Peugeot RCZ manual 2010 review

Coupe body. Check. Sporty attitude. Check. Unique styling cues. Check. The formula worked for Audi with the TT, and Peugeot is betting it will work for their own little hero, the RCZ.

With the TT, the Bauhaus geometric lines were the ‘look at me’ call. With the French car, it’s the almost blatantly erotic double curve of the roof and rear windscreen. You can spot it a block away, and the eye can’t resist being drawn to it.

This is not just a car, as such. It’s an advertisement for the brand as a whole. Peugeot doesn’t really care if it makes a profit on it, as long as it gets the brand noticed. And judging by the amount of head-turning – across every age and gender group (and every known marketing bod’s much-vaunted demographic research) – it’s going to work.

So we came to the RCZ expecting it to be all style and no substance. And came away surprised and impressed. Sure, it’s no vehicle for track days. But there’s enough pep to please most drivers in both the engines we sampled. It’s well-balanced, and a whole heap of fun to zip around in.

The petrol engine startled us within minutes with its touch of vibrato under load – and later we found out this was engineered in with a resonator in the exhaust. You could argue it’s artificial, but there are few brands these days that don’t spend considerable effort tuning the sound of everything from the engine to the door slam.

This would be for those who want to head out of town occasionally and hit a few curvy roads, while the diesel’s large and laid-back torque delivery will better suit those who want to cruise around the city.

The bad news for our increasingly auto-centric tastes is that both come only with the six-speed manual – although there’s an auto on the way with the lower-powered petrol unit we didn’t get to try.

That said, the manual is lovely shifter, and should be even more fun with the optional short-throw feature. And overall, the cabin overall is a snugly pleasant place to be, with good sound damping and excellent ride quality making sure there’s little rude intrusion from rough roads.

Engineering and drivetrains

The RCZ is built on the platform from the 308, with a considerable carryover of technology from the donor, according to the engineer responsible for its drivetrains, Blanquet Bertrand. “Of the engines, it is 80 per cent of the 308 technology and there is something from 60 to 70 per cent of the dash,” Bertrand says.

The three engine variants are a diesel and two tunings of a four-cylinder petrol (only the higher one of which was available at the launch).

The diesel is a 120kW/340Nm 2.0-litre with a variable-geometry turbocharger that helps it post an 8.2 sec time to 100km/h with a top speed of 220km/h, while using an enviable 5.5l/100km of fuel (combined), with emissions at 139g/km. It adds 73kg to the weight of the car, but only alters the weight distribution marginally from the petrol model’s 63:37.

The more powerful petrol is a variable valve timing, direct-injected 147kW/275Nm twin-turbo, with a 0-100 time of 7.5secs and a top speed of 237km/h, using 6.9l/100km and emitting 159g/km of CO2.

Both those engines come only with a six-speed manual, but the absent petrol engine will have the option of a six-speed Aisin sequential automatic to deliver its 115kW of power and 240Nm of torque. With the auto it has a top speed of 213km/h (manual is 217), 0-100km/h in 8.4secs (8.0), fuel consumption of 7.3l/100km (6.7l) and emissions of 168g/km (155).

Further down the track will be a hybrid version – the prototype of which was unveiled at last year’s Frankfurt show – based on the same powertrain as the Hybrid4 3008.

The cars ride on McPherson-like front and torsion beam rear suspension, with the 147kW petrol has sports suspension with a lower bracing bar on the front set-up, plus larger pivots and brakes. To further improve stability, there’s an active rear spoiler that deploys at 19 degrees at speeds over 85km/h, and moves to 34 degrees once you get over 155km/h ‘for harder curves and braking’ – an unlikely opportunity for our highway regulations – but can also be deployed by a button on the centre console.

Appearance and fit-out

Little changed from the concept that wowed everybody at the 2007 Frankfurt motor show, the low-slung body has the wheels pushed out to the corners and hints of a low centre of gravity.

But photos and video don’t do justice to the styling. You have to see the car in the metal to appreciate the volume of the roofline curves and arches, the swell of the hip and the spread of the bonnet. We’re not too sure about the family nose and mouth, though, which gives the RCZ the look of a recently-hooked cod.

The interior is fairly well kitted-out, snug and cockpit-like, with a dash panel that flows nicely down into the centre stack. The mock-leather finish with it’s double row saddle-stitching is passable, but in the light grey version throws an annoying glare back onto the sharply sloped windscreen.

But there’s a full-leather option to be had, presumably for a price. In fact, there’s a list of options, extras and tizz-ups long enough to incite envy in the custom-hungry owner of any street-cred doofmobile.

Space and comfort

Peugeot calls this a 2+2, but in reality it’s a 2+luggage. The back seat is almot impossible to get into, and that might be dictated by the OHS office, because once you do manage to squeeze past the front seat you can’t sit in the back one unless you’re either a small child, or prepared to travel with your head at a 90 degree angle (to avoid that lovely curved glass) and your knees warming your ears.

But the rear seat’s really clever trick is that it folds down, expanding the boot space from 384 litres to 760 – enough room to take a bicycle. And you can’t do that in a TT.

The low front seats are elegantly sporty, with well-shaped bolstering, but after a couple of hours started to feel a little hard – although admittedly we didn’t have much time to fiddle with adjusting them, so a better driving position might well be achievable.

How much – and when

Peugeot is keen to undercut the TT, but it looks like it won’t be by much. Australian spokesman Richard Grant is talking about the range starting around $60,000, which shaves the Audi by $2,000 or so. And he’s not saying where it will top out. We’ll know more closer to it arriving in August.

The local office hopes to get 120 cars for the rest of this year – and double that next year, but they’ll be depending on demand from the limited annual run of 17,000 from the production at Graz Magna in Austria. That capacity can be increased to 22,000 if global demand grows, but the overseas markets will generally be served before us, so get in line now if you want one.

Peugeot RCZ

On sale: August 2010
Price: starting from around $60,000
Engines: 120kW/340Nm 2.0-litre turbodiesel (5.5l/100km, CO2 139g/km), 147kW/275Nm twin-turbo 1.6-litre petrol (6.9l/100km, 159g/km), 115kW/240Nm turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol (7.3l/100km auto 6.7l man, 168g/km auto 155g/km man)
Transmissions: six-speed manual, six-speed sequential auto
Rivals: Audi TT from $62,000, BMW 1 Series Coupe from $55,400, Nissan 370Z from $67,990