206 GTi 180

[Carlos182]

Anyone had experience with them?
Have always had a big soft spot for them and very very tempted by one.

[samass]

My sister has one, its a f*cking nice car tbf, aegen blue, challengers, those bucket seat things, makes a nice noise too! I have yet to persuade her to put me on the insurance and let me properly drive it tho...

But as a passenger, seats are ok, need some fiddling to get comfy, the ride is pretty harsh, firm suspension and 40 profiles on 17s make it quite crashy around town

That's about the experience I have, until I pinch the keys anyway....

[vlj]

I actually quite like them, in the top spec they are rather nice.. Looked at getting one before I got the Diablo as they sell for ridiculously cheap!

[THE_Liam]

No better or faster than a '6, doesn't handle quite as well as a '6, doesn't look as good as a '6, doesn't ride as well as a '6, more expensive than a '6...

[Piggy]

girls car. end of.

[Midnightclub]

No better or faster than a '6, doesn't handle quite as well as a '6, doesn't look as good as a '6, doesn't ride as well as a '6, more expensive than a '6...

This tbh..

[puglove]

Actually had one on loan a few times. Love them would never own one.

Handles slightly better than a 6 is a bit slower than a 6. Day to day id rather have the 6, very uncomfortable . (this based on OE specs)

But they are massivly unreliable. Injection system / Ecu is riddled with issues and is £rape99 to put right. My cousuns one went wrong twice within 20k along with quite a few other issues spent over the value of the car putting it right (in 2 years) the value being 7k way back when and only done 30k when he bought it. It was your stereotypical french car. In the end sold it for £1500 because he just wanted shot of it. For these reasons id personaly never own one

and injector system / Ecu is a VERY common problem

---

The only way id buy one is if it had a 6 engine in or of it was cheap&good enough for me to put a 6 lump ib

[THE_Liam]

Also, to add to my earlier point, you can get a pretty sharp 205 GTI for the price of one of these...

[puglove]

Also, to add to my earlier point, you can get a pretty sharp 205 GTI for the price of one of these...

This is a very good point ^

better car
cost less in the long run
will only go up in value now
nicer to drive
less issues and cheaper to repair

[Ricky]

put some smaller and lighter wheels on one and it would make it drive a lot better imo.

[Piggy]

put some smaller and lighter wheels on one and it would make it drive a lot better imo.

or buy a '6

[GTI 6]

Carlos give yourself a slap and get a ph1 6 instead
You know it,s the obvious choice lol

[Niall]

Lovely car. Interior build quality and feel of the car is years ahead of the 306 and they are very well spec'd however they are not without their fair share of problems. Problem is, the entire car is CANBUS so when you get wiring faults (which they do often), its a right pig to diagnose without the proper kit.

[Carlos182]

Hmm, so one account of bad injection/ECU and standard french wiring.

Other option is a Clio 172...

[Niall]

Hmm, so one account of bad injection/ECU and standard french wiring.

Other option is a Clio 172...

About the same speed and will probably find the handling is similar however the interior of the Clio will be f*cking disgusting compared to the 206. Most Renaults, even brand new ones are stupidly plain and plastic inside!

[Carlos182]

About the same speed and will probably find the handling is similar however the interior of the Clio will be f*cking disgusting compared to the 206. Most Renaults, even brand new ones are stupidly plain and plastic inside!

And they're more to insure!
Fingers crossed the guy that bought my car turns up on Saturday!

[ozonehostile]

i had one, my brother in law has had 6 of them, love the engine, one of the best petrol valvers peugeot ever made IMO, a 6 will be a tiny bit faster as it has the extra gear. the oem ecu is siemens so completely un-mappable, only way to get more power is aftermarket ecu. the vvc is brilliant fun, real nice noise too even on stock exhaust, nice interior and with coilovers it would probably out handle a '6.

biggest pain with them is the gti180 exclusive parts like wing mirrors and seats, if you need a replacement its not going to be cheap.

not too brilliant on fuel and at the end of the day its still a 206. wouldn't say no to another one though...

[C.A.R.]

I can't get over the girly looks personally. If I had one it would have to be altered a bit, those big gay wheels would be gone in favour of something a bit more sporty, all the tacky trim like the silver filler cap would drive me mad too. And it would need to be black.

How do they compare to an ST170? I always found them disappointing, but the chassis is fantastic, if a little too neutral...

[THE_Liam]

To be honest, I'd say a 172 is a better option than a 206, but in general if you really want a proper hot hatch you need to look at older ones, the new ones are too heavy and complex. The Clio is one of the last real hot hatches. Now their all too thirsty and expensive, because they've all gone power mad and people need too many gadgets. Since when is an 8-9 second 0-60 time not quick enough, and since when does a little sports hatchback need cruise control? To me, hot hatches peaked with the mk2 Golf and 205, even the '6 isn't quite as good all round as the 205, because it's loads thirstier and not actually any quicker than a 1.9 205...

[Nadine]

i really like the look of the 206 but then again i am a girl. I owned a 172 for a short time, i thought it felt quicker and it was abit more responsive than my current 6. However given a choice of the 6 or the 172 id choose the 6 every time. I hated the clio to drive, so much so i only had it for about 2 months. I then went and bought a brand new 13 plate clio instead lol

[Poodle]

GTi 180 i've never tried, if they're anything like pro_steve's car back in the day (think he pretty much made a diesel version - right wheels, right seats, uprated suspension, etc) they're surprisingly quick, i've got a feeling the 206 is a fair bit lighter than the '6. Front end isn't quite as sharp, can't really remember much else, was a few years back now.

Driven a 172 in anger and it is a lot of fun, got to really wring it's neck to get it to go anywhere, although i suppose that's the same as most petrols. The interior is pretty low-rent though, as said.

The ST170 was one of the most disappointing drives i've had, just didn't feel like it'd got half the power advertised and i felt like i was sat up in a van. The drive itself was quite nice, just nothing special, the other bits were enough to ruin it for me.