Peugeot's all-new RCZ coupe has stunning styling that looks as though it belongs years into the future. So the 2010 launch of the sporty Peugeot in Australia will bring smiles to the faces of all who love daring French automotive styling. This review and road test in north Queensland has been a real delight as the tropical location suits the RCZ coupe down to the ground.

The Peugeot's RCZ roofline with its distinctive double bubble in both the roof itself as well as in the back window is an outstanding feature that attracted attention wherever we drove.

 

When I first saw the RCZ as a concept car at European motor shows several years back I found the headroom too tight for my six-foot frame. But it looks as though the designers have taken a trip back to the computer screens, because I can now sit comfortably in the front of the production coupe with headroom to spare.

The back seat in the RCZ is listed as being a +2, meaning that it's an occasional seat that can be used by children or very tolerant adults. But that's not really a criticism as car’s like this are meant to carry a comfortable couple.

The shape of the front of the RCZ is distinctly Peugeot, with its wide-mouth look and dominant grille. The roof slopes back to the rear almost from the time it leaves the top of the windscreen. This results in a shape like no other coupe on the road. That shape of the roof is further highlighted by the use of aluminium ‘hoops’ as the side supports.

The Peugeot RCZ is a wide car, and looks even wider thanks to the lowset rear styling. A wing sits up at the push of a button to give added downforce at speed.

Inside, the cabin is very sporty in its style and the materials used. We particularly like the shape of the instrument binnacles and the old-style stitching that looks as though it has been done by a human, perhaps it is...

Three different powertrains are offered, a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol in two stages of tune, one with 115 kW, the other a sporting 147 kW. This 115 unit drives through a six-speed automatic transmission, the 147 has a six-speed manual gearbox. A 2.0 turbo-diesel engine produces 120 kilowatts, and 340 Newton metres. The diesel is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox.

We road tested all three engines as part of a drive program organised by Peugeot at the press launch of the RCZ in Cairns in northern Queensland. There, demanding stretches of beautiful hill country are teamed with smooth flowing open roads that run alongside beaches for kilometres on end. This was an idyllic setting for gorgeous looking French sporting coupes.

Naturally the big 147 kW engine had the best performance and has a nicely responsive feel that keen drivers will love. This would be our powertrain of choice. Then again, all the grunt that's provided by the turbo diesel means it can storm up hills with a minimum of effort, and has the economy we have come to expect from this type of engine. As a bonus, the diesel has a deep growl that gives it purposeful sound when you do drive it hard.

The front-drive setup isn't really the way sports cars are laid out, but Peugeot's suspension engineers have done a good job of cancelling out a lot of the front-end heaviness endemic in a vehicle of this type. The RCZ performs well at low to middling cornering speeds, but does tend to understeer more than we like if pushed really hard.

On road comfort is very good, with a quiet relaxing ride that will work nicely on long trips. However, the coarse chip surfaces found on some Aussie country roads does set up a fair bit of tyre/road noise. Not that the Peugeot is alone amongst European cars in this respect.

Interestingly, all three variants of the new Peugeot RCZ have the same recommended retail price – $54,990. This is a clever marketing move as potential buyers will be able to concentrate on the car rather than trying to force themselves to meet a particular budget.