The weight of brilliant Peugeots from the past has worn heavily on the shoulders of Peugeot’s executives during recent years. Its cars – from the company once famous for ‘the drive of your life’, you’ll remember – have lately struggled to offer the best drive you’ve had that day. And Peugeot has known it, meaning a great deal is expected of the RCZ.
It is a car that Peugeot acknowledges and hopes will mark a turning point: that from here on in, it will be making interesting cars that are entertaining to drive.
To a small extent, the tide has already turned. The 3008 and 5008 have both featured chassis dynamics that are a marked step-up from, say, the 207 and 307. It’s a trait that has continued with the new 508.
The RCZ, though, is meant to represent a marked progression again. Peugeot calls this the first of a new range of ‘special cars’ meant to add an edge of exclusiveness to a French marque better known for big-selling small cars.
This is the car, and the point in time, from which it would like us to judge its future product.
How significant does Peugeot think the RCZ is? Put it this way: in its history, it has until now never created a passenger car that doesn’t have a ‘0’ or two in the middle of its name.
You won’t find it in Peugeot’s written information, but the design inspiration for the RCZ coupé seems clear enough to us. Peugeot hopes this car will do for it what the TT did for Audi. And with those sweeping chrome bars that seamlessly meld its A-pillars into its roof and then into its B-pillars, the design similarities are fairly clear.
Along with that, though, comes a sense of Peugeot identity: the Peugeot nose is clear enough, and the tail, too, plus some of the detailing. It’s Peugeot’s take on the small 2+2 coupé, rather than just a pure clone.
Design success is rather subjective, but we’re particularly fond of the double-bubble roof and rear window. The window looks horrendously expensive to replace, but they’re details that have made it over unscathed from the 308 RCZ concept of 2007.
Unfortunately, the low roofline means that, even with the clever-shaped glass, there is very little rear passenger space. The kink in the window line looks good, but it’s also essential as a way to drop the waistline and allow enough glass area in a small cockpit.
The pop-up rear spoiler has two phases. The first is set at 19deg and deploys automatically at 53mph, retracting again at 34mph. The fully extended position settles at 34deg and deploys above 96mph. The wing can also be controlled by the driver.
The RCZ’s body is 30mm wider than the standard 308 hatch’s, as well as being lower. More important, its tracks are 44mm wider at the front and 63mm wider at the rear.
In creating a car that looks this radical on the outside yet costs from the low end of £21k, Peugeot has had to compromise. On the RCZ, this has occurred underneath the skin with its 308 platform, but also in its interior.
Inside, the 308 still dominates. The general cabin architecture and even some details are straight out of the hatchback. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but next to an Audi TT, whose bespoke interior was good enough to be the inspiration for the R8’s, it’s a mite disappointing. There are, however, some highlights.
In GT specification, leather is standard on the front and rear seats, and it can be extended to the upper part of the dashboard with an integral leather pack.
This contrasts markedly with some plastics that are straight from the 308 line, particularly around the steering wheel shroud (noticeable because it’s otherwise well finished around here) and on the lower transmission tunnel. On the whole, though, it’s a well-finished interior and more than acceptable at the price.
The driving position is fine, too, with no pedal offsets and a steering wheel that has a massive range of adjustment (although the wheel itself could be smaller on a sporting car like this).
What you won’t find is much room in the RCZ’s rear. This is strictly a 2+2 coupé. Access to the rear bench is tight, and once you get there, it’s less than accommodating. The backrest is very upright and the squab small. It’s roomier than an Audi TT and those bumps in the roof do add a little to headroom, but for anything other than the shortest of trips, it’s best avoided.
The bench backrest folds down to increase the boot volume from 384 to 760 litres, but because it’s an enclosed boot rather than a hatch, the RCZ is less practical than a TT or VW Scirocco.
It is a car that Peugeot acknowledges and hopes will mark a turning point: that from here on in, it will be making interesting cars that are entertaining to drive.
To a small extent, the tide has already turned. The 3008 and 5008 have both featured chassis dynamics that are a marked step-up from, say, the 207 and 307. It’s a trait that has continued with the new 508.
The RCZ, though, is meant to represent a marked progression again. Peugeot calls this the first of a new range of ‘special cars’ meant to add an edge of exclusiveness to a French marque better known for big-selling small cars.
This is the car, and the point in time, from which it would like us to judge its future product.
How significant does Peugeot think the RCZ is? Put it this way: in its history, it has until now never created a passenger car that doesn’t have a ‘0’ or two in the middle of its name.
You won’t find it in Peugeot’s written information, but the design inspiration for the RCZ coupé seems clear enough to us. Peugeot hopes this car will do for it what the TT did for Audi. And with those sweeping chrome bars that seamlessly meld its A-pillars into its roof and then into its B-pillars, the design similarities are fairly clear.
Along with that, though, comes a sense of Peugeot identity: the Peugeot nose is clear enough, and the tail, too, plus some of the detailing. It’s Peugeot’s take on the small 2+2 coupé, rather than just a pure clone.
Design success is rather subjective, but we’re particularly fond of the double-bubble roof and rear window. The window looks horrendously expensive to replace, but they’re details that have made it over unscathed from the 308 RCZ concept of 2007.
Unfortunately, the low roofline means that, even with the clever-shaped glass, there is very little rear passenger space. The kink in the window line looks good, but it’s also essential as a way to drop the waistline and allow enough glass area in a small cockpit.
The pop-up rear spoiler has two phases. The first is set at 19deg and deploys automatically at 53mph, retracting again at 34mph. The fully extended position settles at 34deg and deploys above 96mph. The wing can also be controlled by the driver.
The RCZ’s body is 30mm wider than the standard 308 hatch’s, as well as being lower. More important, its tracks are 44mm wider at the front and 63mm wider at the rear.
In creating a car that looks this radical on the outside yet costs from the low end of £21k, Peugeot has had to compromise. On the RCZ, this has occurred underneath the skin with its 308 platform, but also in its interior.
Inside, the 308 still dominates. The general cabin architecture and even some details are straight out of the hatchback. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but next to an Audi TT, whose bespoke interior was good enough to be the inspiration for the R8’s, it’s a mite disappointing. There are, however, some highlights.
In GT specification, leather is standard on the front and rear seats, and it can be extended to the upper part of the dashboard with an integral leather pack.
This contrasts markedly with some plastics that are straight from the 308 line, particularly around the steering wheel shroud (noticeable because it’s otherwise well finished around here) and on the lower transmission tunnel. On the whole, though, it’s a well-finished interior and more than acceptable at the price.
The driving position is fine, too, with no pedal offsets and a steering wheel that has a massive range of adjustment (although the wheel itself could be smaller on a sporting car like this).
What you won’t find is much room in the RCZ’s rear. This is strictly a 2+2 coupé. Access to the rear bench is tight, and once you get there, it’s less than accommodating. The backrest is very upright and the squab small. It’s roomier than an Audi TT and those bumps in the roof do add a little to headroom, but for anything other than the shortest of trips, it’s best avoided.
The bench backrest folds down to increase the boot volume from 384 to 760 litres, but because it’s an enclosed boot rather than a hatch, the RCZ is less practical than a TT or VW Scirocco.
