Peugeot RCZ Forum

Hello all,

First things first, I would like to introduce myself to the RCZ forum, My name is Cristian Santa-Maria, originally from Chile in South America, but have been living and working in London for the past 29 years.

I have joined this forum a few weeks ago with the purpose of informing myself of the opinions and all matters related to the RCZ.

Also I would like to congratulate all the members here for the very high standards in the postings, and the good manner that members relate to each other, not very often seen in forums.

I am planning to embark in ordering a brand new RCZ THP200 within the next couple of months or so, and you guys (male and female) have been a big help in making my mind up, providing me with a plethora of information, comments and opinions on the car.

Apart from the above, I saw it and I wanted it, but also I needed to know how good it was and no better way to find out that to take a test drive, which I did. Loved it, and of course seeking opinions from owners, those opinions (yours) have cemented my hunger for it, and big thank you to all of you for that.

I am a car lover, and for me a car has to have appeal, character, quality, looks and most of all give you a sense of well being and make you smile and happy every time you get into it, drive it, and look at it, a car that is involving and fresh and that also set it apart from others in the same category and price range.

I have to admit that my target was an Audi, I own an Audi Cabriolet and it is a great car, but I was smitten by the RCZ.

Perhaps does not have the badge that many people are after namely Audi, BMW and others, but lets not forget that Peugeot has been around as long if not longer than many of them.

As for quality, well only time will tell, but most well established car brands nowadays are very similar in that area, as for looks, aren’t they looking almost the same? Not the case with the RCZ in that department.

I will not bore you anymore, and once I have it, be sure you guys will know it.

Thanks for reading.

Cristian

Welcome to the forum Christian

A very interesting introduction and I'm pleased that the forum has provided you with the necessary information for you to make an informed decision. You say you will be going for the 200, do you plan to add any options and which colour are you thinking of going for?

You are so right in that the RCZ really stands out from the crowd and you will, I'm sure, be diagnosed with "RCZ Syndrome".
You cannot walk away from it without taking a backwards glance. Interesting that you come from Audi when some of our members are thinking of moving over to Audi. Having said that, there are quite a few members who have moved across from Audi, BMW, and are loving their RCZ.

Please do keep us updated with your choices and feel free to post if there is anything you are not sure of / advice.

Welcome, Cristian.

We can't wait to find out what you've chosen - options, wheels et. - & would love to see some piccies when your new baby arrives.

Perhaps we'll get to see it 'in the flesh' - I'm pretty sure there'll be some sort of owners meeting this year.

At the moment the specs I will go for are:

GT 200 THP
Mercury Grey (not set in stone yet) waiting to see if new colours will be introduced by Peugeot
Roof Arches: Aluminium
Sortilege Midnight silver 19"
Black brake calipers
Vision Pack
Peugeot Connect Media
Navigation (NG4 3D)
JBL Hi Fi Pack
Intergral Black Mistral Leather
Possibly but not sure yet: Front Grille: Brilliant Black

welcome to the forum christian

Sounds like a really nice spec and sure you will love your RCZ no matter the spec you have it in.

A warm welcome Cristian Santa Maria. Nicely specd car you have in mind. My only comment is to suggest that you attempt to get a demonstration of the JBL system compared with the stereo of the sat nav system. Not an easy one to do I know. I was able to and have not got the JBL. Search on here as there have been several post with regard to JBL. I love music and enjoy a variety of genres and they all sound really very good on the standard system. You could save yourself £600 or so. to spend on something else. Spare wheel perhaps ?

Equally, I met a fellow owner at last years Pinley House meet.

He had the standard system and did a back to back test with one of his own CDs.

My understanding was he thought the JBL system an improvement - however, I don't know if it 'moved' him enough to wish he'd picked it himself.

If, by some chance, he reads this perhaps he could comment?

As Ron has said, the best thing would be able to experience both systems. However, I fear it will have to be your own choice, as this kind of thing is very subjective.

pete.garratt wrote:My understanding was he thought the JBL system an improvement - however, I don't know if it 'moved' him enough to wish he'd picked it himself.

I do not know if the stereo system is the same in cars with or without the connect media system. I am an avid enthusiast of music and cannot abide poor quality sound. I would vote my car stereo (connect media system model) 10/10 across the entire spectrum

Indeed.

All I can do is report the observations of others.

Another point, my ears are rapidly approaching the half-century (I'm talking months here) and, as we all know, peoples hearing does change over time and some people's hearing is naturally more acute than others.

It all boils down to doing as much research as you can and making your own choice.

Once again your sugestions are well appreciated, I have considered not having the JBL but I rather spent a little extra and not regreting for not having it at a later date, but I will try to listen to both systems and compare their performances. Also not quite sure if you can choose not to have it if you specfy the satnav system. I guess it is possible as it is a separate option in the configurator, perhaps members with more knowledge with regard to this can let us all know. I have not asked the dealers about it just yet but I will do. early days yet as I have time in my hands for considering all options. With regard to the spare wheel, it is something that also is in the shopping list although I rather have a full size original wheel if can be supplied by the dealer as I have read in some post here that Peugeot may be coming up with an option for this. I did make some questions about it at the dealer but there were not informed about it and they say they will be making the enquiries with Peugeot UK. By the way I am a couple of years past the half centuty now and my hearing still very good, but I am sure not the same as a younger soul.

At the Peugeot UK Pinley House meet lst year, I'm sure there was a flyer about a spare wheel 'kit'.

I can't put my hand on the copy I had but will keep searching.

You could always send a private message to Peugeot Group via this forum.

I'm sure they'd help.

Cristian Santa Maria. You most certainly can have the Connect Media package as well as the JBL upgrade. I borrowed a car for the weekend with both items and exhaustively tested the JBL system. I choose not to buy it. Cost was not an issue. Had I wanted it then I would have it. However my 50year+ ears could not discern any improvement in sound quality or available volume. I do not regret that decision and am amazed by the quality sound of my current set up
RCZ Spare Alloy Wheel "Kit":- What the RCZ Kit includes
Wheel Fix Plate, Support Screw & Storage Box = £52.82 Alloy Wheel 3 options £253.03 - £309.06 (requires 1 x CONTINENTAL - - CONTISPORTCONTACT 3 (18") Tyre

Welcome cristian have you seen the asphalt rcz thats worth a consideration as it has all your options and then some it also has a higher quality of leather on the seats and its also very uncommon on the roads,as for the high gloss front grill i think the black mesh grill is the smartest of all the grills and looks really sporty so another thing to check out

it also has a higher quality of leather on the seatsp:

Are you sure it's better quality leather? Isn't it just a different style/ design, no better quality.

RCZ1 wrote:

it also has a higher quality of leather on the seatsp:

Are you sure it's better quality leather? Isn't it just a different style/ design, no better quality.

it's the quilted stitching on the asphalt that makes all the difference, I bet it won't suffer saggy leather

donnaj1dlh wrote:

RCZ1 wrote:

it also has a higher quality of leather on the seatsp:

Are you sure it's better quality leather? Isn't it just a different style/ design, no better quality.

it's the quilted stitching on the asphalt that makes all the difference, I bet it won't suffer saggy leather

Sagging leather is mainly due to the foam that's used inside the seats. Different thicknesses, etc. my re - trimmer told me that. My husband's re- trimmed leather is the same as mine, same stitching etc but his seats show no signs of sagging because the foam that LandRover use is so, so much thicker, than Peugeots.

You can tighten sagging leather up by Putting some hot cloths on the seats and leave them on for a period of time until they cool, it will help to tighten the leather back up.

I thought it was because leather expands due to heat as do all leather sofas the same happens and the foam on them is quit thick in comparison to car seat foam

Its a combination of things jassy, but I'm not sure that leather expands because of heat otherwise the treatment of putting hot cloths or even using a hairdryer to warm it up to retract the leather back again, wouldn't work. Its one of the reasons why you should look after your leather, cleaning it, protecting it because the inside of car experiences great peaks and troughs in temperatures and if its not nourished, it makes things worse. But going back to my original statement, it does depend on the foam in the seats, thickness, strength, etc. From my experience, the more you pay for leather, suites, etc the less they sag and the better they retain their shape.

I agree Phantom, the seats in the Asphalt do look VERY nice. When I had mine re-trimmed there were a thousand and one options I could have gone for, some pf which were not dis-similiar to the Asphalt's but I played it safe, as it was the first time I'd had it done. When I have them done again, I will certainly go for something a bit different.

There is some sagginess on my driver's seat, the passenger one not really, as my mother tends to be the only person that I have in the car. I did the heated cloth thing in about October time, so I will do it again March time. It did seem to work, for a short time at least.