Put simply, in our minds, the cerebrum takes on the tasks that have to do with intelligence, for example: conscious thinking. The brain stem is responsible for the tasks that have to do with survival in this world: for example, breathing, the release of adrenaline, risk assessment in hunting and such things. The cerebellum, in turn, controls cognitive skills, learning facts, controlling motor skills, and ensuring that we do not lose our balance.

French Traction - test drive in the Peugeot RCZ R

Saturday morning, 9.35am somewhere between Vence and Gréolières in the French Lake Alps - the speedometer needle points excitedly towards the sky.
A short conversation between the cerebrum and the brain stem: "Is it really that sensible to jump over the top of the hill just beyond the usual country road speed? - The cerebellum interferes: "Friends, relax, everything under control". Cerebrum to brain stem: “Well, the signs that reported my eyes report tight curves, and I also know from my skin that it was really cold out there."Question to the cerebellum:"You're sure, he knows what he's doing there?".

The objections are only briefly discussed in the spirit and even before consciousness intervenes and calls into question the completion of this automobile pleasure ride, the third gear clicks into the transmission and the foot is again hard on the right pedal.

Yes, we are 1200 meters above sea level, 30 Km behind the coastline of Nice, here is snow at the edges of the highway. It is wet. It is cold. It is November and even in the Alps of the Lake, winter is now coming.

And yet, the new star from Peugeot Sport demands the aggravated pace.

The test car:

• Model Name: Peugeot RCZ R
• Vehicle class: Compact sports coupe
• Delivery: Q1 / 2014
• Power: 270 hp

Base Price:

41.5 k € 

270 PS and front-wheel drive? On a wet street? With summer tires? How much fun should that be? The answer comes from the Torsen front differential.
Grip loss? 245er Goodyear Eagle helplessly looking for grip? The Torsen differential is in top form. It finds the grip where there is grip, left, right and it distributes the right amount to make the tightened gait fun.

The dark asphalt is framed by white flakes on the left and right. The road is either damp or actually much too cold for the sports tires. No need to lift your foot. The RCZ R demonstrates, apart from highly complex axle constructions, what is possible if you have a differential tuned by sports car experts. Even on this cool Saturday morning in the Lake Alps, with the supposedly worst weather for sporty wide tires, the sharpest RCZ version demonstrates what it can do.

The 14% tighter springs on the front axle and the 44% tighter setup on the rear axle act as a fun catalyst in the fast changing passages. The RCZ R throws itself into the curve, largely ignoring the constantly changing road surfaces. He is in his element. Third gear curves, under the pressure of 330 Nm from its 1.6 liter turbo, the RCZ-R pulls where the driver points the steering wheel. At the same time, the impetus refuses a controversial discussion about the direction. The driver's request is implemented without any discussion. It is impressive how much power the front axle stamps into the patchy asphalt of these third-degree country roads.

200 PS are the limit for sporty cars with front wheel drive

That was once. The RCZ-R convincingly demonstrates how 270 HP can be converted into meters per second and not into blue tire smoke. Without wet hands, without sore muscles in the wrists. He doesn't pull the steering wheel, he doesn't turn your fingers blue. In return, however, the steering does not spoil you with the last bit of comprehensive information about the condition of the asphalt. Whining at a high level.

Peugeot Sport, the motorsport professionals of the French brand are behind the development of the RCZ-R. And these guys have motorsport in their blood and now you want to let the customer feel it again. And you want to go where M, AMG and quattro-GmbH already park today. In the pole position of the heart and in the consciousness of sporty drivers' minds.

Besides R logos on the (too French) sports seats, R logos in the rims and R-batches on the boot lid, the double-tube exhaust at the rear drops in the eye. The previous Peugeot athletes have the treatment of 270 PS apparently not expected. The new buzzes more, but a 1.6 liter turbo four-cylinder is simply not suitable for music device. Not as long as the Eurocrats in Brussels have to put their stamp on the approval of a large-scale production model.

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Power:

270 PS

torque:

330  Nm

Power to weight ratio:

4.7 kg / PS

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The Peugeot RCZ R crowned itself the new driving dynamics king in the class of sporty front-wheel drive!

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What else do you need to know?

The RCZ would almost have become the most powerful series turbo in current automobile construction. But the A45 AMG with a displacement of 2.0 liters produces 360 HP, the RCZ R needs 1.6 liters for 270 HP, so 180 HP / liter of the Mercedes are higher than the impressive 169 of the Peugeot. At 1.280 kg, the RCZ-R is a flyweight in its class, because the Audi TTS weighs a good 200 kg more! And: Peugeot has put a lot of effort into explaining the surcharge of almost € 10.000 not only through performance. The interior looks lovingly processed draw red decorative seams Lively through the whole car and the materials, such as the aluminum shift knob, convey the fun of driving a car.

This could be done with "Motion & emotion”Will still be something. And now the cerebrum takes over again. Cerebrum to all: relax.

To the Peugeot RCZ R gallery [click]

Edit:

With on site, also one Blogger from Austria, you can find her article after the link, Those who are powerful in the French find their way this link a very detailed article, And in addition, there are on Youtube two Videos from French hands, Even more about the RCZ-R, again in french.  And if you want to know the Spanish view of things, click here, But also the esteemed colleague Ruch vom Radical-Mag.Com has an opinion on the RCZ-R [click]. And last but not least, the english written version of my colleague Phil [click].