Peugeot RCZ 2010 review

News of a French attack doesn't normally worry the German luxury heavyweights, but very few French fighters are like the Peugeot RCZ.  The new coupe has the style - its double-bubble roof and chunky alloy roof arches turns heads like few other cars - and performance to challenge the pace and trend-setting Audi TT and the price will finally lure a decent stream of traffic into Peugeot showrooms.

Peugeot only expects to sell around 400 cars a year, but the RCZ is a halo model for the brand and shows just how good a car the company can put on the streets.

Value

This is the best-buy sports coupe on the market.  It's not the quickest, but the combination of style, features and fun factor make it hard to go past. There are three models in the range - two with petrol power and one turbodiesel - and they're all $54,990.

That's $9000 cheaper than the basic Audi TT and $400 cheaper than BMW's 125i coupe, putting at the front of the pack for comparison shopping. Only the Mercedes-Benz CLC coupe is cheaper (by around $3000), but it's about to be superseded.

The Peugeot's options list isn't horrendous either, ranging from $600 for 19-inch alloy wheels to $800 for metallic paint and $1500 for the leather seats and dash.

Technology

The RCZ takes its mechanical package from Peugeot's 308, though the track has been widened to give the car a better stance and feel through corners.  There's the usual alphabet soup of driving aids, but the basic stability of the car means they won't come into play without a lead-foot off the lights or brain-fade in the turns.

Inside there's standard three-way electric seat adjustment, cruise control and a six-speaker sound system with USB and jack inputs. It only takes one CD, though, and while the sound is superb when playing music the volume needs to be turned up when answering calls with the hands-free Bluetooth mobile phone function.

Design

Looks are the RCZ's strong suit, providing you don't mind being the centre of attention.  The front end is identifiably Peugeot, while the thick alloy roof arches create a fairly dramatic impact on the road.

With a height of only 1.36thmetres, the double-bubble glass roof makes this vehicle a carpark standout. It looks like a side-by-side jet cockpit, but I shudder to think what it would cost to replace.

The interior is just as classy, especially with the optional leather. Some owners will love the fact the steering wheel isn't plastered with dials and buttons like so many these days, but it does mean you'll need to read the manual to deal with all the functions on the stalk controls.

Peugeot describes the back seats as "occasional" but they're for emergency use only, based on the fact my 10-year-old daughter's head was touching the sloping rear window when she leaned back.  That makes the sculpted rear bucket seats redundant, really.

Safety

The RCZ should earn a five-star ANCAP safety rating given the level of attention that's been paid to protecting the occupants.  There are four airbags, ABS with brakeforce distribution, ESC and traction control.

The last two can be switched off for track days - there's already enough "give" built into the software to allow a margin of slip on your favourite road - although few people are likely to give their RCZ that sort of thrashing.  The bonnet kicks up by 55mm in a slow-speed impact to help protect inattentive pedestrians.

Driving

We have both the high-output petrol engine and the turbodiesel and enjoy both, for different reasons. The six-speed manual will need to be worked to keep the 1.6-litre petrol on boost, but it's a smooth shifter with a light clutch. Coupled with the petrol engine's lighter weight that makes it the pick on twisty roads as the front end is less likely to push.

The diesel comes into its own on more open curves, freeways and in town, where the extra torque means you don't have to be grabbing for the gearshift every time you slow down.

The brakes are up to the job and the feel through the wheel is good, if not quite up to BMW standards. The suspension is sports-biased so it works well at absorbing mid-corner ripples, but isn't as plush over minor irregularities like the carved-out line markings that VicRoads seems to think are acceptable on the Monash Freeway.

It's no hot-hatch goer with a 0-100km/h time of only 7.5 seconds, but it will reward drivers who enjoy the back roads and it won't savage the wallet at the pump _ combined fuel consumption is officially 6.9litres for 100km and we veraged only marginally worse at 7.3thlitres/100km.

She says (with Lara Duff)

This is a car for people who want to have fun. You smile as you walk up to it and are still smiling when you get out of it.  The RCZ is easy to drive around town, the seats are comfortable and the interior looks like a much more expensive car. I couldn't recommend anyone use the rear seats, but there's plenty of boot space when they're folded flat Having a button to manually raise the rear spoiler is a bit over the top, even for this car, but that's as bad as it gets.

Verdict

A fashionable car for extroverts who like to have fun and be seen doing it.