Peugeot

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Wednesday – What’s In Your Glovebox?

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Jeremy It’s a little known fact that Jessica has an issue with car manuals. Being a fashionista, it’s not the way they look, the fabric manufacturers use on the cover or the feel of the material, it’s more about why we have car manuals in the first place.

Flicking through the RXH manual together this morning, I could feel the argument about to surface again. She believes that all instructions should simply be available online – and that we should tap in via our smartphones or laptops.

This would not only save a small forest of trees (have you seen the size of car manuals these days?) but free up space in the glovebox. It would also provide dedicated manuals for each model. For example, the RXH manual is really just the same as a standard 508 estate handbook and therefore, extra complicated. It’s the same for most cars these days. You very rarely get a manual that is specific to your car.

So, while I think part of the joy of owning a new car is sitting in the driver’s seat and digesting endless pages of dashboard trivia, her argument does have some weight, provided you own a smartphone of course.

I have to agree with her that the RXH manual isn’t the easiest to navigate. I’ve certainly struggled with the DAB radio instructions, operating the tailgate and adjustment to the head up display screen. But imagine life without car manuals – what else would a man do on a Sunday morning…?

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Tuesday – Knuckles

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Jessica Well done Peugeot for creating a hybrid diesel, it must be the way forward. The problems of battery weight and power storage are still areas where everyone is looking for answers but without getting these cars into the mainstream it will be slow progress.

The RXH is a lot of car. It even feels weighty and the steering adds to the mood as it requires more than the usual amount of effort to turn the wheel.  Furthermore, the gears seem to be very ponderous, which again is something drivers don’t expect with modern cars.

The beautiful dashboard is laid out with many buttons and safety gadgets, all offering a range of noises and alarms. There’s certainly enough here to give Volvo a run for its money!

The 508 has a sporty and well designed speedo, while a range of clearly laid out options for the transmission allowing a sense of choice  and ultimately, control.

For a family estate though which is clearly aiming to compete with the Audi estates and possibly Mercedes it is a handsome car with well designed seats, a considered external and internal aesthetic, plus a sense of presence.

And I’m not sure if it’s mothers who will potentially be driving this car but they will need to have sensible short nails! I had some awkward moments trying to open the central arm rest via a side-mounted button. In the end it became a fumbld knuckle job!

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Monday – Split Decision

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Jeremy Monday evening and it feels like the weather is about to break over the Cotswolds. In fact, I’m sure I could hear the distant rumble of thunder as I climbed out of the RXH earlier, or could it have been from the back seat…?

The 508 is proving a mixed back in terms of build quality. While the seats are wrapped in sumptuous leather, there is  every type of electronic gadget – from auto-dip headlights to massaging driver’s seat – the squeaky leather rear seat has now been joined by a rattle, which seems to be originating from under the floor of the boot where the battery packs are located. This is starting to annoy me and it would definitely be back to the dealership if I had spent £35,000+ on a luxurious, 4×4 estate.

At least I have got the hang of the DAB radio now and the sat nav is behaving beautifully. The automatic rear boot door opens from the keyfob but I can’t get it to close using the same button!

So, I’m still not 100 per cent over whether I like the RXH or not. It’s all minor niggly stuff but to compete with the Audi allroad or a Volvo V70, I think it just needs to up its game a bit.

 

 

 

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Sunday – Ministry of Sound

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Jeremy Don’t try this at home readers but there must have been at least one moment in your driving career when you have set off from a standstill with a door open?

Today I was in a mad rush to post some letters in the quietest village lane in Gloucestershire when a horse lorry appeared from nowhere behind me. I slammed the items in the postbox and, in a bid to prevent a delay, attempted to drive off in the Peugeot with the door still open.

Now, cars have warning noises for perfectly good reasons – think safety belt, boot open and parking sensors. However, the RXH has more driver alert sounds than a wayward space shuttle.

The safety belt warning is quite calm but insistent, the parking sensor chime nothing too offensive. Then you hear the ‘door left open’ blast and it makes you skip a heart beat. It’s the sort of wailing noise you imagine they sound when a nuclear reactor has gone in to meltdown…

It actually scared the hell out of me and I won’t make a habit of it. Of course, the solution is not to try and drive with you car door open – except the sound is so terrifying I almost fell out and under the horse lorry instead. I’m not sure which is worse…

 

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Saturday – DABbling With The Radio

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Jeremy A frustrating day aboard the RXH. Even with the air conditioning running, it wasn’t the best time to be sat in the driver’s seat for an hour trying to work out how to get the DAB radio working. I should have walked away after 30 minutes but it’s the only way I can hear England retained the Ashes on Radio Live Live Sport Extra!

Like other Peugeot‘s we have tested with a DAB radio, the 508 has a retro-fit key-fob thingy which operates the system. I guess it’s because the Pug is a French car where they don’t have digital broadcasting, so something had to be added for the British market. Despite an extra three pages of instructions on A4, I still only found the correct settings by accident.

On top of this, the sat nav had a meltdown in the heat. The map kept disappearing off the screen and I had to re-set the location several times. There’s also a constant squeak coming from somewhere near the back seats. It sounds like a pack of mice having a tea party.

On the plus side, I am still marvelling at the occasions when the electric motor kicks in to drive the car forward, making the diesel engine redundant. It’s usually only around town at low speed but it’s impossible not to feel slightly smug and virtuous. Shame the fuel consumption is nowhere like the 68mpg claimed. I’m getting 48mpg at best and that’s genuinely driving carefully….

 

 

 

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Friday – A Bonding Moment

cropped-04120145_peugeot_508rxh_2.jpgJeremy I’m not sure what all the buttons do yet but I’ve had a bonding moment with the RXH today. It wasn’t the lion’s claw daytime running lights that sex up the front end, nor the massaging driver’s seat, or even the bling chrome rear scuff plate. No, it was the fact I could drive home from Waitrose without using a sip of diesel.

Among the myriad of buttons and dials splashed around the cockpit is one that allows you to switch to battery power only – which means I drove the four-mile trip using only the 37bhp electric motor that powers the back wheels. How good did that feel!

Now I first drove a pure electric car back in 2006. It was a hellish trip across London with a grumpy motoring editor from the Sunday Times. The sweltering heat of the day and lack of power and air con didn’t do much to improve his temper, or his bouffant hair style.

So what is remarkable about the latest hybrid technology is just how far we have come in seven years. It’s just very frustrating that we have to pay a premium for it, even now. The RXH is almost double the price of a standard 508 SW estate.

Of course, it will save company car drivers thousands of pounds every year in company car tax compared to other 4×4 estates but realistically, the RXH will be priced out of the market for many people…

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Thursday – Think Electric

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Jeremy It doesn’t matter what you think of pure electric cars, hybrid models are popping up all over the place at the moment. There’s no escaping the rash of new models coming onto the market, nipping away at our conscious over environmental issues and offering the opportunity to save money at the filling station.

All that technology costs though and hybrid cars are more to buy than their petrol or diesel counterparts. Just one look at the price tag of the RXH for example and you know it’s not going to be a major seller for Peugeot. What is does do is highlight how far the technology has come and presents a very real alternative to some of the premium band 4×4 estates out there.

Driving the 508 today I love the fact that it looks so different to the familiar Audi, BMW and Mercedes estates on the road. It has a unique look and that in itself counts for a lot. The questions is, is it worth the premium you pay for the RXH’s hybrid power unit and will the car suffer from  poor residuals if you sell it in three years time?

It’s probably too early to answer both of those questions but on image alone, I’d say the RXH is definitely worth a look. Yes, it is a Peugeot and not a German premium brand but the quality and attention to detail in this car are quite exceptional. I’m looking forward to many hundreds of miles getting to know the RXH, seeing how the economy fares in real-life conditions – and working out what all the buttons do (I’ve not seen a car with this complicated a dashboard for a long time!).

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Tuesday – Second Sitting

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Jessica My initial thoughts when I first got into this car were, what is the point? Surely driving something that looks like it is trying very hard to be flashy without the engine power to substantiate the bling is a hollow affair.

Why not buy a sports car that really is a sports car? Is this the equivalent to buying a fake Prada or Louis Vuitton bag? Is it good for the ego to look like a you are keeping up with the Jones’?

With these thoughts spinning through my head I set off on Saturday afternoon from London to find I needed to be athletic with the high set pedals to drive effectively in heavy traffic.

Trying to link in my phone via Bluetooth and understand the music controls linked to my iPod was a challenge – it was just as well the route the to M3 is a slow one, particularly with Beyonce as an attraction at Twickenham Stadium.  I’m not convinced that having to work in braille fashion to adjust volume and select tracks is conducive to a safe drive.

However, once I got in the car for a second sitting I began to enjoy it a little more, it can be pushed and if driven with determination it became more fun.  I still think the clutch needs refining to make the driving experience more sporty and less saloon.

I do like the aerodynamic dimple on the roof, a lovely touch. It’s just a shame the whole car is not thought through more effectively both ergonomically and aesthetically. Oh, and please say ‘no’ to the orange digital display – something less mundane would look so much better.

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Monday – Final Thoughts

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Jeremy Despite a few niggly faults, the RCZ is an exceptionally good drive – even with the entry-level 1.6 petrol engine under the bonnet.

The 156bhp version delivers a 0-60 mph time of 7.8 seconds but, for some reason, it just feels faster. It helps make the Peugeot responsive and more engaging to drive than you might expect. The RCZ is a delight to steer in to a corner.

I found that the A-pillars do restrict visibility rather a lot and there is a nasty blind spot  in the door mirrors – otherwise the vast expanse of glass in the cabin gives the RCZ a more spacious feeling than the class-leading Audi TT coupe.

I think my main complaint about the car is the driving position. Apart from the high foot pedals (see earlier reports), the seats are unsupportive and the steering wheel is just plain ugly.

There’s no doubt the RCZ would be a fantastic secondhand buy but the next generation model needs to address these issues to turn a good car into a great one.

 

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Sunday – Daft Pug

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Jeremy – It felt like the whole of England was out today – doing what English people do best. Queuing and shopping.

Fortunately, that meant the Wykeham Arms in Winchester was quieter than usual and a 50 minute dash down the A303 past Stonehenge was well worth the effort.

I downloaded the new Daft Punk album onto my iPod for the trip but it only took a few miles before I became frustrated with the RCZ‘s music system. I judge an entertainment system by how intuitive it is – this one isn’t.

Once the iPod is connected, all its functions are taken over by the Peugeot. I eventually had to stop the car and scroll through the ‘artists’ painfully slowly on the RCZ dashboard interface before I realised this could also be completed by the stalk control on the steering column.

Now, you really do have to know the workings of your stalk control and remember them because it’s totally hidden behind the steering wheel itself. Having the controls on the front of the steering wheel would be a much better and safer system.

There are lots of things to like about the RCZ but quite a few features, that would be annoyingly simple to rectify, that aren’t.