Peogeot RCZ -R
Discussion
Had one for a week. Really quite enjoyed it. Write up here if you're interested : https://www.tartantarmac.com/peugeot-rcz-r-resista...
OlberJ said:
Had one for a week. Really quite enjoyed it. Write up here if you're interested : https://www.tartantarmac.com/peugeot-rcz-r-resista...
Thank you OlberJ enjoyed the read. I really do like these, glad you enjoyed it.I will give you a review when I escape from work, I have the last of the first batch that was available, owned mine for nearly 18 months now 
Picture half way down the page, in the best colour
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Picture half way down the page, in the best colour
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by tonyb1968 on Monday 28th September 18:32
tonyb1968 said:
I will give you a review when I escape from work, I have the last of the first batch that was available, owned mine for nearly 18 months now
Picture half way down the page, in the best colour
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I agree stunning!Picture half way down the page, in the best colour
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by tonyb1968 on Monday 28th September 18:32
I will start with the pro's/con's as its best to get those out of the way first I feel.
Con's.
Poor visibility through the rear, its not seriously bad but it makes you look a little harder, the wing mirrors don't have blind spot mirrors so you get use to looking over your shoulder when moving out to overtake (which is never a bad thing anyway).
The clutch pedal is a little high compared to the brake pedal.
It can take a little while to set up/get use to the driving position (though once there is quite nice).
You have to be careful when raising the boot in the rain, if you open it up too quickly you get water going into the boot, its a sort of open and lift a little, let the water run off then open fully.
You cant really get anyone in the back seats (same for most coupe's really), unless you are under 5 or a midget.
The steering is a little light (but still has enough feel).
Can be a little bit of a pain in traffic.
Looks a little dated inside compared to some of the other Peugeots
Pro's.
The boot is huge.
What's a petrol station (really, the fuel economy is astounding for the power output but I will come onto that later).
Its bloody quick for a 1.6ltr engine and feels bigger.
Its a stunning looking car, far better than anything German.
Its damned comfortable, you can drive for hours and get out feeling fresh.
It has amazing grip, wet or dry.
Its fully loaded (well except the front parking sensors which the GT gets as standard but the R doesnt - option).
The car itself is an amazing bit of machinery, I like to see her as a flawed gem, not perfect but once you are out driving you dont really care, those flaws sort of just fade away, it really is a car for open roads and fun days out, definately not one if you have a family of more than 2 as its not exactly practical.
The first thing you notice is the roof and the flared arches, this makes it stand out from the Audi TT which is a horrid looking car in comparison, The RCZ R does get the nickname (given to it by Audi TT drivers who dont understand that Aldi are a better brand than M&S and Waitrose, plus Peugeot starts with P and not A), and look at them side by side, the RCZ seems longer with a longer boot (not the hatch on the TT), and better styling.
Fuel economy is quite amazing, having driven from the North West of England over to Anglesey and then down through Wales to Crickhowell, over all those nice country roads and a decent pace, then decided to fuel up (around about 350 miles) though I could have actually made it to Slough on what was left in the tank if I would have taken a little care of what was left (giving me a range of around 500 miles), and still averaging 40mpg! But caution took hold and I didnt do it, it is really easy to keep the car above 40+mpg at 70+ mph.
The handling is sublime, having come from several Subaru's (funnily enough going from Peugeot's to Subaru back in 2000), it just feels as well planted if not better and without as many aids that the modern Subaru's have, you don't need an eco button, you dont need a sports button, you have the car, a gearbox and 3 pedals, ok you have traction control and ESP but you can turn them off (just be warned that you need to get a bit of heat into the tyres before you do so), find a nice road and go have fun
Its not a car that detracts from what it wants to be, a sports coupe, the front LSD kickes in at the right time and pulls the nose round nicely, the rear isnt like pugs of old where you let off and it snaps, its much more subtle, and she stay's planted nicely on the road, even on the more undulating roads, ok its not perfect but then find me a car with firm suspension that does it well.... ok thats none then its just not harsh, it actually does a decent job on that sort of surface.
The performance is great, its a fwd car, its never going to be the greatest 0-60 car in the world, those who think their AWD cars and quick 0-100 times dominate, think again, real world driving is all about when the car is moving and this is where the RCZ R can show "faster" cars its heels, the quick scrolling twin scroll turbo and decent power delivery (and great engine sound), mean that you can just put your foot down and she will respond quickly, yes there are times you may want to down it a gear or two (it is fun, this car loves to rev), and going through the very nice gearbox (quickly as its fairly short ratio) makes you giggle like a girl! Its a great, fun car.
Now problems, the RCZ R doesnt really have that many, some of the earlier RCZ's did, mainly temp sensors and cam chains, you shouldnt have any issues with the cam chains on the R as these had the upgraded kits fitted (as did the later RCZ's), temp sensors only affected the early R's and they had a recall notice out for this problem (mine was recalled).
There was also an issue with the 380mm brakes squealing, never had that problem myself but some owners did, this again only seemed to be a problem with early R's and was sorted under warranty.
Oil useage should not be a problem either, the car has 10k service intervals (1 year), do note that the spark plugs get changed every 10k so the service cost is slightly higher than the other RCZ's.
People will also say that the 1.6ltr engine isnt any good at high speed etc, all the usual bull that they dont understand, one of the guys on the RCZ forum has done over 30k miles (mainly autobahn) in his R (and a set of brake discs, note these cost around 1200 quid and the pads are around 3-400), he has no problems happily sitting at 130+mph and does hit the limiter in 6th (155mph), still averages 25mpg (that is what my near standard Subaru STI Spec C use to get doing 70mph) and he is more than happy with the car, after 3 years he will have done near on 100k miles and has had 0 problems with it.
You really wont regret buying an RCZ R if you test drive one and like it, they are easy to live with, dont cost a fortune to run (they run on 95 ron fuel unlike a lot of the hot hatches with similar power that NEED 98 ron fuel as standard), though mine has had Shell V Power from day 1, not one owner I know hates their car, they just love the R's and it is just unfortunate that Peugeot ended the production of the RCZ, it was never a high volume car but it was definately one of the prettiest that Peugeot made
Con's.
Poor visibility through the rear, its not seriously bad but it makes you look a little harder, the wing mirrors don't have blind spot mirrors so you get use to looking over your shoulder when moving out to overtake (which is never a bad thing anyway).
The clutch pedal is a little high compared to the brake pedal.
It can take a little while to set up/get use to the driving position (though once there is quite nice).
You have to be careful when raising the boot in the rain, if you open it up too quickly you get water going into the boot, its a sort of open and lift a little, let the water run off then open fully.
You cant really get anyone in the back seats (same for most coupe's really), unless you are under 5 or a midget.
The steering is a little light (but still has enough feel).
Can be a little bit of a pain in traffic.
Looks a little dated inside compared to some of the other Peugeots
Pro's.
The boot is huge.
What's a petrol station (really, the fuel economy is astounding for the power output but I will come onto that later).
Its bloody quick for a 1.6ltr engine and feels bigger.
Its a stunning looking car, far better than anything German.
Its damned comfortable, you can drive for hours and get out feeling fresh.
It has amazing grip, wet or dry.
Its fully loaded (well except the front parking sensors which the GT gets as standard but the R doesnt - option).
The car itself is an amazing bit of machinery, I like to see her as a flawed gem, not perfect but once you are out driving you dont really care, those flaws sort of just fade away, it really is a car for open roads and fun days out, definately not one if you have a family of more than 2 as its not exactly practical.
The first thing you notice is the roof and the flared arches, this makes it stand out from the Audi TT which is a horrid looking car in comparison, The RCZ R does get the nickname (given to it by Audi TT drivers who dont understand that Aldi are a better brand than M&S and Waitrose, plus Peugeot starts with P and not A), and look at them side by side, the RCZ seems longer with a longer boot (not the hatch on the TT), and better styling.
Fuel economy is quite amazing, having driven from the North West of England over to Anglesey and then down through Wales to Crickhowell, over all those nice country roads and a decent pace, then decided to fuel up (around about 350 miles) though I could have actually made it to Slough on what was left in the tank if I would have taken a little care of what was left (giving me a range of around 500 miles), and still averaging 40mpg! But caution took hold and I didnt do it, it is really easy to keep the car above 40+mpg at 70+ mph.
The handling is sublime, having come from several Subaru's (funnily enough going from Peugeot's to Subaru back in 2000), it just feels as well planted if not better and without as many aids that the modern Subaru's have, you don't need an eco button, you dont need a sports button, you have the car, a gearbox and 3 pedals, ok you have traction control and ESP but you can turn them off (just be warned that you need to get a bit of heat into the tyres before you do so), find a nice road and go have fun
Its not a car that detracts from what it wants to be, a sports coupe, the front LSD kickes in at the right time and pulls the nose round nicely, the rear isnt like pugs of old where you let off and it snaps, its much more subtle, and she stay's planted nicely on the road, even on the more undulating roads, ok its not perfect but then find me a car with firm suspension that does it well.... ok thats none then
its just not harsh, it actually does a decent job on that sort of surface.The performance is great, its a fwd car, its never going to be the greatest 0-60 car in the world, those who think their AWD cars and quick 0-100 times dominate, think again, real world driving is all about when the car is moving and this is where the RCZ R can show "faster" cars its heels, the quick scrolling twin scroll turbo and decent power delivery (and great engine sound), mean that you can just put your foot down and she will respond quickly, yes there are times you may want to down it a gear or two (it is fun, this car loves to rev), and going through the very nice gearbox (quickly as its fairly short ratio) makes you giggle like a girl! Its a great, fun car.
Now problems, the RCZ R doesnt really have that many, some of the earlier RCZ's did, mainly temp sensors and cam chains, you shouldnt have any issues with the cam chains on the R as these had the upgraded kits fitted (as did the later RCZ's), temp sensors only affected the early R's and they had a recall notice out for this problem (mine was recalled).
There was also an issue with the 380mm brakes squealing, never had that problem myself but some owners did, this again only seemed to be a problem with early R's and was sorted under warranty.
Oil useage should not be a problem either, the car has 10k service intervals (1 year), do note that the spark plugs get changed every 10k so the service cost is slightly higher than the other RCZ's.
People will also say that the 1.6ltr engine isnt any good at high speed etc, all the usual bull that they dont understand, one of the guys on the RCZ forum has done over 30k miles (mainly autobahn) in his R (and a set of brake discs, note these cost around 1200 quid and the pads are around 3-400), he has no problems happily sitting at 130+mph and does hit the limiter in 6th (155mph), still averages 25mpg (that is what my near standard Subaru STI Spec C use to get doing 70mph) and he is more than happy with the car, after 3 years he will have done near on 100k miles and has had 0 problems with it.
You really wont regret buying an RCZ R if you test drive one and like it, they are easy to live with, dont cost a fortune to run (they run on 95 ron fuel unlike a lot of the hot hatches with similar power that NEED 98 ron fuel as standard), though mine has had Shell V Power from day 1, not one owner I know hates their car, they just love the R's and it is just unfortunate that Peugeot ended the production of the RCZ, it was never a high volume car but it was definately one of the prettiest that Peugeot made
Tony thank you for taking the time to do that write up. It was good to hear as that is exactly as i see this car, (i would never buy a TT). I feel for the money its pretty special and has no real rival. I believe they are stopping them this year as well. Will let you know how i get on.
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