It has been roughly a year on since taking delivery of my Peugeot RCZ 156 GT after owning a Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 16v Sporting for nearly four years on, I figured I should create a blog on my experience with my RCZ so far with both the ups and downs with such a car.

I will start with the obvious part the looks of the car, I can safely say I am still in awe of my car's looks and do laugh still at some of the reaction pedestrians and other road users do when my car goes up a street. the funniest moment has to be at the Silverstone GP behind a Ferrari 458 Italia and the people who were helping everyone get out was pointing at my car rather than the ferrari. (my friend was not too impressed considering he is a huge Ferrari fan and was passenger at the time)

the only negative on the design of the exterior is the boot because when it has rained it acts like a tray and makes it impossible to open the boot if you have valuables because most of the water goes into the boot.

The leather I have found has not held up amazingly well after a year of ownership from new, which is surprising eventhough it has been well treated and not high mileage (only 7000 miles) especially on the drivers seat not sure if that is because of how I sit or something along those lines.

Driving long distance in the RCZ is a dream come true especially on motorways its nice and stable, not much wind noise, nice stereo, comfortable seats, big fuel tank (60 litres which is good for a 1.6) and good miles per gallon (on motorways I am getting 50mpg and thats me not going MPG hunting) but in cities its not very good I consider myself lucky to get over 30mpg.

The engine has a decent amount of power available and never felt under powered with what is the basic engine and when going for it makes a nice noise, sadly the engine does not have that much bragging rights because you always get people ask 'how many cylinders is it a 4cylinder 1.6 they get disappointed expecting a V6 or something along those lines' which does have a plus point of making people think your driving something faster but does have the negative of disappointment.

The accessories on my RCZ were official Peugeot UK accessories known as the 'feline pack' and my car was one of the cars to promote it by offering the pack for free on the car. The pack included the side stripes, mesh grille and quad exhausts (I think it really completes the look) but the only issue I have had is with the actual fitting of the exhaust itself because I have had it go in once a month for a few months because of it making contact with the body work or part falling out of it (mesh in this case) and I am on my 3rd exhaust system after a year (the 2nd one got reversed into so let that one slide) 

Servicing costs are not too bad on the RCZ for my 1st year it was £99.99 which is not bad considering to service my Fiat it used to cost around £140.00 and a new tyre is not too expensive It cost £245 after having a puncture in a tyre (my Fiat used to cost £235 for a new tyre)

The RCZ is great to drive in my opinion granted it is not as sporty as something like a mini cooper S or a Vw Scirocco but it feels much more mature and special compared to rivals which even the Audi TT is lacking compared to the RCZ.

Overall I say it has so far been a thrill with such a car and glad I did not go for something more practical because of the the fun I have had with such a car and would recommend them to anyone wanting a something along those lines.