2005 Peugeot 206 S 1.4 HDi from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Very economical and good value car

Faults:

Air Bag warning light came on.

Passenger grab handle broke.

Cigar lighter fuse blown.

Drivers door only shuts properly with a slam.

General Comments:

As a professional driving instructor I drive or sit in this car for 10 hours a day.

This is a 1.4 HDi which I expected to be slow and sluggish, but this is not.

There is virtually no turbo lag.

I have had this car round corners at break neck speed where the likes of other small hatches would have been screeching.

Must keep higher revs going to exit corners fast.

Best kept in a mid range gear when overtaking to keep turbo kicking in, too lower gear will just cause limiter to kick in and that's embarrassing when overtaking on A road.

Seats are very comfortable

Spacious inside.

Offset steering wheel takes a bit of getting use to, but is fine.

Electric window switch in bad position, nearly always have to keeping looking down to see where it is.

Very good looking car.

Would not recommend a smaller engine than 1.4.

Reasonable 6 speakers as standard.

Will get about 65mpg at a constant 50 mph will cruise at 90mph, but engine will not thank you for it given the revs.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd September, 2005

10th Oct 2005, 16:40

I had a 1.4 HDi 206 as a courtesy car recently and I must admit to being amazed how good this tiny diesel engine is. OK, it's not going to win any drag races, but neither does it feel gutless. Overall I found it responsive and torquey, with a level of refinement that blows the VW TDI engines out of the water.

Even driving it in typical "courtesy car" fashion, it averaged 58 mpg over 400 miles, and a lot of that was in town. I reckon 65-70 mpg would be easily achievable on a run when sticking to the limits. Astonishing!