Pug RCZ....

[Jamie Satriani]

Wife is convinced this is what she wants next , just wondering if any of you Guys have driven one or know anything first hand about them?, the 1.6 petrol version surely must be underpowered for a car of that size?. Personally I think its a good looking motor, just unfortunate its French .

[philthy]

Drove my mates girlfriends one and thought it was okay.
Quite torquey but just lacked everything performance and feel wise to back up the looks. If it was MR drivetrain with a 2.0l turbo it would be very different.
Cant get past the obvious feeling it was designed with form over function.

If it was my money I'd be going for something german- SLK, Z4 or maybe even a TT

[Corranga]

I've never driven one, but I'm sure I read that the RCZ R is good. More power and a Torsen LSD up front similar to the Focus RS, but then you're probably not looking at one of those, and at £32k probably + options, you'd probably be mad to..

Engine size comments seem a little odd nowadays, especially on an Elise forum, though the RCZ is almost 2 S1s in weight.
The R still only has a 1.6, turbo'd and giving 270hp which isn't too shabby - maybe Pug should be entering F1

They look decent enough, and the double bubble roof is cool, the front looks like they stuck a Pug on it, and because of that, it has that slightly moronic (imo) grin Plus, it's French, and not a small car.

[Fluoxetine]

Shares an engine with the 208 GTi and the R56 Mini Cooper S - They had a bad rep for coking up their cylinder heads (a lot of direct injection engines do too, but this one seems particularly bad), as well as catastrophic timing chain failure due to a poor tensioner / guide design.

(Think post 2009 cars are much better in both respects).

Engine's pretty decent otherwise - I had the 211 bhp variant in my old Mini JCW, which clocked a GPS verified 151mph on the autobahn last August during a euro trip, so they're pretty peppy.

Facelift RCZ looks a bit more purposeful (to my eyes, at least) - Think the cabin quality is better too, but not on par with its German rival the Audi TT. (Albeit the TT is more expensive...)

[Dominic]

I have been in one, but not driven one. It is a nicely styled car ... IMHO. It is based on the 307 platform, which I don't think is the most inspiring starting point. The RCZ R gets good reviews. They seem to have a bit of an image problem - only ever seen them being driven by woman, which I'm sure your wife won't have an issue with.

[GBOBM]

I think the Aldi TT is quite nice.

[point n squirt]

My money would go on a GT86 but each to there own ............enjoy

[rossybee]

My money would go on a GT86 but each to there own ............enjoy

Agreed, or BRZ

[Jamie Satriani]

The Lady is not for turning!,.. as they say. Even though it is the same engine as the 207CC she had which she called "a slug" and was forever problematical, I took the rocker cover off it when the chain started the notorious death rattle to find the chain guide between the cam sprockets was broken off and just rattling around!, definitely a poor engine although I think they ironed out some of the problems with the later ones.

I think the HDi might be the lesser of two evils!.