2003 Peugeot 206 GTi 180 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Why would anyone who has spent more or about the same be jelous of a 180 FFS!!! People that make these comments could have one if they wanted so its not jelousy.

It still comes last in every review for a reason, because the others leave it behind in every test. I don`t believe everything I read, but its not a conspiricy, they all rate it down the pecking order for a reason, that's its place.

It`s supposed to be a "Hot hatch" which is all about performance and handling, if you want good residuals and quality interiors buy a Cooper S for Christs sake!!!

If you want a car to out perform and out handle the 180 then get the proper Bo of Hot hatches... the Clio 182.

The 180 is NOT the best by a long way, apart from the Clio there are many others better.

180 owners have every right to justify their purchase, they spent silly amounts buying a car that's nowhere near best in its class so that's exactly what they are doing... justifying it...i pity the poor loves!

I've had my 1 year old 180 for a month now, having bought it at a dealer for £6k less than the new price, and for the money (and having test driven the opposition) I believe I made the right choice. In comparison to it's rivals here's why:

Clio 172/182 - Smaller than the Pug with awful build quality, worse depreciation and higher insurance quotes.

Civic Type R - Stupidly high used prices at dealers (although admittedly lower depreciation), poor steering (worse than the 180), poor equipment levels, higher insurance quotes, horror stories about quality of paint work and interior trim.

Mini Cooper S - Smaller, stupidly high used prices, you look like an estate agent in one (especially in London).

Having previously owned a 1.9 205 Gti, (no modern GTi will ever compare for exhiliration) and a 137bhp 206 Gti (pretty good when it first came out in '99) I'm bit of a Pug fan, but I'll admit that the 180 isn't a classic. However, it does everything well, it's extremely comfortable and well equipped, it looks great, it's quick and very capable, it's pretty well built and it's cheap on the used market.

You need to spend a while driving this car, but once you've got some miles under your belt, you learn how to use it's power. The variable valve timing isn't as raucous as a VTEC (I use my Dad's S2000 regularly) but it's still a great adrenalin boost.

So, not a raw Gti in the 205 mould, but an under-rated fast hatch. If you go to The Times website and check out the reviews, you'll find that Jeremy Clarkson agrees too.

I own a 206 gti 180 and recorded its time to 60 and got 6.3 which beats a civic.

The 180 is 7.1 recorded. crap handling and looks. come last in all reviews. not that much faster than a vrs skoda fabia.

7.1 recorded which is with two passengers, luggage and a full tank as all Peugeot performance tests are done. Handling is not crap either (have you even driven it) a very underrated car in my opinion.

Yes I have driven it and found it to be sloppy and underpowered.

Pug gti 180 would leave a mgzs 180 for dead in any situation, especially straight line speed. Don't bother comparing to fabia vrs as its not even in the same league, vrs has similar performance to a 90bhp saxo vtr.

Pug 180s are slow. Look at the paper times. The MG is so much quicker.

I think you will find that the pug gti 180 has a far higher power to weight ratio than the pathetic mg zs180. I don't know why they even call it the mgzs 180 when it produces 173bhp, and takes 2.5 v6 to get it! Adecent hot hatch can get more than that with a 2.0 na engine.

When people sit in their motor and time a 0-60, don't forget its 0-60 @ "RPM" not 0-60 at redlining every gear. My brother had a P GTI 180, plasticy inside, typical french car, cheap, easy mashable metal, just a glorified saxo.. yes nippy I admit, but poor qulaity build, and expert reviews them right down.

Anyways he then traded it in brought a golf mark 4 v6 2.8 4motion, a v6 lump which has qulaity build and interior plus 4wd so take corners how you like and is 0-62 7.1.

Also being a german car it will hold its money.

And it wees on my Golf 1.8T coz of the immence torque it has..

You gone off the boil abit there matey, although I'm thinking of buying one of these cars.The mk4 4motion is a heavyer version of the vr6 with a meatier engine and being a 4wd I bet it sticks to the road like its on rails with a top speed of 150mph, also I believe they come with electronic stability programe as standard (ask your bro)?

Although the r32 is the one to go for with a 3.2 but I have not got the money. Still hows your brother getting on with it?

Was considering a lot of cars, 180 and the clio I have considered as well as an audi s3, I try to look for performance as well as qulaity combined and RESELL price.

Its all well and good saying blah blah 0-60 this and that, but what about 60-100, compare those?

What are you talking about?

0 - 60 is 0 - 60 no matter how you get there. If you're smoked at some highway on ramp are you seriously going to tell your passenger 'well, he was redlining every gear while I was doing the 'RPM' thing", so obviously I have the faster time?

Please.

Oh dear, if I redlined my 4motion in every gear it would be under 6 seconds 0-62, so that means it's quicker than a r32? No it's not, if you redlined a Civic it would be faster than your redlined attempt of the 206, you with me now?

As opposed to my golf 0-62 in 7.1 at 4000 rpm. That is what revs the needle went to before a gear change. If you redline your car all the time, looks good at Southend I suppose until it blows up.. hope this helps.

I agree with Mr golf in once sense. The 0-60 for every car us measured at a level of rpm/torque/bhp across the board, I see where he is coming from in that respect. Throttling a car at maximum revs per gear obviously will get a quicker 0-60 than stated on car statts websites as they aren't tested in that fashion. One thing though that the Peg 180 is a good car not as good as the 205 gti was, but ratings are ratings and that's that I suppose, but for people that can't afford the high end golfs, audis etc,it's a good buy for the price IMHO.

I own this car and over all am happy with it. But both the pro and anti GTI180 people here have fair points. I love the looks of the car. I think its smart and doesn't look too boy racerish. The interior is great to look at, but yes, it creaks everywhere. The seats are brilliant. Uncomfortable? What? Anyone who has ever got in my car has loved the seats... even the back, and not in a rude way. If you've ever folded the back seats though, its shocking just how cheap and nasty they are. The car is not as fast as most of the hot hatches out there. But like other drivers have said, you need to learn how to drive it, and only then will it give you what you'd expect. You need to drop the gears one more than you'd think. I've been caught out several times leaving the car in third rather than dropping to second, only to find myself not gaining/overtaking in the gap I planned for - its left me in some tight squeezes more than once. The ride is bumpy, but with those big rims, low profile tyres and hardened suspension, what did you expect? It would be like buying a 2 seater sports car and then moaning there's no room for the kids in the back. The handling is not always confidence inspiring, and I've often felt the wheel being jerked out of my hands as I've put down hard power. But on the plus side I've often been on back roads putting power down on turns and feeling very comfortable with the level of grip. I'm not a car expert, but I can see and feel the ESP kicking in and it seems to do its job. I'm fully aware my car has some crap aspects to it, but I'd choose it any day over a Mini. I don't particularly like the looks of the Honda, but respect its performance. Someone said the ST170 is quicker, is that true? A quick look on the net and I've only found a 0-60 of 7.9 seconds. If its faster, I wasn't aware of that, but again I'm not too keen on the looks, though the new shape Focus ST looks great! I'm looking forward to seeing what the Peugeot 207 does when its released this year. Hopefully they've updated it to match the other hot hatches, and maybe it will be back in line with the classic 205GTI. I think the new one is going to have a Turbo...