Official: Peugeot’s 308 RC Z to Enter Production in Spring 2010

Thursday, April 24, 2008 | 1 comments » Categories | Peugeot, Peugeot 308 RC Z |

The French alternative to the Audi TT, the Peugeot 308 RC Z that was presented as a concept at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, will enter production according to an official announcement made today at the 2008 Lisbon Motor Show in Portugal by Jean-Philippe Collin, General Director of Peugeot.

Peugeot’s exec said that the final production model will be unveiled to the public at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show and will then go on sale in the spring of 2010. The compact-sized 2+2 Coupe will be based on the underpinnings of the new 308 hatch which means it will be equipped among others, with the BMW/MINI and Peugeot co-developed 1.6 Turbo engine line-up.

The 308 RC Z Concept (see pics here), which brought to mind the 1990’s Audi Avus Concept with its toned wheel arches and the forward-cabin design, was equipped with a modified version of the 1.6 Turbo engine with 218Hp that was coupled to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

1 comments

CaSa // July 10, 2008

I'm a car fanatic. Sure, anyone likes a Porsche Carerra or a Ferrari Enzo. Anyone enjoys the Luxury of an SUV or an S Class, the ride on an SL600 V12, the take off on an Aston Martin DB9, but if you end up owning one of the above, sooner or later you will find out that it's not exactly what you want to be driving Every single day. A monstrous V12 isn't the best way to cruise around downtown or save on fuel. And the teeth wrecking havoc from that DB9's acceleration does no good in city traffic stop and go. Driving a manual Ferrari in urban areas is somewhat of a nightmare too, unless you enjoy ripping engines apart. And of course, SUVs' hunger and manoeuvrability, means you're better off parking the thing and continuing on foot. If you can find a big enough parking space for the car though. Good Luck with that.
Hmm, that sort of got me thinking about a 'perfect' car. Sure, it would have to meet a lot of criteria. But what criteria?
First, it would have to be something realistic. As in, something that won't stop your heart from beating regularly every time you woosh past other vehicules, and suddenly cause you cardiac arrest when you do get it dented or worse, totalled. That has to do with the price of the thing in the first place: nobody wants to hear about how much it will cost to repair a half mil car. Yesterday, our neighbour crashed a Bentley Coupe and by the looks of it, he really wanted to be the one to dip head first into the back of truck at a traffic stop. Not that the car's braking isn't 'good', it's just that the car is too fast and sometimes, it's hard to stop oneselef from being foolish. Not with that much horsepower.
But you still want to have fun? Right. And that's where the pug comes in. It's fast. It's ridiculously fast. Who would want to go past 235 kph these days? Not unless you know the president, because you'd be spending half the time writing checks for highway traffic officers. And then the 7 seconds from nil to a hundred, that's fun, but not as lethal as the sub 4 seconds on some rockets. It'll do the job just fine but then if you have second thoughts, you can always pull your feet back and aim for the brakes ( especially if you spot a radar camera somewhere, you wouldn't want to miss it doing 200 mph ). And technically speaking, I only ever needed the two front seats. Sure, I might, once in a while need seating for four, but hey, if you buy a Ferrari, you don't exactly get that do you? So people can whine about the joke-size rear seats, but actually people can fit, awkwardly perhaps, but it'll get your colleague to his home dry in the soaking rain and he'll be thankful. And as far as I'm concerned, me and my spouse can travel all around the place, have decent luggage space, save up on fuel, have fun, and like what we're driving because this Pug is beautiful. it's a question of style. Most people forget that nowadays. They go for muscles and yes, Ferraris say 'boo', Porsches stare at you in defiance and Benzes remind you that Hitler is German, and they mean business too. Sure, muscles can impress, but what about something that's simply elegant, pleasing to the eye, harmonious. That doesn't actually suggest anything other than 'french' beauty, art? And frankly, apart from the last model Jag XK, the 308 RC Z says something to the viewer.
And then comes in other factors people often neglect. The taxes. The certification. The servicing. The practicality of driving a sports gearbox inside town or up a steep hill. The harshness of speed bumps on those 20some inch rims. The insurance premiums. And you end up looking at a very ugly big picture. Not with a 308 Though. You wouldn't even have to worry about having it nicked because, who would want to steal a 17k pound car? It's less expensive than a 407 and certainly won't cost more in the black market...
See the 308 is one of those cars that you buy and use actually. And sure, you can get yourself another car, say a 407 diesel for another 26 thousand US$, and there you have it, for less than 50 grand you can drive two different, comfortable, practical, cheap cars that will do the job perfectly. That's if you really need the aggravation of a sedan. Otherwise, I'd go for the 308 RC Z alone because it's the perfect car for me. The rear passengers? They'll have to take the bus:)