First post

[Anonymous]

Greetings RCZ fans. I joined your forum from afar (I'm in Melbourne Australia) to try an get some background on the RCZ which has just been released here in Aus. In fact, I just test drove a THP 200 Sport this morning.

I've never owned a Peugeot before. I've never owned a French car before. My current car is an 2008 Volvo C30 T5 R-Design, which was preceeded by a 2004 Alfa 147GTA (a red one of course) and a 2001 Audi TT 225 quattro coupe (in silver of course). Frankly, I think that everything that Peugeot have built since the (beautiful) 406 Coupe has been (pretty much) hideously ugly. But the RCZ I saw in the metal today was stunning. I have to say though that I think the RCZ looks better in darker colours. The one I drove today was black with 19" wheels and the black colour combination with the black roof divided by the aluminium roof bars was awesome...and it also took a little bit of emphasis away from the corporate smiley grill...the piece of the design I'm probably least keen on.

Driving impressions were...

Engine/Performance: I was expecting to be a bit underwelmed by 147kw/200hp but the car was decently quick. It didn't feel a lot slower than my C30 T5 and, of course, it sounded pants-wettingly brilliant. Nice spread of torque. Spins out nicely and is very smooth. A very pleasant surprise. Don't understand the critcism I've read/heard about the gear change. I thought it was accurate and direct. I didn't care for the clutch though. I thought the clutch was too light and took up too high on the travel.

Handling/Roadholding/Steering/Ride: An excellent ride/handling compromise. I've driven more adjustable front-drive cars...my 1998 Honda Prelude VTEC springs to mind and so does Peugeot's 206/306 hot hatches...but the handling very good and the roadholding (no doubt due to the 235/40R19 tyres) was excellent. Steering was a pleasant surprise. Nice a darty off-centre (a bit cart-like) and pretty damn good compared to most modern cars...none of them steer like a '70's 911 anymore :-( Ride was firm but very good....better than my Volvo!! Good to see that Peugeot have upgraded the front brakes to 340mm units on the Sports model too.

Fit/Finish/Interior/Equipment: Can't complain about any of it. Standard equipment levels are excellent. The interior is nicely upmarket and frankly I can't see why anybody would pay extra for the leather cover dash when the standard one looks so good and is probably more durable. I would be springing for the "Monaco pack" (JBL & Xenon's). The Dynaudio system in my C30 is brillant...the Peugeot's JBL system I can live with although it's not a patch on the C30's. Xenons? Well I haven't had a car without them for 9 years and I don't intend to start now. The packages with the carbon fibre stuff looks like a terrible waste of money though.

Overall: A very pretty and very impressive little car. With Aus taxes/duties it's going to cost me about USD$65k (about GBP40k) on the road (with metalic paint, 19's, JBL/Xenons) but that's about AUD$10k less than a TT would cost me.

Going away for a weeks in leave in Bali to ponder things, but I'm seriously thinking of joining the club.

 

[Anonymous]

Well at least we can say welcome to the forum :greetings-wavingblue: even if your still deciding.

You've written a pretty fair review in my opinion. Colour is always going to be a personal thing. I think they look great in white - but then I've ordered dolphin blue.

I think the clutch in modern cars always seems to annoy men - but women don't seem to complain (Please don't think I'm being sexist here girls....It is not my intention!). IMHO Car manufacturers seem to be putting in clutches that are lighter and lighter.

Can't belive the price difference between Aus and UK. Would it be cheaper to by over here and export yourself? The basic on the road price for a 200 GT here is £25,500. I know it has further to travel but £40,000 does seem excessive. I'm just wondering how much of that is tax.

Anyway, welcome again. Enjoy your week of pondering. :thumbup: :text-welcomewave:

 

[Anonymous]

Can't belive the price difference between Aus and UK. Would it be cheaper to by over here and export yourself? The basic on the road price for a 200 GT here is £25,500. I know it has further to travel but £40,000 does seem excessive. I'm just wondering how much of that is tax.

Anyway, welcome again. Enjoy your week of pondering. :thumbup: :text-welcomewave:

Sadly importing it won't work. £40k is actually a pretty sharp price here. I think Peugeot are going to sell a lot more RCZ's than they expect. We get ripped on cars here in Aus. My US based boss just bought a new top-of-the-line A4 2.0TFSI in the US for USD$34k (on zero deposit and 0.1% interest!) and the exact same car is USD$65k here! We Aussies even manage to sell you Poms our HSV (Holden) Clubsport (Vauxhall VKR8) for less than we pay for it here!!! Go figure. :crazy:

 

[Anonymous]

Hi RBH58 and :text-welcomewave: to the forum. Off to Bali to think it over...some people have the life, don't they? :mrgreen: :thumbup: . As a woman I didn't notice a problem with the clutch. Indeed, it was nicer than my current Hyundai's as it's soooo easy to stall, and my brother would concur on that. As for colour, I think the car's just gorgeous in every variation but each to his own. I've seen so many black cars on the road that look so shabby when not properly looked after and having once had a black SUV it took too much effort for li'l ol' me to take care of. :text-blondmoment: As for bright colours and low cars, my coupé has so many chips it's not funny so I'm hoping mercury grey doesn't show them as obviously.

Happy holidaying and hope you become an owner/member :beer:

 

[Anonymous]

Hi RBH58 and :text-welcomewave: to the forum. Off to Bali to think it over...some people have the life, don't they? :mrgreen: :thumbup: . As a woman I didn't notice a problem with the clutch. Indeed, it was nicer than my current Hyundai's as it's soooo easy to stall, and my brother would concur on that. As for colour, I think the car's just gorgeous in every variation but each to his own. I've seen so many black cars on the road that look so shabby when not properly looked after and having once had a black SUV it took too much effort for li'l ol' me to take care of. :text-blondmoment: As for bright colours and low cars, my coupé has so many chips it's not funny so I'm hoping mercury grey doesn't show them as obviously.

Happy holidaying and hope you become an owner/member :beer:

I don't like the clutch at all, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. It's the only thing I can say I really didn't like. Everytime I buy a black car I say "never again" (my current car is black). But it's "the colour" for the RCZ IMHO. Damn!

 

[RCZ1]

Welcome to the forum :greetings-wavingblue:

I wish I could take a week in Bali to ponder my next purchase - maybe one day

Anyway, I thought your review was very informative and I do hope you decide that the RCZ is for you. Its just a shame that the price is so high over in Australia.

Let us know what you decide :thumbup:

 

[Anonymous]

Its just a shame that the price is so high over in Australia.

Pretty much the effect of a tectonic recent shift in the AUD$ which has gone from about USD 0.82 & GBP 0.50 to USD 0.99 & GBP 0.65 in a matter of a few months and it hasn't filtered through to reduced cost of imports yet...and it probably won't because the importers will use it as an opportunity to gouge!

Ah well....must go catch a plane to Bali where my hotel has gotten 20% cheaper since I booked it Some upside I guess!

 

[FGRob]

Hi and welcome to the club.

Good write up with some interesting points raised, I too love black as a colour, my other two cars are black but for the RCZ I went for Charcoal, which can look black in some light but other times it changes to grey / purple - love it.

Exchange rates are a bit of a killer at the moment, the £ pounds is not so strong these days as is the €, which can be used to your advantage, but as you say the good old car producers / importers will always try and maximise their return. :roll:

Have a good time in Bali - had a great holiday there a few years back - great people. :thumbup:

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

hi, dont think about it just do it, you wont regret it.