Peugeot RCZ – Design analysis

When I first saw the prototype of the RCZ it was in the year 2007 at the Frankfurt motor show, I was with a group of designers from others car companies, and the first impression that we all had, was of a refreshing image between all others intents to copy more or less BMW sections and Mercedes side features of that time. I remember that new cars from Subaru to GM´s then new models where very much the same in design features presented on their designs.

Well even if this may sound to you like the end of the article about how beautiful the RCZ is, well… it is not. Read on and you will see.

The Peugeot RCZ is a car that is new to the lion marquee. I don’t remember any of the past models from Peugeot that we can say it is the predecessor to the RCZ. Also there is very interesting to look a bit on the market to see the competitors that this car will have. There is the Audi TT, but the lower versions and the Mazda RX8, the Nissan 370 Z, the new Hyundai coupe. The people with money for a Cayman or BMW Z4 and Mercedes SLK for sure will not look at the RCZ. Also there are people that may prefer this to certain models from Ford, Opel, and other mainstream manufacturers. So there is a tuff competence in this sector but not one that this new model can’t handle it. And let’s see why.

Looking to the Peugeot from the front, we see the already well-known big mouth and the tongue like bonnet seen in the 308 models. But even if at first sight they look like taken from the 308 in fact they are totally new. We like very much the front fenders and the way they describe a strong volume around the wheels and the fact that they loose the rather difficult to understand vertical surface of the 308´s hatchback wheels arches.

On the side there was the nice surprise that I told you at the beginning of the article. The car has a stance and a strong line that gives you the will to drive it. This is helped by the strong front and rear wheel arches. They have a massive volume and a dynamic shape that emphasise the position of the wheels. Also the size of the wheels is the right one, not too big and not too small and in the same time they are positioned in the right proportion to the outer line of the car’s body. Another nice feature is the line described by the aluminium top pillars of the car. They describe a curve that has a smaller radius on the “A” pillar dropping gently afterwards uniting the “A” and “C” pillar into one continuous curve. The curve is accelerated forward, giving a dynamic stance to the car. The two bubbles on the roof of the top remember old racing cars, and some Italians sports cars of the past. Good design? We think is very nice executed and has a lot of emotion in it.

On the back the car has a clean design, simple but with a nice volume. The nice think is that the rear end is not too high, so there is still good visibility. There is a hint of the Audi’s TT on the rear volume, but that is not a bad thing. We like the rear lights, typical Peugeot, that follow the surface of the render, and the integration of the 3^rd rear brake light is a neat touch. The only thing that we think is not proper to this car is the missing of twin exhaust pipes on each side of the car. The way the exhaust pipes are now, clearly shows that the base of this car is nothing more than the Peugeot 308 family hatchback, and somehow when you drive a sport car like this you don’t want the others to see that the mechanical parts are not special enough.

The interior is the same already seen and from the 308, so there is not too much to comment about it. Pity.

Now the two final questions: is it a beautiful design? Well… no, we would not put the car into the beautiful cars, and I will tell you why. Some of the lines and especially on the front end are not exactly what we will call beautiful. For example the front hood whit its tongue volume like…they are missing the overall emotions from the rest of the car. We would have liked to see more tension and more emotions in certain lines and volumes.

Is it a good design? Yes it is. It is refreshing from the aluminium pillars to the double bubble roof and the nice sculpted wheel arches, side view and frenchness that exudes thru the entire car, making it a very different option for someone looking for a small coupe.