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By Jethro Bovingdon
First Drives
15 March 2010 21:01
A Peugeot coupé: can it really live with a TT?Inside, the new RCZ feels pretty special. Perhaps the interior isn’t TT-special, but it’s still generally nice quality and the double bubble roof and swoopy rear glass give it a unique and airy feeling – nothing like the claustrophobic Audi TT's tight cockpit. That double-bubble roof is endlessly dramatic and well worth all the headaches it must have caused the Paris designers.The RCZ cabin gets all the basics right: the driving position is spot-on, the pedals are well located (unusual on Peugeots of late) and the gearshift is a shade long of throw but feels nicely mechanical.And on the road?Over those first few hundred yards, early indications are good: gone is the super-jumpy brake response, the light, feel-less steering and the RCZ actually communicates the road surface back to your hands and backside. Are we straight back to 1986 all over again?Sadly not quite. The RCZ rides well and changes direction cleanly, but the heavier diesel engine we're testing makes the Pug feel a little ponderous on occasion. Having said that it finds strong front-end grip and feels very, very benign and predictable. But where Peugeots of the past keyed into the road and relished lunging into corners, the RCZ is simply more inert, at least in diesel spec.'Very, very benign'? 'Predictable'? Uh-oh. Sounds dull!Yep, that means the Peugeot RCZ is no lift-off oversteer hero like the 205 GTI (how many mainstream 2010 cars are?) but it is secure and stable. Is it inspiring, madly enthusiastic? Would it make you get out of bed early for a sneaky drive? On this evidence we’d say not.However, the same could be said of a TT and a quick passenger ride in an RCZ prototype with 200bhp and petrol suggests the story doesn’t end with this effective, enjoyable but slightly ‘safe’ diesel model. The crackling 200bhp RCZ felt much more like a bespoke sports car. So we still live in hope.>> Read our exclusive cover story testing the RCZ vs TT vs Scirocco in the new April 2010 issue of CAR Magazine out on 17 March
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Peugeot RCZ 2.0 HDI 163 (2010) CAR review
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bishopstortford says
RE: Peugeot RCZ 2.0 HDI 163 (2010) CAR review
I have had a good look at this thing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. My first thought was 'how extremely ugly'. Now I have seen a few on the road, I think it is even uglier. It would't be quite so bad if that Peugeot nose had been left off, and something smoother added, but how anyone can compare it in any way with an Audi TT , VW Scirocco, or even a Mazda RX8, sadly now unobtainable, I have no idea. You could even get a 2 year old Boxster for this sort of price! I don't like Renaults but for the money I would have a Megane 250 Cup.
I have had a good look at this thing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. My first thought was 'how extremely ugly'.
Now I have seen a few on the road, I think it is even uglier. It would't be quite so bad if that Peugeot nose had been left off, and something smoother added, but how anyone can compare it in any way with an Audi TT , VW Scirocco, or even a Mazda RX8, sadly now unobtainable, I have no idea.
You could even get a 2 year old Boxster for this sort of price!
I don't like Renaults but for the money I would have a Megane 250 Cup.
16 September 2010 10:16
lanimae says
I'm not sure about the UK, but here in Australia, Peugeots have a terrible name for reliability, especially in the hot hatch models. They have beefed up bits of the car and left other bits flimsy and unsubstantial. (especially the 206GTi 180 which simply fell to bits). The electrics are hit and miss to say the least. The gaping mouth has not been a hit and for my money, doesn't suit any of their models. One last thing, at least here in Australia, the $4,500 RT4 traffic and GPS system is almost useless. Even with the latest maps, it insists on a saga-tour zigzagging through unrelated suburbs on unralted roads. That is of course when the pop-up display is working, which is also hit and miss. The speed limiter is almost dangerous, what a stupid gadget! In short, Although this is a decent looking car, it is still going to be French, regardless of where it is made. Unless quality is improved, it isn't starter. And, don't forget, they fall into the "luxury" market here. A 407 is about £30,000 here, what on earth would the RCZ cost?
09 April 2010 17:02
andrew456 says
The debate about the design of the car being copied is silly..... the TT is a mini 911, albeit more bahaus influenced..... The peugeot is equally different due to its flourishes like the aluminium effect roof rails, bubbly roof and the peugeot mouth (am i the only one who thinks that this is finally a car that best suits it? a swan song before the 508?) nobody wrote off the 350 or 370z for resembling the TT.... interior wise i prefer the peugeot.... its just a bit mmmm.... plain in the TT....
20 March 2010 21:14
lokinen says
Markh, just read the latest issue of Car. The big test is of the diesel RCZ.,which isn't as good a punt as the TT or the scirocco....but then they get a ride in the 200 petrol job which by all accounts is something else altogether and of which they think Audi should really be worried.
19 March 2010 09:59
markh says
On your first post lokinen I think were agreeing--the drivers car is the Audi (wow cant believe I wrote that :-) --thats a first--but the new aluminiulm TT has made a big difference). Re your second blog re £14k you should check out my big on the Ferrarri roller coaster--where the slaves (sorry migrant workers) who built it got $70 dollars a week, and live 6 to a room or a converted container. Now that really is sinister controlling.
On your first post lokinen I think were agreeing--the drivers car is the Audi (wow cant believe I wrote that :-) --thats a first--but the new aluminiulm TT has made a big difference).
Re your second blog re £14k you should check out my big on the Ferrarri roller coaster--where the slaves (sorry migrant workers) who built it got $70 dollars a week, and live 6 to a room or a converted container. Now that really is sinister controlling.
18 March 2010 21:36
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