Peugeot RCZ HDi ON THE ROAD

Review & Photos by Rob McSorley

The Peugeot RCZ needs no introduction, put simply it's one of our favourite coupes and our preferred model from the French giant. Bringing it in line with the rest of the range its now lost its striking gaping mouth grill in addition to a series of other minor changes here and there. The idea is to freshen it up as it celebrates its third birthday. We hit the road in our favourite HDi 156 variant to see if it still holds appeal.

The biggest talking point is likely to be the new front end styling of this revised RCZ. The over sized grill of the old car has been replace by a much smaller one that houses ‘PEUGEOT’ lettering (as seen on its 208 and 508 siblings). Underneath is a new slim grill that stretches the whole width of the fascia housing new daytime running lights. Despite it looking a little like its grinning the new front appears more confident and modern than before. 

The only other changes externally are limited to new body colours and alloy wheels design as seen here. The rest of the beautiful bodywork has been left well alone so it still has the neatly concealed rising rear spoiler and slicked-back lights. Not to mention the oh-so-sexy double-bubble roof that wouldn't look out of place on a car costing ten times as much. It remains an incredibly daring design.

Inside changes are even milder amounting to additional stitching on the door panels, aluminium on the centre console and a gear surround that's now the same colour as the centre console. In GT trim the whole interior is smothered in quality leather and everything feels well built; perfectly befitting of a premium coupe. 

The figure-hugging seats are just as comfortable as we remember and do a superb job of holding passengers in place when cornering. The seating position is nice and low in the RCZ bringing the drivers rear end nearer to the ground but there is still bags of adjustment in the driving position if needed. 

If you were thinking those rear seats will come in handy, think again - they are almost useless as the front seats don’t slide forward and even if you do manage to get into the back there is no leg or headroom. You can, however, fold the rear seats flat increasing the already generous 309 litre boot for genuine practicality or simply use the seats as additional storage.

Under the bonnet is the familiar 2.0 HDi with 163bhp (with 240lb ft @2000 rpm), mated to a slick-shifting 6 speed manual gearbox. It’s a torquey, flexible unit which feels perky with linear power delivery. A 0-60mph time of 8.7 seconds may not be especially quick but it is hardly slow. As before it's also a very economical engine managing to achieve 53.2mpg on a combined cycle and it emits just 139 g/km of CO2.

Thanks to the RCZs much wider tracks (than the 308 on which it’s based), lowered hardened suspension and much lower centre of gravity it feels poised, alert, grippy and above all - fun! Body control is superb with minimal roll in corners and the wide tyres provide bags of grip. It devours corners with real vigor  Furthermore the gearbox is snappy and steering feels nice and weighty although some will wish it gave a little more feedback.

Refinement on the move could be better as the engine can sound a little gruff and the tyres kick up a considerable amount of road noise especially on concrete motorway sections. The ride is a little wooden too at lower speeds but smooths out nicely on faster roads making long distances drives less of a chore.

At just under £26,000 our top spec GT model looks a little expensive but it does come with generous levels of equipment such as front and rear parking sensors, 19” alloy wheels, electric-heated leather seats, automatic lights and wipers, cruise and climate control and satellite navigation with Bluetooth and USB connectivity. And then there are the supercar good-looks which who could resist?

Tech Data

Price as tested: £25,830
Engine: 2.0 16v 163bhp - 0-62mph: 8.7secs - Maximum Speed: 137mph -
Economy: 41.5mpg (urban) –62.7mpg (extra-urban), 53.2mpg (combined) - Emissions: 139g/km (Band E) - VED (12 months): £120
Dimensions: Length: 4290mm - Width: 1845mm - Height: 1352mm - Wheelbase: 2612mm
*data from Peugeot UK

DriverVIBE Verdict

We are glad the changes to the RCZ have been kept to a minimum. Although we were a big fan of the old car’s snout the new design is definitely an improvement in our eyes. It remains a stonkingly good car to look at and be seen in. The car’s biggest asset however is its on-road manners which considering the cars humble underpinnings offers genuine thrills. It’s poised, grippy and fairly fast in HDi form if a little lacking in feedback through the controls. It also won’t cost the earth to run so overall the RCZ is a coupe that’s easy to fall in love with. We certainly did and buyers should revel in the knowledge that Peugeot do still have the ability to build fantastic drivers cars.

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