BTRL Reviews – Peugeot RCZ GT THP 200

By Oliver Hammond – simonscarspots.com

What sets the RCZ apart in the Peugeot range, aside from it currently being the French firm’s only 2+2 sports coupé? While the other cars in the Peugeot range have numbers for names, the RCZ has letters. The ‘THP’ stands for Turbo High Pressure and the RCZ was originally launched with THP 156 petrol and HDi 163 diesel variants. The numbers do indeed indicate the horsepower, but don’t go thinking that the ‘200’ version I tested this week is simply different in that it has approximately 50 more horses than the other petrol model.

Sex Sells – and so do sexy cars

During my week with the Peugeot RCZ GT THP 200, it’s fair to say that it attracted a lot of very positive looks and attention. First appearing as a jaw-dropping concept at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, Peugeot announced at the Geneva Motor Show the following year that they would be turning the RCZ into a reality, set to hit the UK shores within a relatively short time-frame, via the production line at Magna Steyr in Austria. It’s no surprise that the RCZ has a captivating appearance. Just look at it. It’s gorgeous from almost every angle, from the sweeping side profile with its flared wheel arches to the wide, sporty bonnet and beautifully svelte rear. Sure, the RCZ does share some design similarities with both generations of the Audi TT, but in my view the RCZ actually takes the crown in the looks department. Aside from the front of the car, which I still feel looks far too like the 207, 307, 308 and many other cars in the Peugeot range and would benefit from a variation of the 508’s face instead, the rest of the car is beautiful.

A lot of the aesthetic success of the RCZ is down to the details. The most notable is design of the roof and back window. People look, then they look again, confirming to themselves that their eyes aren’t deceiving them – the roof really does dip. Thanks to the tenacity of Peugeot’s design bods, the “double bubble” roof and rear window set the RCZ apart as even more special – a definite conversation piece and a wonderful bit of design. The aluminium roof arches are gorgeous too, adding an extra air of class and solidity to the RCZ’s flowing coupé lines. Other superb details come in the form of the chromed twin exhausts, the adjustable and active rear spoiler, the sleek ruby rear lights and additional upper and lower brake lights, the step in the waistline as it approaches the rear wheel arches and the bold Lion on the bonnet. The position of the wheels right at the four corners is also striking and not only adds to the RCZ’s great looks but also improves the handling. The double bubble, too, isn’t just there for show – it actually does something, according to Peugeot, who say it optimises air flow. It also provides extra headroom for the two rear occupants. I still wish Peugeot had distinguished the RCZ’s face, and under scrutiny one or two of the panels didn’t quite line up around the front doors, but other than that, I really can’t find fault with its design or quality.

I took the RCZ on a little PR tour, introducing (and comparing!) it to a leading north-west businessman’s Audi R8 as the first port of call. Next came a lunch appointment with BTCC Writer Lisa Wroe, who loved the RCZ after her brief ride in it. The final two publicity stops were with our friends at Paris Autos (classic French car specialists in Stockport) and Blue Bell BMW respectively – and literally everyone said the RCZ looks fabulous. It’s surprising how quite a few people thought it was a hardtop cabriolet. And one question everyone asked was how much such a stunning-looking car costs (more on that later). Out and about, pedestrians and other drivers often stared at the RCZ and I encountered quite a few other RCZs during the week, showing just how much of a hit this car is proving for Peugeot – and rightly so.

A racing interior?

Opening the solid (and very long, I must add) door and flexing into the RCZ’s low-down driver’s seat, it did feel like I was entering something quite special. The sculpted sports seats are covered in fine-grain Nappa which had a lovely soft feel to it. The actual seats proved very supportive in an unobtrusive way, although some may find the them a little too tall for their liking, as the integrated headrests are positioned quite high up. Carrying on those aforementioned little details on the inside, too, the Peugeot logo is elegantly embossed into the seat backs.

The whole cabin benefitted from attention-grabbing and really rather nice, contrasting double overstitching, a funky-looking ‘proper’ analogue clock in pride of place on the centre stack, drilled aluminium pedals, tasteful use of satin chrome for various inserts and dial surrounds, a flat-bottomed steering wheel with a metallic RCZ insert and a sporty, pressed-metal design to the most important dials. I’m not normally a fan of orange readouts, reminiscent of French cars and also Vauxhalls and BMWs from two decades ago – but the orange computer display in the RCZ looked crystal clear, modern and rather great.

The centre fascia is set in black plastic, with easy-to-master controls for the air conditioning, audio and multimedia and the Bluetooth telephone, which paired first time round with no fuss at all and proved decent for holding conversations. The only slight downside to the centre fascia and controls are that they slope away, so various buttons may be harder to reach for some drivers. The radio display appears on the pop-up screen which rises out of the dashboard when the ignition is turned on. This screen is for the Peugeot Connect Media Navigation package which comes with hard-drive-based 3D European mapping, DVD playback capability, MP3, USB, SD and RCA connectivity and RDS-TMC. The sat nav worked really well and had the added benefit of postcode input. I must report that the sat nav did crash a couple of times during the week, potholes seeming to upset the SD card, causing an annoying complete multimedia system reset.

In my last car review, which was of the Peugeot 508 GT, I raved about the JBL audio system. The RCZ also comes with a JBL system, so I won’t go into the details again, suffice to say that it sounds very impressive indeed. Once again, I cranked my favourite CDs up higher than usual, as I knew the JBL system with its sound optimised specifically for the RCZ’s interior, would be able to cope.

Room for the kitchen sink? I did manage a flatscreen TV!

The Peugeot RCZ is marketed as a 2+2 coupé and although the design of the double bubble roof does provide extra headroom for anyone willing to attempt to sit in the back, the two rear seats really are for either children or for very occasional use by adults. It’s pretty cramped back there, hence for everyday use only really ideal for stashing your briefcase, laptop or a few bags in, during your journey. As a primarily two-seater coupé, the RCZ is really quite practical when it comes to boot space, though. The total boot space available comes in at 414 litres, which is pretty impressive. This space is shared between the boot per se (384 litres) and the under-floor storage space (30 litres). The backrests on the rear seats fold down to increase the total space to 760 litres, although the shape of the space available may limit what you carry.

I particularly appreciated the large luggage net provided in the boot, with its four lashings. It certainly made the task of safely transporting a 22” TV for 65 miles much easier! The RCZ’s boot swallowed our weekly shopping without any fuss and still had plenty of room left over.

So all in all, the Peugeot RCZ GT’s interior certainly did impress. It could just be made that bit better still by less use of cheap plastics for the door bins, the sections around the handbrake and a few other areas, where soft-touch materials would have worked a whole lot better. The handbrake isn’t the most stylish, either. But ‘above the fold’, I really did like the RCZ’s cockpit.

On the move

It would be a travesty if such a good-looking car didn’t perform in a suitably coupé-like, sporty way on the road. Fortunately for the RCZ, it performs rather well. As mentioned, this particular test car, in resplendent Pearl White complete with optional 19” “Solstice Black Onyx” alloy wheels, is powered by the newer 200bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine. It delivers 206 lb ft (275 Nm) of torque and knocks 0-60mph off in an impressive 7.6 seconds. The THP 200 4-cylinder engine impresses on paper, as it has been tweaked for performance, greenness and economy. It features a twin-scroll turbocharger for more rapid responses at lower engine speeds, direct injection and variable inlet valve lift as well as variable tune, together called VTi. I said the 200 version of the RCZ doesn’t just differ in terms of its power output. It has a stiffened anti-roll bar and a unique suspension setup, too, with a special bracing bar situated low down at the front, improving the agility, responsiveness and stability. The ventilated front brake discs are chunkier on the 200 version as well, 38mm more in diameter and 4mm thicker. It sits in emissions band G at 159k/km CO2 and Peugeot quote achievable combined fuel economy as being in the low 40s MPG-wise.

I turned the key (as this Peugeot doesn’t have a keyless option) and the first thing to strike me was the nice engine note which definitely had a sporty hint to it. Peugeot have been clever here, as they specially developed the acoustics of the THP 200’s exhaust as part of their ‘Sound System’ technology which comes as part of the Sport Pack. A vibrating membrane controls the amplified sound of the exhaust according to the speed you’re doing. And I can vouch that this system really did work and made driving the RCZ more involving. But there is a downside to driving with the aim of matching or encouraging the sporty exhaust sound, which is that fuel economy tends to drop. Still, even after a week of admittedly pushing the RCZ quite hard for a lot of the time, I averaged 38mpg – only a few less than the published figures. The fuel tank did seem to head south quite quickly, though, which must have been down to its 55-litres capacity.

The clutch took a bit of getting used to, as it’s very on-or-off in its operation. The 6-speed manual gearbox was a joy to use, on the whole, especially with the shortened, sports-focused gear lever in this version, plus the short ratios. The RCZ certainly enjoyed being driven zestfully and was quite feisty in all gears. I wasn’t all that sure the engine would feel powerful, so I was pleasantly surprised to exit a sliproad roundabout with a dash of tyre squeal and a lovely burble from the engine. In slower, urban environments, the RCZ’s engine maintained the sporty note and sounded alive at times, and out on the motorway, it just wanted to be let free. Quite often I thought I was driving at a slower speed, only to look down at the dial and have to reign the RCZ in. Even in sixth gear at motorway speeds, there was no need to change down a gear if you wanted to push on and increase your speed by some margin. The Peugeot’s ease with fast speeds is testament to the feeling of safety it gives you, despite being low down inside the relatively small cockpit.

On that subject, visibility was at times slightly poor, partly because of the low-down stance of the car, the low roof and pillars, and sometimes because it was hard to judge how close you were to objects when reversing, as the back slopes away sharply and the double-bubble somehow distorts your vision a little. But the parking sensors were there to help, and the turning circle of the RCZ proved good, so all-round manoeuvrability was fine.

The ride at times was a little hard, especially on bumpy surfaces, which was largely down to the large 19” wheels – but on the whole, complaints were few. Owing to the wheels being located right at the corners, the RCZ took bends well with minimal body roll, helped in part by its wide stance. The steering was impressive too, though perhaps not quite as sharp as some would like it. The taut chassis, well-mannered suspension, short-ratio gearbox, effective brakes and tuned engine note, make this a great car for chucking round B-roads and country lanes.

Parting Words

Peugeot really have produced a superb 2+2 coupé. The RCZ looks fantastic and handles equally well. The THP 200 GT version proved punchy and exciting. It’s a practical car too, with an ample boot. Just contemplate one knowing full-well that the two rear seats really aren’t suitable for the majority of people. Throughout the week, I kept getting asked how much the RCZ costs and when I told them that the price including options came to just over £29,000, the consensus was that it’s priced competitively. I can’t argue with that at all, plus it’s slightly less badge-pretentious than some of its rivals. Okay, it lacks the two proper seats the Scirocco provides or the prestigious badge of the TT or Z4 couple, but who cares? In fact, when funds allow for a sporty addition to the family in the future, I’m definitely going to put a THP 200 RCZ GT on my shortlist. Even my wife concurs with that!

Words & Photos © & by Oliver Hammond

Specification of the Peugeot RCZ GT THP 200 tested in this review:

Engine: 1,598cc, 4-cylinder diesel Transmission: 6-speed manual Max Output: 200bhp @ 5,800rpm Max Torque 275Nm @ 1,770rpm Top Speed: 146mph 0-60mph: 7.6 seconds Combined fuel economy: 40ish (all printed materials I was given say different!) Fuel tank capacity: 55 litres Tax Band: G for indigo CO2 Emissions: 159g/km Gross Weight: 1,714kg Boot capacity: 384 litres Dimensions: 4,290mm long, 2,107mm wide including mirrors, 1,352mm high

Standard GT Specification includes (but not limited to):

Leather upholstery Electric & heated front seats Carpet mats Front parking aid Auto dipping (when reversing) door mirrors Automatic lights Automatic ‘Follow me home’ lighting Automatic windscreen wipers Automatic ‘Approach’ lighting 19? alloy wheels Sports leather front seats Folding rear seat Automatic dual zone air conditioning Rear Parking Aid Deadlocks Locking wheel bolts Ultrasonic alarm and immobiliser Driver and front passenger side airbags Driver and passenger front airbags Electronic Stability Programme and Traction Control (ESP and ASR) Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBFD) Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)

Options fitted to this press vehicle:

Pearlescent white paint – £630 JBL audio system – £420 Solstice alloy wheels – £320 Peugeot Connect Media Navigation – £1,470 Vision Pack inc. Xenon bi-directional, self-levelling headlights and tyre pressure sensors – £680

BTRL Reviews – Peugeot RCZ GT THP 200 (Beyond the Red Line)Beyond the Red Line – Latest motorsports news and event photography. WRC, F1, Moto GP, V8 Supercars