Peugeot RCZ R, back on the right track?
Discussion
Its a bit of a story with my love/hate relationship with Peugeot, yes its french but dont under estimate the
cars that Peugeot make now.
Back in 1997 I purchased a lovely 306 GTI-6, phase 1, had it 2.5 hrs before an uninsured & disqualifed driver ran
a red light and did 7k's worth of damage to it, kept it a little longer after they repaired it, it was never the same
so that went and was replaced by a phase 2 white GTI-6, which I had for 18 odd months (I really did love the GTI-6, it
was a great car, but then in 2000 I moved over to Subaru having gone for a nice sonic blue MY00 Turbo eu import).
The only one glitch I had was being tempted to go back to Peugeot in 2003 when they brought out the 206 GTI 180, this
car may have been a worthy successor to the 306 GTI-6 but it sucked big time, horrid pedals set off far too much to the
right, 2nd gear went on forever, it hit 70mph before changing up to 3rd, so instead I ended up with my first JDM STI
in the shape of a Spec C.
Moving on 10 years and in 2013, I was getting a bit car sick, I had my little Citroen C3 1.6 e-HDI VTR+ (first Citroen
I had owned) to go with my Subaru Impreza STI Spec C Limited (2003, my 2nd Spec C) as it was a slightly better choice
to use on a daily basis than a Spec C.
At this point I actually had 4 cars, 2 Subaru's (the Spec C and a V5 type R), 1 Citroen and a 1996 Peugeot 306 S16.
I really needed to clear out the stock... so off went the STI Type R, then off went the 306 S16 (she was a none runner
and I gave it to a guy who could do more with it than I could, I had no room for it so..), thats the fleet down to 2 cars.
Then it goes a bit pair shaped as I had an urge for a Peugeot again, the only one worth getting was an RCZ (though I
had looked at the BRZ/GT86 but for what you got for your money and the fact that the FA engines were having oil
consumption/failure issues...) so off I went to Peugeot to have a look at 3 that they had in at my local Peugeot dealer.
Of the 3, all were 1.6ltr petrol 156 GT's, I opted for the lowest mileage one (a nice grey one which was the same
colour as my C3 HDI), full leather, 19 inch wheels, front and rear parking sensors, heated seats etc and picked it up
on my birthday (sorry for the pic quality).
It may be that I was getting old, but I liked the RCZ, it wasnt perfect but it was damned efficient and was nice to
drive, it lacked a few things but it was a nice GT rather than a sporty coupe.
The funny thing was, is that I had heard that Peugeot were bringing out some 260+bhp version of the RCZ, in 1.6 ltr
format, hmmm I thought, performance, handing, good looks and no need to plan when I have to stop for fuel or look
out for Shell/Tesco's for their super unleaded fuel... and in March 2014 my local dealer got one of these in!
Well, that was me totally tempted, off for a test drive and what an impressive car it was, great sound, sporty
looks the dogs danglies, handles great and really shifted for a 1.6!
This car pretty much did everything the Spec C did but better, only the lack of 4 doors and a bit of practicality
in the rear (I can still get the shopping in), were the disadvantages, fuel consumption was considerably higher
and the running costs considerably lower.
I was hooked, it was a great car that offered so much and gave it, plus it looks good to boot and is fun to drive,
despite being front wheel drive and 270ps.
Buying was easy, getting hold of one that I wanted was another issue, there was a waiting list for these as they
only produced so many per batch, I could have had the demonstrator, it had the front parking sensors (which were an
option on the R but standard on the GT, always puzzled me why they did that), but as fate had it, there was 1 remaining in
the UK, in the best colour and I could have her in less than 2 weeks!! (some of this was down to me not being available
for one of those weeks or it would have been less).
Roll on 2 weeks and.....!!!
Nearly 2 years later and I still love to get out in the RCZ R, she loves any road you throw at her, I had a trip
across North Wales (visiting friends) then down through south Wales and on towards Berkshire, I needed to put
some fuel in at around the 350-400 mile mark, I "could" have made it all the way on 1 tank (55ltrs) but best to
play on the safe side, and I was having fun on those roads, not just driving for economy.
Now on to economy, its amazingly economical for its power, I did a motorway trip sitting around 70mph and averaged
47mpg, my Wales cross country trip averaged 40mpg, even with a good thrashing she averages mid 30's without
any problems, and the levels of grip the car gives you, even in the wet, are damned good, its very controllable
on the throttle and the front Torsen LSD is fantastic.
Inside the dash looks dated compared to the newer Peugeot's, but it is covered in leather, the seats are very good and
supportive, the pedals are ok, the clutch is higher than the brake by some margin, it wont be to everyone's liking
but its easy to get use to it, the foot rest shows you why its probably higher as you have to slip your left foot
under the clutch pedal to rest it, its a slightly weird layout but not uncomfortable.
The driving position is suppose to be compromised, it is and isn't, once you find a nice driving position its no
strain to drive the car, all the controls you need are at your finger tips, the sat nav can be a pain but you
shouldn't be adjusting it on the move anyway, and though the steering isn't as good as say the Renault Megane 275,
its still not a bad attempt by Peugeot, but I feel they could do better.
Practicality is good, unless you have more than 2 people in the car or your passengers are less than 4 feet tall.
Boot space is fantastic for a car of its size, there are some compromises to be had with placing stuff, but over all
you can fit quite a bit into there (a couple of decent size suit cases, a weeks shopping or even your golf clubs)
with no issues.
Ride and handling are fantastic for a powerful fwd car, this car just grips and the shocks just absorb bumps and
undulations on the roads, it can be a little skittish on really bad surfaces, I don't think there is a car out there
that will be good on every surface, its firm ride may play a part but its better than a lot of cars, far better than
the Subaru STI Spec C I owned previously, and I loved (and still hold a soft spot for them) that car, its fun and
rewarding, that is the best way to describe the RCZ R's ride and handing, it just loves to be pushed.
The engine is a rev-tastic unit, it pulls from very low down and the close ratio gear box means you are never really
in the wrong gear, it loves you to use all those revs too, but you are changing the gears very quickly, more quickly
than you expect to from a car like this, but boy, is it fun doing so!
I see the RCZ R as a flawed but enjoyable car, its Peugeot Sports first attempt and they did a fantastic job, a little
more communication from the steering would help, the engine is a peach and the car sticks to the road like glue.
Some will find the driving position flawed, I have no problems with it, neither with the arrangement of the pedals or
with getting comfortable with the seating/driving position.
I enjoy this little beast of a car for what it is, a great A-B car, if you throw C, D and E in there also, it will
happily oblige with that too, and you don't have to keep looking at the fuel gauge, I personally put Shell V power in
but its not a requirement as this car will happily run on 95 ron fuel (unlike quite a few of its competitors), but
the way I see it, if you have a performance car, why not put the best fuel in that is available to you?
(please note this was done at 01:30hrs in the morning, any mistakes will be rectified at a later date
)GregK2 said:
Really impressive power output for the engine size, would be interested to know what turbo is used and what changes have been made in the engine internals over a standard RCZ.
You will have to give me a few days to find out what turbo she has, work has me running around at the moment and its not the nicest weather (plus its dark leaving and dark coming home), so probably next week.Internal wise, Mahle pistons and rods and polymer coated race bearings, engine block has been hardened more than usual to take the extra power and they have supposedly fixed the issue that the prince engine suffers from with the cam chain by upgrading the part (not known one go on an R).
GregK2 said:
Really impressive power output for the engine size, would be interested to know what turbo is used and what changes have been made in the engine internals over a standard RCZ.
Turbo... unfortunately I have tried to see what it says on the housing but the heat shield obscures what I am after, I am due a 2 year service shortly so will see if I can get the part from the service desk when I am there 
tonyb1968 said:
Turbo... unfortunately I have tried to see what it says on the housing but the heat shield obscures what I am after, I am due a 2 year service shortly so will see if I can get the part from the service desk when I am there
Whatever it is, it seems it's good for over 300bhp 
http://www.evo.co.uk/peugeot/rcz/15062/peugeot-rcz...
Well a bit of an update, its been all quiet on the RCZR front but with her hitting the big 2 year old point it was service time.
Tyre and brake wear were fairly minimal, 20% on the front pads and 10% on the rear after 9k miles, the Goodyear assy F1's are at 5mm on the front and 6mm on the rear.
This is probably one of the bigger services for her, the usual engine oil, filter and spark plugs (plugs are replaced every 10k/1 year), in addition the air filter, charcoal filter, aircon and geometry were also done, plus brake fluid, all in it cost a touch over £436 which is very reasonable to be honest with you.
Things for the near future, sort out the 2 slightly curbed wheels
and a good polish, which I shall have done professionally as the last time I tried I ended up flat on my face and couldnt move for 3 weeks
Still loving the car, definately a "keeper"
Tyre and brake wear were fairly minimal, 20% on the front pads and 10% on the rear after 9k miles, the Goodyear assy F1's are at 5mm on the front and 6mm on the rear.
This is probably one of the bigger services for her, the usual engine oil, filter and spark plugs (plugs are replaced every 10k/1 year), in addition the air filter, charcoal filter, aircon and geometry were also done, plus brake fluid, all in it cost a touch over £436 which is very reasonable to be honest with you.
Things for the near future, sort out the 2 slightly curbed wheels
and a good polish, which I shall have done professionally as the last time I tried I ended up flat on my face and couldnt move for 3 weeks Still loving the car, definately a "keeper"
That looks really nice in that colour.
There's a brilliant white one further up in my street which looks good as well, but i've always kinda ignored them because somewhere i heard/read they only do them in small engine sizes. I wasn't aware they'd done a turbo version with plenty of BHP untill i read your post and looked at some youtube reviews of this model.
There are only around 300-320 RCZR's in this country so they are pretty rare, considering they are fwd with a good 270ps output they do amazingly well. I do think the red is the best colour it does make the car stand out and its actually cheaper to insure than my 2014 308 2ltr BlueHDi 
I should add that they are all turbo'd but the R is the only one that is fully forged, race bearings etc
it does make the car stand out and its actually cheaper to insure than my 2014 308 2ltr BlueHDi I should add that they are all turbo'd but the R is the only one that is fully forged, race bearings etc
Edited by tonyb1968 on Friday 15th April 11:12
Very nice car Tony, I also had an RCZ back in the day I had a White 156 GT with the Feline styling kit on it, still think the RCZ was the most attractive car I have ever had and had so much presence on the road and that interior always made you feel like you made it with the leather dashboard (well faux leather in mine).
are you / were you part of the RCZ forum I think I recall your username from when I was an active user on that forum.
I did look at the RCZ R (the one I looked at was the grey if I remember right) when I was looking to get something with more go.
What do you make of the roof rails from going from the aluminium versions?
are you / were you part of the RCZ forum I think I recall your username from when I was an active user on that forum.
I did look at the RCZ R (the one I looked at was the grey if I remember right) when I was looking to get something with more go.
What do you make of the roof rails from going from the aluminium versions?
Edited by Tomy90 on Friday 15th April 13:07
tonyb1968 said:
Hi Tony
Yes still on the forum and the facebook page.
Re the rails, the matt black are definately easier to keep clean and look great on any RCZ, the aluminium ones are definately harder work to keep clean but once polished did look great on my shark grey 156 GT
Yeah I remember my aluminium rails being tough to keep looking pretty and remember the day I spotted a stone chip on one of them hahaYes still on the forum and the facebook page.
Re the rails, the matt black are definately easier to keep clean and look great on any RCZ, the aluminium ones are definately harder work to keep clean but once polished did look great on my shark grey 156 GT
Oh nice I probably should back on there and see how everyone is doing etc.
Oh it's Tom, not Tony by the way (don't worry been called worse haha)
Its only been 2 years so an update is due.
The "R" is now a little over 4 years old and just under 20k miles on the clock, the Goodyear Eagle F1's on the front have had it, the car is more seceptable to torque steer when these are down to 2mm so replacement F1's ordered and fitted.
Of course this was done whilst having all 4 wheel refurbished (followed by a trip to my local friendly Peugeot Dealer to have the tracking done), and if you even look at a curb they get damaged and you only really get 2 attempts at having these diamond cut before you are out of luck and have then to resort to respraying them.
On a bad note, I did dent one of my wheels pretty badly, it cost a little more to sort out (225 quid instead of 150), its still cheaper than the 500+ for a new alloy of course (being forged and all), so the addition of some Alloy Gaitors now help with any curbing (I have not put them to the test and hope that I won't need to), these are cheaper than having one wheel done, at around 87 quid for 4.
No real modifications to the R, there have been no major issues to complain about, the enjoyment is still there take this car on a long trip and you still exit feeling fresh. Point her down a nice twisty country road and she will eat up the miles with ease, even in poor weather (excluding snow of course), the grip is excellent in the wet with a very predictable front end and the Torsen LSD does a wonderful job of keeping the nose where it should be.
The brakes are still working wonders, I get a little bit of vibration from them now and again (more about that later), their stopping power is phenominal though and you don't suffer brake fade from them, even after a lot of hard driving.
On the driving front, trips to Wales and North Yorkshire with the RCZ owners club (an excellent bunch of enthusiasts for the marque), I only encountered one close call when a white van decided it was a brilliant idea to overtake a mini bus on a blind corner just as I was coming round it, no idea how he missed me but my friend in the front seat was screaming like a girl!
The not so good bits, well nothing to tell except the brakes, I've reported them to my dealer but they are intermittent at the moment, it's a common issue with the early cars that you can get brake squeal or vibration and this usually starts around the 18k mile mark (the vibration, the squeal can be from very low miles), a change of discs is required to a newer version (under warranty), so an extended warranty is recommended.
I have no other issues a part from that, there have been a few reported cases of HPFP (high pressure fuel pump) replancement due to failure (a common issue on this BMW sourced engine), a couple of reported cases of timing chain rattle, though it seems to be quite rare on the mk 2 cars compared to the mk1, the odd failing seal and people noticing when its very cold that the tyres (Goodyears) seem to grab a little and cause a bit of skipping at low speed on lock, from the LSD.
Service costs are reasonable, spark plugs are replaced annually, every 2 years you have the brake fluid done, think my last service was around 360 quid which comparing to the Subaru I had previously is amazingly cheap.
Fuel economy still surprises, on a long run you can happily see low 50's at 60ish mph, even at 70mph you can see over 45mpg (incliding a bit of spirited driving), town drops this down to low to mid 30's but I do run my car on Shell V Power even though you don't need to (you can run these happily on 95 ron).
The RCZR is a great if slightly flawed car, no sports buttons, just the good old brake and accelerator pedal, less to go wrong, they are rare and still hold their value well with less than 300 now on the road in the UK, it can be used as a daily driver or as a weekend toy, I have a 3008 SUV as my daily and even though it's a superb SUV, jumping into the R and going somewhere, anywhere, makes it feel special.
The "R" is now a little over 4 years old and just under 20k miles on the clock, the Goodyear Eagle F1's on the front have had it, the car is more seceptable to torque steer when these are down to 2mm so replacement F1's ordered and fitted.
Of course this was done whilst having all 4 wheel refurbished (followed by a trip to my local friendly Peugeot Dealer to have the tracking done), and if you even look at a curb they get damaged and you only really get 2 attempts at having these diamond cut before you are out of luck and have then to resort to respraying them.
On a bad note, I did dent one of my wheels pretty badly, it cost a little more to sort out (225 quid instead of 150), its still cheaper than the 500+ for a new alloy of course (being forged and all), so the addition of some Alloy Gaitors now help with any curbing (I have not put them to the test and hope that I won't need to), these are cheaper than having one wheel done, at around 87 quid for 4.
No real modifications to the R, there have been no major issues to complain about, the enjoyment is still there
take this car on a long trip and you still exit feeling fresh. Point her down a nice twisty country road and she will eat up the miles with ease, even in poor weather (excluding snow of course), the grip is excellent in the wet with a very predictable front end and the Torsen LSD does a wonderful job of keeping the nose where it should be.The brakes are still working wonders, I get a little bit of vibration from them now and again (more about that later), their stopping power is phenominal though and you don't suffer brake fade from them, even after a lot of hard driving.
On the driving front, trips to Wales and North Yorkshire with the RCZ owners club (an excellent bunch of enthusiasts for the marque), I only encountered one close call when a white van decided it was a brilliant idea to overtake a mini bus on a blind corner just as I was coming round it, no idea how he missed me but my friend in the front seat was screaming like a girl!
The not so good bits, well nothing to tell except the brakes, I've reported them to my dealer but they are intermittent at the moment, it's a common issue with the early cars that you can get brake squeal or vibration and this usually starts around the 18k mile mark (the vibration, the squeal can be from very low miles), a change of discs is required to a newer version (under warranty), so an extended warranty is recommended.
I have no other issues a part from that, there have been a few reported cases of HPFP (high pressure fuel pump) replancement due to failure (a common issue on this BMW sourced engine), a couple of reported cases of timing chain rattle, though it seems to be quite rare on the mk 2 cars compared to the mk1, the odd failing seal and people noticing when its very cold that the tyres (Goodyears) seem to grab a little and cause a bit of skipping at low speed on lock, from the LSD.
Service costs are reasonable, spark plugs are replaced annually, every 2 years you have the brake fluid done, think my last service was around 360 quid which comparing to the Subaru I had previously is amazingly cheap.
Fuel economy still surprises, on a long run you can happily see low 50's at 60ish mph, even at 70mph you can see over 45mpg (incliding a bit of spirited driving), town drops this down to low to mid 30's but I do run my car on Shell V Power even though you don't need to (you can run these happily on 95 ron).
The RCZR is a great if slightly flawed car, no sports buttons, just the good old brake and accelerator pedal, less to go wrong, they are rare and still hold their value well with less than 300 now on the road in the UK, it can be used as a daily driver or as a weekend toy, I have a 3008 SUV as my daily and even though it's a superb SUV, jumping into the R and going somewhere, anywhere, makes it feel special.
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