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RCZ ASPHALT LE

In appreciating the many virtues of the Peugeot RCZ, the magazine reports; “The Peugeot RCZ is a beautifully balanced car, easy to drive quickly. Low and wide, it always feels completely on your side, gripping hard, resorting to understeer only at the limit. The Peugeot RCZ is positioned as a small, sophisticated GT, and fills it perfectly.”

The Peugeot RCZ was launched in June 2010 and has proved to be a great success with over 2,000 cars already sold in the UK. Priced from £20,450 it represents great value for money and is available with a choice of three engine options – a 200bhp or 156bhp THP turbo-charged petrol engine and a163 bhp HDi diesel engine.

Other accolades bestowed on the RCZ include it being awarded ‘The most Beautiful Car of the Year 2009’ by over 100,000 online voters from 62 countries, at the 25th International Automobile Festival, Auto Express magazine’s Best Coupé and readers’ Design Award, and Diesel Car magazine’s Best Sports Car of the Year 2010.

top-gear-rcz

Fifteen used RCZs with mileages typically at around 8,000 miles were placed at a closed auction at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, with over 70 dealers taking part.

The prices achieved at the auction outperformed an already strong set of valuations by CAP with an aggregate 103 per cent of CAP Clean, underlining the strong pull of the RCZs combination of driveability, quality and style.

Despite it being Autumn, a challenging time for used car auctions, and the presence of 170 other sought-after vehicles, all the RCZs sold, demonstrating huge confidence in both the car and the Peugeot Marque.

The star car was a GT THP 200 in Mercury Grey with 6,000 miles on the clock, which made an impressive £23,500; 111% of CAP, 97% of MRRP.

rcz-depreciation

The response to the online Design Award vote was emphatic; from a judges’ selection of 40 vehicles, the Peugeot RCZ ran away with 11 per cent of the readers’ votes registered at autoexpress.co.uk.

Editor in Chief David Johns said: “Road cars rarely look as good as their concept car inspirations – but the RCZ is no ordinary vehicle. And Peugeot is reaping the rewards, as the coupé has gone from show star to hot showroom property in the blink of an eye.”

RCZ is, indeed, selling like hot cakes, with over half of the 2010 sales allocation having already been taken up within two months of launch.

Unsurprisingly, Britain’s biggest selling weekly car magazine also named RCZ Coupé of the Year. Johns commented: “With its swooping lines, distinctive ‘double bubble’ roof and bold detailing, the French machine looks like it has driven straight off the designer’s drawing board. Better still, the RCZ’s beauty is much more than skin deep.”

That beauty has helped RCZ collect a raft of awards in the year of its launch, including Fleet World magazine ‘Design of the Year’, Diesel Car magazine ‘Sports Car of the Year’ and ‘Most Beautiful Car of the Year’ at the 25th International Automobile Festival.

AUTO EXPRESS rcz

The Peugeot RCZ is particularly interesting from a design point-of-view, because it has emerged precisely true to the original Frankfurt Motor Show concept car of 2007. It has a distinctive road presence due to its ‘double-bubble’ roof and rear window shape in between the beautifully crafted one-piece aluminium roof arches.

The design of RCZ has already been appreciated by the critics, who have awarded it ‘Most beautiful car’ (25th International Automobile Festival), ‘Design of the Year’ (Fleet World) and ‘Sports car of the Year’ (Diesel Car magazine).

Enthusiasts or interested individuals can take a look at RCZ in detail to prepare questions for Boris by looking at Facebook; www.facebook.com/thercz.

Remember, you can follow PeugeotRCZforum on Facebook and Twitter too;
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=131206710227835&ref=mf
Twitter: http://twitter.com/peugeotrczuk

RCZ-twitter

* RCZ Sports Coupé – Fleet World ‘Design of the Year’
* RCZ Sports Coupé – Diesel Car magazine ‘Sports Car of the Year’
* 5008 – Diesel Car magazine ‘MPV’ and ‘Car of the Year’
* 5008 – What Car? MPV of the Year 2010
* 3008 – What Car? Car of the Year 2010
* 3008 – What Car? Best Crossover 2010
* 3008 – Diesel Car magazine ‘Best Crossover’

The judging panel for this year’s awards, sponsored by Auto Windscreens, included Natalie Wallis, John Kendall and Ross Durkin from the Fleet World Editorial team, and was chaired by Steve Moody, Editor of Fleet World – one of the UK’s leading fleet industry publications.

Steve Moody, Editor – Fleet World said: “Peugeot’s gorgeous new RCZ signals a new, exciting and stylish era for the firm. The double-bubble roofline, aluminium roof arches and feline look at the front end suggest a new confidence at the French marque.”

Commenting on the high standard of entries, Fleet World Managing Editor – Ross Durkin said: “The fleet industry is emerging from a period of economic uncertainty, but fortunately, is now robust again. As well as the impressive list of new cars and vans that have recently come to market, we have also seen tremendous innovation and investment from the fleet services sector.”

peugeot-rcz-coupe

Last weekend saw two Peugeot RCZ diesel cars take first and third place in the Nürburgring 24 Hours race. Powered by Peugeot’s 2.0 litre HDi FAP diesel engine producing 200 bhp, the cars ran in the D1T category, for diesel cars between 1700 and 2000 cc. Both cars were mainly standard except for a few specific racing and safety parts sourced via Peugeot Sport.

The two cars raced under numbers 200 and 201, in recognition of Peugeot’s 200 year anniversary celebrated this year, and were driven by an all French and German team. It was the German crew, driving car No201, which at the end of the 24 hours was victorious with first place in its category and a very creditable 50th overall out of the 197 cars which started the race. The second RCZ, only six laps behind, finished third and 82nd overall.

This fantastic win comes just days before the Peugeot RCZ goes on sale in the UK and confirms the car does not just have supercar good looks but also the dynamic performance to achieve success in one of the most demanding 24 hour races.

peugoet-rcz-racing

Meanwhile, Peugeot is looking to find a creative star to win one of these cars through the new RCZ Facebook campaign.

The competition on Facebook flips traditional advertising on its head by running ads that look like classified car ads but actually feature ‘real’ people advertising themselves to the RCZ. Entrants may even find themselves grabbing the headlines and becoming famous as some of the best entries will be picked to feature in an online advertising campaign for Peugeot UK.

Alongside the RCZ Facebook page, a micro-site has been created where entrants can really start to get those creative juices flowing and express themselves through the world of advertising, creating their advertisement with the help of Facebook Connect. Furthermore, entrants will get an extra chance to win if they invite friends to participate as they enter the prize draw at www.itchoosesyou.co.uk. By joining the RCZ Facebook page, people can keep up to date with all the latest competition news in the run up to the live draw on 11th June.

Andy Goodall, Internet Marketing Manager at Peugeot UK said: “The RCZ Sports Coupé goes on sale from 21st May. The exciting RCZ Facebook competition will engage the audience, keeping them interested and excited using street-casted online ads, viral videos, e-mails and then using online ads featuring real entrants amongst all entries to win the stunning RCZ.”

Come on Britain, let’s really see who’s got talent!

peugeot-facebook-win

The Taste Festivals in London, Edinburgh and Birmingham showcase the very finest in food and drink, with a series of live demonstrations from the hottest culinary talents the UK and the world has to offer. Visitors can browse a whole market place of local and international food and drink displayed by some of the UK’s top restaurants. They can also check out the latest in gastronomic gadgetry and, of course, dive in and taste the flavours of the sensual French cuisine.

Peugeot, the official car sponsor of the Taste Festivals, will have its own demonstration theatre called “Cuisine d’Amour with Peugeot RCZ” where top chefs such as Jean Christophe Novelli, Anthony Worrall Thompson and Jun Tanaka will stimulate the senses with live demonstrations of sensuous dishes that perfectly complement the sleek and sumptuous Peugeot RCZ Sports Coupé.

In between demonstrations, there will be a competition with a fabulous prize and visitors will be able to get up close and personal with Peugeot’s latest tasty motoring dish, the delicious RCZ.

This stunning vehicle reflects a new direction for Peugeot and is the first car to wear the new 2010 Peugeot lion badge. From its unique ‘double bubble’ roof and eye-catching roof arches to its immaculate interior, handling prowess and powerful engines, as well as a range of custom options to make the car truly individual, the Peugeot RCZ is a truly tempting treat.

Explaining this second year’s support from Peugeot, Christian Stein, Marketing Director, Peugeot UK, said: “In this, our 200th year, we have a new strapline for Peugeot; Motion & Emotion, and there is nothing that stirs the emotions like good food. These Taste Festivals are a celebration of quality and flair, something Peugeot cars are known for. But perhaps less well known is that Peugeot also has its own unique place in culinary history as a producer of coffee grinders and salt & pepper mills during the 19th century. So, our link with Taste is especially appropriate.”

The Taste Festivals take place in Inverleith Park, Edinburgh from 28th to 30th May, in Regent’s Park, London from 17th to 20th June and in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham from 16th to 18th July.

peugeot-taste

Peugeot’s new coupe is visually stunning but does it drive as well as it looks?
“I love it when a plan comes together,” said George Peppard at the end of every episode of The A Team.

And, without a battery of special-effects explosions or Mr T’s dubious welding skills, Peugeot must be thinking the same.

Two years is a short gestation yet, just 24 months after we first drove this pretty little concept coupé, the RCZ will be in the showrooms costing just over £20,000.

How did Peugeot’s engineers do it?

They just used what they had already. “We wanted this car to be made,” says Boris Reinmöller, the RCZ’s designer, “that’s why we used the 308 platform and its nose.”

This is also the first Peugeot for many years to use letters in its name rather than numbers.

While RC sounds a little like “arse” when pronounced in French, it is the Gallic version of GT or gran turismo, the Italian designation for a fast touring car.

Peugeot has a long history of producing lithe and lovely coupés, such as the amazing 401/402 models that debuted the first-ever folding steel roof.

These still provide inspiration for the multitude of Peugeot concepts that appear on the Paris Salon stand every two years, then sadly disappear.

Unlike this one, which will be made, in Austria, at the Magna Steyr plant in Graz, which has a solid history of making small, high quality production runs such as BMW’s X3, Aston Martin’s Rapide, Mercedes-Benz’s G-wagen, the MINI Crossover and Porsche’s Cayman and Boxster.

The danger with a quick transitions into production, of course, is the Concept 1 syndrome, or how Volkswagen’s gorgeous retro Beetle unveiled in Detroit in 1994 became a gormless, swollen pastiche of a production car.

Or Porsche’s compact and lovely 1993 Boxster concept, which morphed into the successful but scarcely trim eponymous sports car.

Rest assured. As far as I can see, the only changes made to the two-plus-two RCZ from concept to production is the deletion of the Bell & Ross clock in the centre of the dashboard and the exhaust pipe in the centre of the rear valance.

The latter is the result of using the whole floorpan from the 308, together with its MacPherson strut front, twist-beam rear suspension and, er, exhaust system.

Two levels of trim will be offered, Sport including fabric upholstery, 18-inch wheels, rear parking sensors, and all the safety features.

GT trim adds heated leather seats, carpet mats (Whoopdy Do!), 19-inch alloys and automatic wipers, lamps and dipping door mirrors, amongst other goodies.

The biggest goodie is the car, though. It’s gorgeous. The revised 308 front is strong enough on its own, but then there’s the “double bubble” roofline extending into an expensively double-curved glass rear window, all edged by strong aluminium-alloy roof arches.

These draw the eye from the clamshell bonnet over the cabin and down to the pert boot with the two-stage spoiler, which (police constables, please stop reading now) opens at 53mph and extends further at 96.

In the cabin, Peugeot has made considerable efforts to make its …………………………..

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