Peugeot 206 S RANGE
In An Attempt To Keep Sales Strong,
Peugeot's 206 Claims To Offer More For Less In Affordable S Form. Jonathan Crouch Checks It Out...
At the moment, Peugeots 206 can do no wrong. Having won World Championship rallies, its the top-selling retail car in the UK. Worldwide, over a million have been sold since its launch in 1998, and with five worldwide plants busy churning out more, another 700,000 examples will be pounding the roads by this time next year.
Even so, despite so much customer interest, Peugeot has still had to tighten its belt in an increasingly competitive market and be seen to offer more for less. Hence the importance of the entry-level S versions featured here, priced from an affordable £8,420 in 3-door 1.1-litre petrol form. You can choose to go with or without air conditioning and to opt for three or five doors.
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Theres also the option of a 1.4HDi diesel version from £9,420 and an 8v 1.4-litre petrol unit (in manual and automatic forms) priced from £9,570. Theres even a 90bhp 2.
0-litre HDi diesel at £11,320. As for specification, well theres not a huge amount for your money but you still get twin airbags, ABS, a CD player, body-coloured bumpers, remote central locking, recently upgraded cloth trim, a rev counter and an anti-roll bar to stabilise the handling. Plus, like all the latest Peugeots, you get a proper three-year warranty included. But what of the 206 itself? Certainly, for Murat Gunak and his original design team, creating this car was no easy task.
Normally, a combination of VW build quality,
Ford handling and
Vauxhall value would have fitted the bill nicely. In this case, however, a little extra je ne sais quois was deemed to be needed if the magic that made its 205 predecessor such a modern-day classic was to be recreated.
"It's possible to get into a fast, fluid driving rhythm that few other cars could sustain..."
Carrying the burdens both of history and expectation, the 206 had, in short, to be a very good car indeed - and most potential customers will probably agree that it is. Some will even see it as a class-leader - no mean feat against opposition as good as
Renault's Clio and Ford's Fiesta. Certainly,
Peugeot have left few stones unturned in their efforts to trump these direct rivals. Over £630 million was spent in creating the 206 platform, designed to support not only the three and five-door hatches featured here but also the coupe/cabrio model and SW estate. Step inside though, and it's just like every other Peugeot you've ever sat in. Though the dark plastics used are rather sombre, the materials chosen are light and attractive. You wouldn't mistake this for an up-market saloon but it's an environment you'd be quite happy with, even on a long journey. Rear
seat accommodation isn't one of the 206's strongpoints - but then you could say the same about most of the other cars in this sector. At least the boot is a reasonable size, thanks to compact rear suspension. There are nice touches like the front passenger seat cushion, which flips forward to reveal a storage space within the seat's structure. Alternatively, the seat's backrest can be folded flat for really long loads. As for the styling, well, make up your own mind; either way, you're probably used to it by now. My only comments are practical ones; the rear doors could be larger and the top of the tailgate is so low that it slightly cuts into the interior mirror's field of view. I'd also add, however, that the prominent nose looks just great bearing down on you from behind. The 206 has also been treated to a mild facelift of late which runs to the tune of a honeycomb grille, the obligatory clear headlight lenses and a bigger chromed Peugeot lion badge on the back. Uniform coloured rear light lenses are also introduced. On the road, it's much as you might expect, given the impressive abilities of other cars from the company's stable. Class-leading attributes include the slick gearchange and the absorbent suspension. And handling? Well, unlike its predecessor, the 206 advances the science no further in this respect - the class standard is already too good for that. Nor, unlike the 205, is it the kind of car that enthusiasts will find excuses to drive.
The power steering is a little light and the body roll a little too pronounced. Having said that, traction is excellent and it's possible to get into a fast, fluid driving rhythm that few other cars could sustain. None of the engines are particularly fast or refined (rest to sixty takes 15.2s in the 1.1 on the way to 98mph) but they are extremely frugal (expect to average around 46mpg in this model).
As you would expect, the 1.4-litre HDi diesel is even more so, achieving around 66mpg in normal use. In summary, the 206 is a car that Peugeot could have done with years ago when the company's executives were still hoping that 106 and 306 equalled 205 (the model name of this cars much lamented predecessor which, it was initially hoped, might not need direct replacement). Since they've got their sums right, the company has more than made up lost ground, indeed the 206 is regularly Britains most popular car with private buyers. A lot of the credit for this sales success goes to these reasonably-priced S entry-level models.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Peugeot 206 S range
PRICES: £8,420-£11,320 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 3-5
CO2 EMISSIONS: 112-148g/km
PERFORMANCE: [1.1] 0-60mph 15.2s / Max Speed 98mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.1] (urban) 30.1mpg / (extra urban) 50.4mpg / (combined) 40.8mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Driver's airbag
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 3835/1652/1432
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