"So, what happens if you lift off of the throttle now?" our companion asks as we charge a cloverleaf bend leading onto a Spanish motorway. But if this Spanish highway worker is looking for drama, he's in for disappointment, as the 2011 Peugeot RCZ sheds enough speed to regain its balance and get us around the bend. We're saved by the magic of stability control and sticky tires. This won't be the last excitement we enjoy onboard this Audi TT-style coupe today, but the next highs will come for reasons other than on-ramp bravado.
We breathe the throttle pedal, and the nose of the front-wheel-drive 2011 Peugeot RCZ GT 1.6 THP200 gently scribes a slightly tighter turn. But this doesn't seem much of a test, so we speed up and drop the throttle again, only to discover our bend tightening a whole lot more than expected in its bid to join the motorway. Never mind lifting off because now we're braking, too, the Peugeot's tires scrabbling audibly on this dust-slicked on-ramp while a nearby road worker looks up from his digging to see what's going on.
Peugeot Has Won Le Mans, You Know
What we're driving is the 2011 Peugeot RCZ, a shapelyconcept car from the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show that has finally reached production. It promises to make Peugeot an exciting brand again. Remember, this is the car company that made the Peugeot 205 GTi into the car of the decade in Europe during the 1980s, and then made it into a world-beating rally car, the 205 T16 Group B. Of course, we remember only the Peugeot 405 Mi16, the last car the company sold in the U.S. before it went home to France in disgrace in 1991.
What we're driving is the 2011 Peugeot RCZ, a shapelyconcept car from the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show that has finally reached production. It promises to make Peugeot an exciting brand again. Remember, this is the car company that made the Peugeot 205 GTi into the car of the decade in Europe during the 1980s, and then made it into a world-beating rally car, the 205 T16 Group B. Of course, we remember only the Peugeot 405 Mi16, the last car the company sold in the U.S. before it went home to France in disgrace in 1991.
Sure, we're talking about French cars here, but these were great-handling French cars, if rather less mighty when it came to construction integrity. Since then, the quality has slowly improved, but Peugeot has lost its way with the dynamics, producing ever-duller cars when it comes to coursing through corners. And we've been repeatedly told that Peugeot will never again build cars like the 205 GTi again, partly because Citroen is the cute partner in the PSA Peugeot Citroen concern and partly because (goes the unspoken word) the 205 GTi would challenge inexperienced drivers with its lift-off oversteer.
No Twitter and Squeak
So this RCZ GT's utterly safe reactions are to be expected. But on these more open Spanish roads the RCZ begins to surprise us with its agility and grip, not to mention a robust, all-of-a-piece feel that will come as a shock to anyone who remembers the twitter and squeak of the 405 Mi16's fragile cabin. Better yet, this front-wheel-drive coupe has quite decent steering with a good level of effort off-center and a decently connected feel.
So this RCZ GT's utterly safe reactions are to be expected. But on these more open Spanish roads the RCZ begins to surprise us with its agility and grip, not to mention a robust, all-of-a-piece feel that will come as a shock to anyone who remembers the twitter and squeak of the 405 Mi16's fragile cabin. Better yet, this front-wheel-drive coupe has quite decent steering with a good level of effort off-center and a decently connected feel.
As with all small, sporty cars in Europe, the RCZ is available in both diesel and gas configurations, and the 2.0 turbodiesel revs with surprising freedom, even producing a light slightly rorty exhaust note as it heads to the tachometer's danger paint at 5,000 rpm. But we're really interested in the RCZ that shares the same 1.6-liter Prince engine as the Mini. PSA Peugeot Citroen and BMW collaborate on four-cylinder engines, so the RCZ offers the same powertrain as the Mini, notably the turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-4 that you find in the Mini John Cooper Works.
This 2011 Peugeot RCZ GT 1.6 THP200 features the high-output version of this engine ("THP" means turbo high performance) and it makes 200 horsepower and 206 pound-feet of torque. It's hooked to a six-speed manual transmission, and this THP200 (unlike the mildly tuned THP156 version of this car) has a short-throw shift linkage besides. With luck, the twisty roads ahead will have us feeling like rally champion Sebastien Loeb, although he races a Citroen. (Again, Citroen gets to be the cute one, just like the 2011 Citroen DS3 that will be Loeb's WRC rally ride in 2011.)
Rally Ready
If you want driving-friendly topography, northern Spain has got it. We're only 40 or 50 miles outside the city of Pamplona, but these roads seem to go to nowhere, many of them little more than paved cart tracks that farmers and shepherds have used for centuries. The route ribbons across grassy plains, zigzags high into jagged mountain ranges and occasionally drops into tiny rural villages where you're surprised not to find donkeys. And there's virtually no other traffic.
If you want driving-friendly topography, northern Spain has got it. We're only 40 or 50 miles outside the city of Pamplona, but these roads seem to go to nowhere, many of them little more than paved cart tracks that farmers and shepherds have used for centuries. The route ribbons across grassy plains, zigzags high into jagged mountain ranges and occasionally drops into tiny rural villages where you're surprised not to find donkeys. And there's virtually no other traffic.
This is quite some test of a car that does not seem at first to look like the weapon of choice for twisting roads, despite its pertly aggressive style. Why? Because a trip through the specifications uncovers some pretty ordinary hardware, much of it shared with Peugeots as diverse and unlikely as the 3008crossover, the 308 coupe cabriolet and the 308 hatchback. The 2011 Peugeot RCZ comes from the same platform family as these cars, and consequently sits on MacPherson struts up front and a simple semi-independent twist-beam axle at the rear.
But on the plus side, the RCZ's center of gravity sits 1.6 inches lower than for the 308 hatchback, it rides on a wider track and its body is significantly stiffer. Peugeot has also worked hard to develop the suspension for this more dynamic role. There are stiffer front subframe bushings, retuned shocks, reworked suspension kinematics using dual-density bushings, and more powerful assist from the electrohydraulic steering. The THP200 also has a cross brace between the lower control arms of the front suspension, bigger brakes, larger 19-inch wheels and a smaller steering wheel.
And unlike most of Peugeot's sportier drives, the RCZ's stability control and traction control can be switched off at speeds of more than 30 mph. True, its weight distribution is not entirely promising, with the THP200's 3,133 pounds split roughly 64 percent front/34 percent rear, but efforts have clearly been made to turn this car into the sport coupe that its elevating rear spoiler implies.
Is That a Lion Roaring?
You certainly sit in a cockpit that's dressed for action. Peugeot's recent (and surprising) leaps up the quality ladder have produced an ordered, well-stocked dashboard that looks especially stylish when sheathed in stitched leather. The driving position is low-slung and sporting, with the pedals and foot rest executed in aluminum. The instruments, including a classic analog clock, look moderately expensive, while the infotainment screen swivels toward you. This is an attractive interior, apparently constructed to German standards.
You certainly sit in a cockpit that's dressed for action. Peugeot's recent (and surprising) leaps up the quality ladder have produced an ordered, well-stocked dashboard that looks especially stylish when sheathed in stitched leather. The driving position is low-slung and sporting, with the pedals and foot rest executed in aluminum. The instruments, including a classic analog clock, look moderately expensive, while the infotainment screen swivels toward you. This is an attractive interior, apparently constructed to German standards.
Get moving and you soon discover a car notably sharper than the entry-level RCZ. It turns into corners with slightly more zeal, its steering feels slightly more mechanical and connected (as does that short-throw shift linkage) and the brakes are more progressive. The engine is not quite as sharp to match, though, as there's sometimes a brief, stuttering pause as you pick up the throttle, although when you glance at the speedometer you realize that you're going harder than you thought.
The engine is giving you a turbocharged 200 hp and 206 lb-ft of torque and it has an enthusiastic induction roar to prove it, a sound artificially induced by a diaphragm in the breathing system. The noise might be fake but doesn't sound it, and it plays quite a big role in tempting you to drive harder.
So do these Spanish roads. One minute you're scurrying down a switchback mountain pass, hard on the brakes, heel-and-toeing throttle blips as you drop a gear to pile the car into another hairpin before ripping through the gears toward the next bend, most of them featuring precipitous drops.
Drives Good, Looks Good
Fortunately this is a car you can push. Switch off the stability control and you discover a chassis that drifts all four wheels at the limit. Traction is strong despite the occasional torque steer that freezes the steering wheel for an instant, as the 2011 Peugeot RCZ is amazingly well-balanced considering its nose-heavy weight distribution.
Fortunately this is a car you can push. Switch off the stability control and you discover a chassis that drifts all four wheels at the limit. Traction is strong despite the occasional torque steer that freezes the steering wheel for an instant, as the 2011 Peugeot RCZ is amazingly well-balanced considering its nose-heavy weight distribution.
Best of all, though, is the fluency. It runs like a fast-moving river, rarely hesitating, surmounting crests, dips, potholes and camber changes with a suppleness that you simply wouldn't expect from such a relatively simple suspension. It would be better still if the car turned a little more eagerly, had a back end that helped you round bends more completely and told you more about the road below. But no doubt about it, this is a highly entertaining driver's car that beats the Audi TT.
And when the drive is over and you get out to the sound of steel ticking with the heat of the effort, you can look back and enjoy this car's style, so much more dramatic than the now-generic Audi TT. The RCZ's cab-forward stance, gaping radiator grille and the brushed-aluminum arches that form the pillars and roof line are as eye-catching as the subtle swells of bodywork over the wheel arches. Most intriguing of all is the double-bubble roof, which swells over the heads of the occupants and continues the effect into the rear window. Amazingly, there's no distortion when you look through this wave of steeply angled glass either.
The French Connection
With the introduction of the 2011 Peugeot RCZ and the 2011 Citroen DS3, something appears to be going on at PSA Peugeot Citroen. Maybe its newfound collaboration with BMW for the Mini has persuaded France's premium brands (such as they are) that there's some market share to be gained in making premium-style small cars. Or maybe this is simply the natural progression of things after both companies have introduced provocative concept cars over the last few years.
With the introduction of the 2011 Peugeot RCZ and the 2011 Citroen DS3, something appears to be going on at PSA Peugeot Citroen. Maybe its newfound collaboration with BMW for the Mini has persuaded France's premium brands (such as they are) that there's some market share to be gained in making premium-style small cars. Or maybe this is simply the natural progression of things after both companies have introduced provocative concept cars over the last few years.
The time would certainly appear to be right for another premium small car in America, as the Mini continues to go from strength to strength while the Ford Fiesta promises to expand the concept even lower in the price spectrum. The 2011 Peugeot RCZ GT 1.6 THP200 is certainly a world away from the increasingly dull cars that this 200-year-old company has been serving these past 15 years, too.
All of which makes it a real shame that the Peugeot RCZ will not make it to the United States. Sadly, say Peugeot high-ups, there will be no policy changes in that regard.
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