Mike T Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 There was a warning at Charles de Gaulle-Roissy at the TT car pickup counter on July 15, 2014 that there had been a number of severe hailstorms over the previous week and that many new cars in the TT program had been damaged by hail….and that although an attempt had been made to make any damage right, there was a chance that any car being delivered may have damage to it upon delivery. Ugh. For a car that relies as much as any multi-hundred grand exotic upon its dramatic curves and lines as the Peugeot RCZ, this was potentially bad news. While worrying about this, I filled out the delivery paperwork in the tiny office and the worker went off to find the RCZ that had been registered in my name among the hundred or so other Peugeots in the lot. I was concerned that he’d come back with something hideous like a 5008 or even a barge-like 508, assuming the RCZ had been trashed in the storms, perish the thought. Worse still, a dented 5008. Dystopia. After what seemed like a long time trying to find our car - it was too low among the 2008s, 3008s and 5008s to see it properly from our vantage point – a dark grey metallic RCZ with brushed aluminium roof arches gently swanned into view as the driver brought it to us. It is SO much better looking in person than in photos. This car is a head turner even in Europe, 5 years after its launch. We discovered that later during our travels in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain, with the car drawing much attention in traffic. The worker backed it up to the office and handed me the keys after switching the navigation system to English (thoughtful of him!). I had bought an English owner’s manual from Reiner in Germany months before we left Canada, so I would be ready to drive it and use the navigation system once we got there. IMG_0054 by p404c, on Flickr Happily, the car was in perfect condition, untouched by the storms. We found that it had first been registered in my name on July 8th, a mere week before our arrival. Wearing the typically red number plates of a car delivered to a non-EC resident, ours was DH-785-LN, a number it will continue to bear for its entire lifetime, once it is sold to a French person (but with black digits on a white background). The VIN : VF34J5FV8EP003536. I took the white foam thing off the driver's door after this photo was taken and we were set. image by p404c, on Flickr The RCZ is just a total stunner, it’s hard to sum up how much I love its design. A modern classic with retro touches about it, Karmann Ghia-like. I used to think the 406 Coupé was the epitome of modern Peugeot design, but it is just bland and uninspiring next to something so extroverted as the RCZ. The curves of the roof arches, rear window, fender lines and everything else are just 100% spectacular. It looked far too nice to drive. Really! He left us to it, probably wondering how we would get five big suitcases into the sports car. Specifications: 1.6L THP engine (BMW/MINI/Peugeot/Citroën) type 4JFV8 (built into the VIN) which means it is the least powerful engine in the RCZ range, with 156 HP, 9 taxable horsepower (just like a 404 Injection!), 240 Nm of torque beginning at 1400 RPM, 6 speed manual transmission. 235/45-18 tires, reversing parking sensors Suspension: front McPherson, rear torsion beam. Brakes: front vented disc, rear disc Options: Sport Pack: small steering wheel with small flat on bottom, short throw gearshift, nicer instrument panel graphics, upgraded sound; Integral Nappa Leather seating with door panels in leather, centre console in leather and dashboard in leather, heated seats, electrically adjustable seats. WIP Navigation Plus – built into a motorized LCD screen that opened out of the centre of the dash when the car was started, with speech recognition (which we didn’t bother using). The origin of this car is very humble. It was produced as a show car based upon the platform of the (ugly) then-new first generation 308. First shown as the 308 RC Z (with a space between RC and Z) in Frankfurt in September 2007, it had an immediate impact and many people practically begged Peugeot to make it. The show car had a lot of carbon fibre in it, and the double bubble rear window was made of polycarbonate. Some clever people at PSA gave it the go-ahead for production and two years later I was delighted to see and sit in the series version at Frankfurt in 2009. Between show car and production model, some changes were made, but these were very subtle and in some cases beneficial. For example, the rear window on the production car is in glass (it must be a rather expensive part) and has heating elements like any other car, the carbon fibre has largely been replaced by aluminium, and an electric rear spoiler had to be added to ensure adequate stability in corners (i.e. avoiding lift-off oversteer) above 160 km/h. But these changes did nothing to spoil the car and it remains a style icon even five years after its introduction. The manufacturing of the RCZ was contracted out to the Canadian company Magna-Steyr in Graz Austria and they do assemble and paint them very well. With two full sized Samsonite Oyster suitcases, one other quite large Samsonite hard case and two large-ish carry on bags, we had to fold down the rear seats in order to get it all in, but it fit easily with room to spare. I slid into the driver’s seat as did Sandy and we adjusted them to our liking (very comfortable!), I adjusted the electric mirrors and steering wheel reach and rake, and in a jet lagged haze of 26 hours with no sleep, we set off towards the Autoroute A-1. Visibility from the low seating position is excellent for forward motoring, but the car is wide and gauging that width is a bit of a challenge in the narrow European parking lots, underground parking garages that seem to be designed for smarts, and some village streets. In reverse, the parking sensors really are needed and so it’s a good thing that they are standard equipment. The navigation system is excellent too, although the instruction to “bear left” at an Autoroute exit (i.e. stay on the Autoroute and don’t take the exit) was hard to get used to at first. Finding any destination was a snap and because Sandy isn’t all that fond of reading maps in a car, it was a much-appreciated feature. The seating position is low enough that reaching some of the ticket machines on the toll Autoroutes was a bit of a stretch. Driving on an Autoroute at a steady indicated 135 km/h on cruise control is hardly the stuff of pure driving enjoyment but I could immediately appreciate the excellent steering (does anyone do steering as well as Peugeot? I think not), the great (smooth clutch action), the good (a smooth and relatively comfortable ride despite the huge wheels) and the not quite so good (a loose fit on the driver’s side window seal led to a little extra wind noise at those speeds). Also, the short throw shifter was – as I expected – slightly balky when the car was delivered with 7 km on the clock, but it loosened up nicely over the following 5400 km. If this were my car for good, the driver’s door seal would have to be changed under the warranty adjustment period. Or perhaps it wasn’t quite mounted in the right way. The ride was well balanced between comfort and roadholding. The level of lateral force available from the wide Continental tires was astounding, and they were even very forgiving in the wet, on two rare days when it rained a bit. The prevailing balance in a fast corner is neutral, with a hint of lift-off oversteer to tighten the line when needed and also a bit of light understeer on the tightest of hairpin bends when really hammering on. Despite the simple rear suspension with pseudo trailing arms and a torsion beam connecting them, it was well damped and springing was good too, with only the odd bit of thump transmission between sides at the rear on large deformations. I have read that the ride and handling of the Peugeot Sport fettled RCZ-R models are even better. It would have been nice to try one of them, but when I stopped at Peugeot Nice to see if they had the 270 HP R model as a demo, all they had was the 200 HP version, which is too close to what we already had to make it worth driving. However the sales guy gave me the special R brochure as well as the order list. I suspect that most R versions will be special orders. Without the Torsen differential of the R version, you might think that traction could be a problem but it most certainly was not, at least with the engine our car had. The torque from just above idle speed was very impressive and it was very easy to shoot up to impressive and quite illegal speeds on the Autoroute in short order, when leaving a toll booth or on an entrance slip road. Officially the car does 0-100 km/h (62.1 MPH) in 8 seconds – which felt about right according to my butt dyno despite a heavy load – and the top end is reportedly 220 km/h or 140 MPH. I was unwilling to risk car confiscation on the heavily monitored Autoroute so I did not do a top speed run, but I did bring it up to 180 in order to beat a bit of a high speed traffic clot that was forming once, and it was just a blip of the throttle that basically did it. The brakes were very good, even though they’re not the exotic-looking massive 380 mm discs on the R version, and despite some very intensive and fast twisty mountain road driving, they were always faithful, possessed of good feel, initial bite and power at the limit. DSC08745 by p404c, on Flickr On the climb up to the Col de Turini (the Monte Carlo Rally special stage), I was of course not faced with winter conditions, even though the temperature at the summit was 12 degrees C cooler than down in Menton on the Mediterranean Sea. However, this is an extremely twisting route with super-tight hairpin corners that tested the car’s turning circle. One of the highlights of that drive was seeing off a modified Honda Civic that came out to play behind us on the corners when I was taking it easier, but its driver was quickly made aware of the limits of his car as we walked off into the distance as the roads got even more twisty. He was using all of the road to try and keep up but I was staying within my lane. The other principal driving highlight was deviating from Marseille up to Mont Ventoux. The climb up the Giant of Provence (it stands at about 1900 metres tall and the climb from the base is over 1800m) is epic, with much higher speed corners than Turini, so it was ultimately a more rewarding drive. The main problem on that road was the slowpokes going up and down, but the RCZ’s passing power made short work of them. This car is a real blast in the corners and I can only imagine how much better the R version is, not only in pure speed, but in the suspension settings, damping, springing and revised mounting points. Road testers have remarked how the Peugeot Sport work has transformed the car…EVO rated it at 4.5 stars, the same as the Porsche Cayman. DSC08836 by p404c, on Flickr As I mentioned before, a weak point of this car in the European context is that it is quite wide, which in one Nice parkade and at least one service station at Carpentras caused me to have to make three point turns where normally it would not be required, to avoid grinding up the huge alloy wheels on curbs, or clouting a corner of the bumper on some concrete. At that same service station in Carpentras, when I got out of the loaded car to fuel up, the bottom of the driver’s door scraped on a high concrete curb next to the opposite pump! In North America, this would absolutely not be a problem. Being in the RCZ cockpit was a delight. You could see (and feel if you wanted) the beautiful curve of the roof at the back or the top of the rear window, which is so interesting to look at from outside the car. The seats were amazingly comfortable – much better than 405 seats. They even had embossed Peugeot lions on each one. The dashboard and centre console leather covering was beautifully made and fitted, and gives the car a feeling of premium luxury which is unusual in a relatively inexpensive car like this. Although it was summer, and the split temperature and A/C controls made it possible for each of us to choose our own settings, on each side of the car, Sandy tried out the three stage heaters. (Even I tried it twice). On full power they seemed a bit modest in their output but that could be because there are thermocouples in the cushion and backrests and the car was already quite warm inside. The air conditioning was beyond reproach and cooled the cabin with its massive glass area (mainly the front and rear screens) to a comfortable 19 degrees on a 41 degree day. The electrically folding mirrors were useful on the narrow streets such as in Menton and Paris where the parallel “payant” parking spaces were only wide enough for the car, and not the mirrors! The longest day’s drive we did was from Cardona Spain to Unverre France with a detour at Limoges to the somber Oradour-sur-Glane, for a total of 1000 km, les mille bornes comme on dit en Français, or about 621 miles. We arrived at our destination at a good 404 Club friend’s home with no complaints at all despite being middle aged or worse, both with trick backs to boot. That is a testament to the absolute comfort of this Peugeot sports car. While visiting with “Anatole”, I offered test drives of the RCZ to him and two other Club 404 members who were also there over the couple of days. All came away mightily impressed after a blast around the country roads near Chartres. A bonus was that I got to drive a 404 sedan and 404 Coupé Injection again! DSC08707 by p404c, on Flickr Knowing that our time with this wonderful car was coming to an end, I wanted a souvenir. Michel got his perceuse out and we drilled off the front license plate, then screwed it temporarily back into place for the final drive up to Calais. Once we had arrived at the Calais ferry terminal, with 5403 km on the odometer, the plate was removed in front of the building, which is where the car was returned to Peugeot. The returning agent noticed the plate was missing and asked me in French what had become of it and I told him I had removed it as a souvenir…he said he didn’t know what to do about it and then moved onto signing the car back over to Peugeot. Good for us! He got a 5 Euro tip from me after that. The red plates would have been recycled anyway because only non-EC residents can have them – when the car is resold with French plates (same number though) it will have white ones. Since we got back home, that front plate, debugged, has been on our bedroom wall. The fuel consumption was very good, with an average of 7.3 L/100 km (39 Imperial MPG, 32 US MPG) over the 5400 km, including lots of city driving and stop-and-go on Autoroute A-9 on the way to Spain on August 2, the spirited hillclimbs and a normal highway speed of 135 km/h. Driven over here, it would be in the low 6s or closer to 40 MPG US, in line with our Ford Fiesta perhaps. It’s a lamentable shame that we had to give the car back. It was really lovely to look at and fun to drive. I knew from the time in September 2009 when I first sat in one that I had to drive it, and nearly five years later, it proved to be even better than I expected. Now I have to do some math. I will be 65 years old when the oldest RCZ can be imported to Canada….or 69 years old when the oldest RCZ-R can be imported. Hmmm. Maybe get a first generation car for 5 years then sell it, and move into an R as a 70th birthday present? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 I've anticipated this write up since we met up last summer and you did not disappoint! Wonderful read and I'm ecstatic that it gained your approval. Now to show my wife how a trip to Europe is properly done. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted August 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Here is a shot of the spoiler in the fully raised position, as it would be at 155 km/h. It can be raised with a button on the centre console too. DSC08884 by p404c, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikenna Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Wow! Quite an experience! Mike, i have been waiting for this review for long. It was worth it! Before now, I have decided to add RCZ-R to my Lion's collection. I wouldnt miss that 270 hp with 6-speed manual box. I have seen the RCZ few times here in Abuja. One of them was put up for sale. But it was badly abused. The body was panel beated several places amd lost the original amazing shape. Ikenna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JunktionFET Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Thank you for sharing this. It's good to see that Peugeot is not only producing stylish cars again, but competent ones as well. They also still seem to be good value. Even though this one had (presumably) the "base" engine, it sounds like it was really well equipped. Is the rear suspension you describe basically a similar design to the trailing arm/torsion bar setup used on the 205/405? If so, that's cool that they can make use of such an old layout in a modern car. How were those 404s to drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted August 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 It has things that look a bit like trailing arms on the back but a deformable beam is mounted to both some distance from the chassis mount which has the effect of rendering the suspension non-independent, it is nothing at all like the 205 and 405, nor should it be subject to their problems. The 404s were a total delight. The rides are amazing, any modern car pales in comparison. Even though were far from restored, they were good fun to take on a run in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 very interesting and informative, mike! i did not realize that the rcz had a back seat. what was the program through which you leased this car? is it similar to renault's eurodrive? i'm familiar with that program, my mother leased a clio through them a few years ago... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted August 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 EuropAuto.ca was who I used up here in Canada, but Auto Europe in the USA offers it too. It's no lease (nor is Renault); when the cars are in the customer's possession, they are owned by the customer. The signature on a promissory note holds the balance payable unit the car is returned. We have used Renault, in 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990 and 2005. We have also used Peugeot, in 1995 and 2014. My sister also used Peugeot this summer, and got a new 208 4 door through EuropAuto.ca. We have also rented a dozen or more times for shorter durations but I always prefer the TT/buyback system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Thanks for sharing the story with us. I'm still laughing about the license plate souvenir part. It really renewed some passion for the brand in a big way. Spot on with the steering and seats being important considerations. I'm living the dream with my 30-year old 505s It sounds practical as hell, I mean 32mpg along with room for cargo(?). Oh my. And the part "Being in the RCZ cockpit was a delight". Just out of curiosity, what sort of cabbage are they going for? -Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted September 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 The car costs about 26,000 euros as equipped, before taxes. About $35K US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 EuropAuto.ca was who I used up here in Canada, but Auto Europe in the USA offers it too. It's no lease (nor is Renault); when the cars are in the customer's possession, they are owned by the customer. The signature on a promissory note holds the balance payable unit the car is returned. that makes sense, i know that my parents had the clio for several months and i never got around to asking them about the particulars...at the time, my parents were big into apartment swaps -- they have a place in new orleans that they swapped for a place near nice (new orleans is fairly popular with europeans). my mom liked the clio but didn't like shifting for herself.... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted September 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 This is the model I really would like to have returned with! Except in red... IMG_1662 by p404c, on Flickr IMG_1674 by p404c, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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