Peugeot RCZ Reviews

Joshua Dowling road tests and reviews the 2014 Peugeot RCZ R, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Peter Barnwell road tests and reviews the 2014 Peugeot RCZ R.

Chris Riley road tests and reviews the 2014 Peugeot RCZ R.

Stunning to look at and great to drive the Peugeot RCZ has always been a fantastic coupe.

The RCZ R is a hardcore version of the brand's flagship coupe and the most powerful production car Peugeot has ever built.

Peugeot's Audi TT clone, the RCZ has been rejuvenated with a new look and slight spec' adjustment and remains an eminently desirable car to own, drive and look at.PRICEAvailable in 1.6 turbo petrol manual and auto, and a 2.0-litre turbo diesel all for the one price of $58,990, the sexy Pug undercuts Audi's entry TT 1.8 coupe by some $6500.Better still is the fact that there are no options or option packs to gouge your wallet. It's the way cars should be sold - fully equipped and that's it.The 'new' one has a more aggressive look to its face and flanks due to a new grille and bumper, selective use of highlight paints and matt black roof arches instead of a bright aluminium finish.It scores a set of striking 19-inch alloys, LED driving lights, active bixenon headlights with remote height adjustment and pop-up satnav inside. Other than that's it's pretty much the same as before.Interior decor is to luxury sports level with leather, a flat bottom wheel, multiple wheel controls by satellite stalks and a classy dash design with easy to use buttons and a premium audio system. The active rear spoiler remains as does the double bubble roof and rear glass.ENGINE AND TECHNOLOGYWe got hold of the manual 1.6-litre turbo petrol with 147kW/275Nm output. The same engine is used in numerous vehicles from Peugeot, BMW and Mini. It's one of the best small capacity four cylinder petrol units around right now offering strong, flexible performance, reasonably good fuel economy at 6.9-litres/100km and super smooth running. But we can't figure out why the six-speed auto is down tuned to a measly 115kW.Driver assist features include front and rear park assist, hill hold, cruise control with speed limiter, speed sensing power steering, electric seat adjust and auto headlights and wipers. None of the latest 'interventionist' driver assist functions are available such as lane keeping, radar cruise and auto brake. Safety is five star with all that entails - air bags, stability control and so forth.DRIVINGWe took the RCZ for a good long drive over a week and really enjoyed the experience. It is a glamorous looking thing, better this time around though we still like the arcing silver roof rails on the first model.The engine is a pearl, not super powerful but with enough get go to put a smile on your face.The manual change is sweet and the car's drive feel the same - sweeeeet. It has a pleasing exhaust burble but is quiet on a steady throttle. There are seats for four inside though you'd want to be of small stature to get into the rear ones. In the front seats, the RCZ is sumptuous.Dynamics are sharp and controlled. It sits flat as a tack no matter how fast you push through corners and the steering tells you precisely what's going on up front. Ride quality is near perfect - not too firm, not too soft.VERDICTWe really like the RCZ and don't really know why more haven't been sold. They are simply not on the radar.  That may change when the RCZ-R arrives here later this year with a potent 200kW engine up front. Can't wait.

Want supercar looks without a supersized price tag? This is the French way to get them... it's Peugeot's RCZ - a sleek coupe so sexy it's almost NSFW (not safe for work). The design has been revised and it's ditched the previous gaping maw that gave the first version the look of a recently hooked cod. The face is now more in tune with the rest of the gorgeous body.The swelling flanks, the curvaceous roof, the low glasshouse, all add up to a headturner that echoes the style of a supercar without the huge price. The cabin gets great detailing with hints of luxury and some quality materials at the touchpoints. There's a substantial spec list, including alloy pedals, powered seats with memory settings, and a massive flip-up infotainment and satnav screen.'Add in electronic parking assistance, leather covered sports steering wheel, 19-inch alloy wheels, daytime running lights and projector headlights and you've ticked plenty of boxes.There's a heap of room in the front, and the boot's not bad -- you can take quite a bit of gear for a two-person weekend.  The hatch and the boot floor are huge, and folding the back seat down boosts the capacity. But the stunning slope of the roof means the back seats are little more than a parcel rack -- you can climb in but there's no room for heads -- or legs if you're already past primary school age.The automatic is slick in the mock manual mode -- even if it misses out on the trigger change satisfaction you could get from steering wheel paddles. You can get a 147kW petrol engine with a manual -- and there's also a punchy turbodiessel version, but we've tested the milder petrol engine here. It gives you just 115kW of power, but the numbers can be decieving -- this engine  rewards you with a bit of sparkle if you give it some revs and wake the turbo up.Get that going and the car comes to life, and with the competent handling it can be a fun drive. It feels planted and sure on the road, and turns even low speed corners into some legal fun. The handling is helped by the suspension being fairly firm, but the ride quality only gets undermined by really bad surfaces.It's not a hardcore sports car but its got enough bang for the buck to keep most people happy. And its 'beauty for the buck' ratio is off the scale. Some of the finishes may not be quite up to the standard of, say, its German sports rivals. But nor is the price.

Peugeot has given its head-turning RCZ coupe a facelift, an equipment upgrade and, purely from a selfish point of view, the opportunity for us to take this delightful little car for a drive on both the open road and the racetrack.STYLINGAdopting the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy, changes to the styling of the 2013 RCZ are minor. The grille, while retaining the distinctive Peugeot wide mouth look, has been toned down a little with a wide lower intake that extends to the edges of the car and finishes with an upward kink fringed by daytime running lights that gives it a smile-like look. And why shouldn’t the car smile ... its drivers surely will.While the RCZ looks great from any angle it really comes into its own when seen in profile and from the rear. The roof slopes back to the rear almost from the time it leaves the top of the windscreen giving it a shape like no other coupe on the road especially with its distinctive ‘double bubble’ that runs from the back of roof through the rear window is an outstanding feature.The unusual shape of the Peugeot coupe does mean that there’s more front headroom than we’ve come to expect from sporting coupes. The back seat in the RCZ is an occasional seat that can be used by children, or very tolerant adults for short distances.The Peugeot RCZ is a wide car, and looks even wider thanks to the lowset rear styling. There’s a two-stage rear spoiler that raises automatically at pre-set speeds to provide added downforce. It can also be operated manually.The extra width of the RCZ also assists in providing 384 litres of boot space which can be expanded to 760 litres with the rear seats folded flat. The new RCZ now gets xenon headlights with titanium surrounds and 19-inch alloy wheels which were previously optional.VALUETalking of options – there aren’t any. In a move that will appeal to those potential buyers who would otherwise have to bring a calculator to the showroom to try and work out what they did and didn’t want, the Peugeot RCZ comes with one specification level and one price.But with the high value of the Australian dollar we’re becoming used to the prices of imported cars remaining the same or even dropping, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see the price of the RCZ increasing by $4000 to $58,990.However Peugeot has valued the additional, previously optional, equipment now standard at $5800. In addition to the xenon lights and 19-inch alloy wheels this includes satellite navigation which is displayed on a pop-up screen from within the dashboard.Unusually, that price of $58,990 is the same regardless of which of the three powertrain alternatives you choose: 1.6-litre turbo petrol, six-speed manual; 1.6-litre turbo petrol, six-speed automatic; or 2.0-litre turbo diesel, six-speed manual.ENGINESThe engines are unchanged from before with the petrol automatic having peak power and torque of 115kW and 240Nm and the petrol manual 147kW and 275Nm. The diesel version wasn’t available at the time of the RCZ’s Australian launch but we’ll report on it when we carry out our extended road test in the coming months.DRIVEThe Peugeot’s launch was based at Melbourne’s Sandown Park racetrack, with a 120-kilometre morning drive around the Dandenong Ranges in the automatic and then two hours of track driving with the manual in the afternoon.We have to admit returning from the road section of the drive program a little disappointed with the performance from the lower-powered engine and its automatic partner. As regular readers will know we are biased in favour of doing our own gear changing in sporty cars and while there is a tiptronic manual override with the auto RCZ it doesn’t come with the paddle shifts that we’ve come to expect in cars of this type.On the positive side this is a beautifully balanced car and there is plenty of grip and very little body roll even when pushing hard through corners. Although relatively firm the ride is still quiet and relaxing enough for long trips albeit with the usual problem of tyre/road noise on the typical coarse chip surfaces found on many Australian rural roads.Any lingering doubts about our preference for the manual RCZ were quickly dispelled when we hit the racetrack. As any driving enthusiast will confirm there’s a real buzz in getting the maximum from a small engine and doing so by working the gears to their optimum level. The sharp turns combined with the long straights at Sandown allowed us to let the little Pug show what it was capable of doing.There’s enough torque to go through the tight Sandown bends in third gear and we were able to hit 175km/h in the long straights. The buzzy engine note adds to the enjoyment.

Peugeot's RCZ 2+2 coupe is a striking car in the Audi TT idiom but with its own French flavour. The double-bubble rear screen is a stroke of styling genius as are the sweeping aluminium roof spars.PRICEAnd then there's the price advantage - all three RCZ variants are $54,990 with a generous amount of goodies. A diesel Audi TT will set you back nearly $70k albeit with all wheel drive.ENGINE AND MECHANICALSWe have been driving the 2.0-litre HDi turbo diesel six-speed manual - an interesting specification for a sports coupe but it works, delivering sporty performance and sharp handling. There's no cackling, popping exhaust as you get in the turbo petrol models but the car has other strengths - such as frugal 5.3-litres/100km fuel consumption. It means you can drive your diesel RCZ for a thousand kays without refuelling. Strong roll-on acceleration is also an endearing feature of the 2.0-litre diesel which runs a variable geometry turbo and high pressure injection on the way to delivering some 120kW/340Nm output. That's pretty lazy by latest gen' diesel standards but you really don't need any more poke than what is available. It's aided and abetted by the close-ratio six- speed manual box which works sweetly apart from the 5-6 upchange which is slightly offset. You can maximise fuel efficiency by paying attention to the car's gear change indicator but we achieved 5.3 without really trying. Emissions are reduced by an exhaust particle filter and safety is boosted by four air bags and sports calibrated stability control. It has decidedly sporty handling thanks to the wide track and well damped suspension which is an ideal compromise between sports firm and comfort soft.DESIGN AND EQUIPMENTIt's a beautifully built thing coming out of a factory in Austria complete with leather interior and a stylish yet functional dash.The test vehicle was equipped with optional JBL audio which rocks your world but generous standard equipment includes Bluetooth, premium, fully connected audio, chrome dash trim, alloy pedals, dual climate control and a heap of other goodies. Brakes and steering responses are of a high order. The test car's Directional bi-xenon headlights were among the best we have sampled and the hill start assist and park assist are handy to have.VERDICTWe liked driving this car. It's stylish, engaging, economical, goes great, is well equipped - and the right price.

Released last year, the Peugeot RCZ has been compared to Audi's TT coupe in its style and execution.You don't see many of these cars on the road, so if you want to standout this could be just the ticket.VALUEStill not sure about the looks, but Peugeot's RCZ sports car certainly commands attention. So does the price, because at $54,990 before on-roads it looks a lot more expensive than it is. Peugeot has adopted a curious pricing strategy for this car. Buyers can chose between three models, all for the same price. There's a choice of 1.6-litre turbo petrol and 2.0-litre turbo diesel engines, with six-speed manual and automatic transmissions. But there is a caveat. The diesel is available only as a manual and there is a bigger choice than might be first apparent when deciding between the manual or automatic petrol versions.If you want the automatic, you must accept a cut in the engine's power and outputs, which drops from 147 to 120kW and from 275 to 240Nm.DESIGNThe exterior is defined by the so-called double-bubble shaped roof and rear window, a large analogue clock dominates attention inside. The RCZ scores five stars for safety, with a raft of safety devices.Leather is not standard but the car is reasonably well equipped, with a range of option packs available. The standard six-speaker sound system includes Bluetooth, a USB connector, AUX socket, audio streaming function as well as a hands-free kit.TECHNOLOGYThe RCZ has a Mac strut front and torsion beam rear suspension setup, and sits on standard 18 or optional 19 inch wheels. The 1.6-litre turbocharged engine is in fact the same unit that can be found under the bonnet of the Cooper S.Jointly developed by BMW and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, it was named International Engine of the Year last year. With a twin scroll turbocharger the engine develops maximum torque of 275Nm during overboost and sprints from 0-100km/h in 7.5 seconds. At the same time it uses just 6.9 litres of fuel per 100km. The car tips the scales at 1372kg.DRIVEThink fun to drive in the classic sense of the term and you start to get the picture. Not having driven any Peugeots for a while we approached the RCZ without any preconceptions. The RCZ sits on the same platform as the 308 and 3008 models. Our test vehicle was the 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine with the six-speed manual transmission which is bound to be the biggest selling model given the car's sporty pretensions. But the ride height has been lowered 20mm and the car has a lower centre of gravity both of which contribute to excellent handling characteristics.The RCZ is no red light racer, but delivers plenty of punch in the mid range, with nice exhaust crackle and quick, responsive dynamics. The car exhibits high levels of grip but is better suited to smoother roads, with an engine that hits the rev limit easily.A pop up rear wing activates at speeds of more than 85km/h and folds back below 55km/h, with a second position for speeds above 155 km/h (or you can deploy it manually)But, after the first corner, we were hooked. With a T intersection ahead and the lights about to go red, we just made it in time, flicking the wheel right for the 90 degree turn. To its credit the RCZ didn't miss a beat, snapping around the turn like it was on rails.VERDICTThis is a car for people who like to drive, with spring in its step and a light easy to use manual change.