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RPM TV Website | March 22, 2024

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One-day Test: Peugeot RCZ-R

Peugeot RCZ R Peugeot 205 T16 Peugeot RCZ R Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak Peugeot RCZ R
Adam Schoeman

Review Overview

Overall
9.5

Perfect

A legend in the making

Towards the end of 2013, RPM TV was fortunate enough to find itself test-driving a car that had not been officially released: not in South Africa, and not even internationally. This was of course the Peugeot RCZ-R that we slipped into our RPM Performance Test as a dark horse contestant amongst the hatchbacks, to remind us that there is another route towards enthusiastic driving if practicality is not a factor.

This means that this is also not a traditional one-day test, because while I did drive the RCZ-R for a day on local roads, I also had enjoyed a few memorable moments behind the wheel of the red-hot Pug on some of the mountain passes Mpumalanga has to offer.

First off, what makes this RCZ special enough for it to wear a fixed wing and earn a different designation? For starters, it is actually not built by Peugeot, but rather by Peugeot Sport, the outfit responsible for all of the French manufacturer’s motorsport interests. For instance, the Peugeot 908 HDi Le Mans LMP1 car was the only racer able to take the fight to the seemingly undefeatable Audi R15.

Still not convinced? The last road car that Peugeot Sport produced was the 205 T16, which was a 147 kW homologation requirement for Peugeot’s 1984 WRC campaign. While 147 kW might not sound like a lot today (it’s about the same as the 208 GTi) it was serious business back in 1984.

Peugeot 205 T16

Peugeot 205 T16

Peugeot Sport knows a thing or two about building a fast car then, but you would be surprised to know that you’ll still find a 1,6-litre turbocharged engine under the RCZ-R’s bonnet – exactly the same displacement as the standard RCZ 1.6 THP. Unlike the standard RCZ, the R has a new turbocharger and exhaust manifold, extra-strong forged pistons (another item from the Le Mans parts bin), a reinforced engine block, and stronger con rods.

This might seem like overkill, but it has allowed Peugeot Sport to squeeze an additional 48 kW and 45 Nm of torque out of the four-cylinder engine, giving the RCZ-R a lively 199 kW and 330 Nm of torque. Peugeot reckons the extra power enables the R to sprint from a standstill to 100 km/h in 5,9 seconds, topping out at 230 km/h.

If you remember correctly, the 5,9 second sprint time is very close to some of the better endowed premium hatchbacks we fielded om our RPM Performance Shootout, and when you consider that the RCZ-R is still only a front-wheel drive car, that number is all the more impressive.

Unlike the premium hot hatches, the RCZ-R looks like it belongs on an exotic showroom floor. The car’s overall design is, to me, still as striking as the day it was released. It also boasts the new front grille, complete with the alphanumerical Peugeot nomenclature.

There are some external cues to alert you that there is something a little more special about this RCZ than the 1.6 THP. A fixed rear wing is the primary visual indicator, but the R also sits on slightly wider tracks and bigger wheels. The brakes have been upgraded and feature a set of cross-cut discs.

So, a lot has been done, but generally it doesn’t look like the car has been rolled through go-fast convention, picking up aftermarket bits and bobs as it went. The changes are subtle, but distinguishable.

I was hoping to pull back the long driver-side coupé door and find a stripped out cabin straight from the 908 HDi, but to my disappointment (but my wife’s delight!) I was instead greeted with the standard and comfortable RCZ interior.

Peugeot RCZ R

Peugeot RCZ R

The seats are unique to the R, but they are comfortable and huge, offering great support when dealing with G-forces. There is also a liberal sprinkling of R-badges inside the cabin, and a chunky gear lever.

Other than that, the interior is pretty conventional, complete with climate control, USB and Bluetooth audio, satnav and two rear parcel shelves that happen to be upholstered and parade as rear seats, but are far too small to even consider housing anything larger than a toy pom.

On to the driving then, and since much of my driving was in Mpumalanga, it takes the form of mountain pass driving. This worries me a little. You see, eking out more power from a turbocharged engine can only really be achieved in one of two ways: increasing the displacement of the cylinders, or increasing the maximum boost pressure of the turbocharger.

The first method makes it possible to ingest more fuel and more oxygen into the cylinder chamber when ignition occurs, giving the explosion more force, and therefore the engine more power. The second method increases the amount of fuel in the chamber by using the turbocharger to compress oxygen as it enters the cylinder, so that more oxygen particles fit in the same area.

The second method is easier because it doesn’t require the entire engine to be reworked to facilitate the increase capacity, but along with that come some problems, most notably turbo lag.

A turbocharger is self-powering because it channels the exhaust gases back into itself, powering the compression process. This is very efficient, but does mean that without gas exiting the engine, there is nothing to power the turbocharger, which can result in a dead spot at the low end of the rev range where the turbocharger is effectively not functioning.

Once there is enough gas flowing through the system the turbocharger gets going, and you get full power, but that hand-off process between having no power before the turbocharger kicks in and suddenly having full power or torque can be difficult to control, especially when you are in a tight corner, such as those found on a mountain pass.

I’m worried because the power difference that Peugeot Sport has pulled out of this engine without increasing capacity is the same as the entire engine from a Peugeot 208 1.2. I am expecting a lot of boost, a lot of turbocharger lag, and more than a handful of torque steer.

Luckily the gifted people at Peugeot Sport know what they are doing, which maybe has something to do with the fact they also recently built the 652 kW Pikes Peak challenge car that Sebastian Loeb piloted to victory, because the R also has 44 percent stiffer dampers, 10 mm less ground clearance and a limited slip differential.

Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak

Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak

Pin the throttle in first gear and the RCZ-R will hesitate a bit as it builds pressure. But the second you get past 2 000 rpm and the turbocharger kicks in, you are catapulted forwards at a furious pace. Changing gears is glorious, thanks to a short-throw six-speed manual gearbox and that chunky gear lever, and is something that you will end up doing a lot as the engine chases down the 6 000 rpm redline.

But I need to start braking because a set of left-right-left short, sharp corners is looming. The brakes are meaty and pedal placement is perfect, making heel-and-toe work a natural extension of the drive,  as I drop three cogs down to second gear. Then, the real magic begins, because the nose of the car and the chassis just know what you want from them.

Turn-in is sharp and not marred by understeer, and the LSD allows getting back onto the power early in the corner, and transferring the weight of the car into the next bend with some lift-off oversteer. By the time I zoom out of the third corner, I’ve started dialling my wife to tell her that we will be selling the house, because I am never getting out of this car ever again.

Peugeot has done an amazing job with the RCZ-R. In the same way that a master producer will dial in just the right amount of treble, midrange and bass (pro-tip: bass set to maximum is never the right setting) to complete the mix of a song, Peugeot Sport has given the R just enough power to be wild, but have made sure that the rest of the package is at the same level and can balance out that power.

Will it beat a four-wheel drive, dual clutch-equipped Audi S3 at the robots? Not in a million years. Will you have more fun in the suburbs as well as on a mountain pass? Absolutely.

Peugeot RCZ R

Peugeot RCZ R

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