they removed the plastic protection pieces from the car's body to make it look and seem more modern. The car this time around however, was also equipped with more features such as a DRL System, Electronic stability control, Gear Shift Indicator screen . The car was also offered with IKCO's new powertrain, the PSA TU5P (EC5 In Europe), as well as a Euro 5 version of the PSA XU7P.