2001 Peugeot 106 GTi from UK and Ireland - Comments

With referance to 106gti's failing to start and needing turned over more than a couple of times for it to start.. Mine was doing the same and I replaced the ignition key sencer which cost 17quid its been fine ever since! However I do get slight knocking noises fron underneath as lowered 30mm and it feels like its killing itself on bumpy roads.

Hi,

just wondering how I would reset the ecu.

I have had a 106 GTI for 9 years now and a 205 GTI before that. OK I'm not going to get nasty or anything with people here, but most of the problems are of your own doing.

17" alloys totally ruins the handling (rally cars ran with 14/15" alloys doesn't that tell you something?)

Lower the car further makes them horrible on 'B' which is where the car is best. Be very careful what you are doing with the suspension.

A lot of the cars have been totally engine abused before buying - look at the person you are buying off and try and gage there mentality.

The engines are strong, but require regular services to the full spec.

Only give the engine high revs after the oil gage indicates the oil is up to temp - that's why it's there.

Once a car is a dog they will always usually be a dog, so look after it and it will pay you back.

The cars don't handle bad in the rain, they handle how you would expect. It's a short wheel base car with hard suspension and fast steering. That tells you exactly how it will handle in the rain, it's not going to be like driving a mondeo is it. To an in-experienced driver it could scare the living daylights out of you in the rain, but with knowledge of what it can and does do it is great fun.

Noisy compared with a micra, I hope so!! The engine has virtually no sound proofing (notice bonnet etc) this was because they had to fit the engine somehow. Also it probably wasn't on there list to make it sound like a micra?

Real problems with the car-

Horrible on the motorway

Body panels thin (dents easy)

Worn suspension knocks (which can be hard to pin point)

Some fixings/quality of trims could be better.

The comment above is probably the most sound piece of common sense I have ever read on this site. I agree with every word.

Lowering any hot Peugeot ruins the handling. Peugeots are set up beautifully out of the box. They even make their own dampers for heaven's sake. Why would they do that if they could buy crap from a catalogue and make the car better?

The most you should ever do to a 106 or 306 chassis is restore it to "as new" condition with OEM replacement parts

I have owned a 97 106 GTI for 6 years. I love the car, it's got so much character. It's Fireblaze yellow.

The mods I've done when I had it were; 15"alloys on 195 45 rubber, konis, scorpion, piperx, 60mm drop on front 70 on back and superchipped, plus a decent bit of music.

I drove the car hard for 3 years, and it has been on and off the road ever since.

The 1st major problem with it was I accidentally split the CV boots when fitting Konis in the rain. The cv melted on the 500 mile journey to Amsterdam. When I landed in Calais, not a Peugeot or Citroen dealer had a complete shaft, so determined I limped to the dam and home at 40mph.

The other shaft went the next trip there, irony? Distance (probably).

Next problem was the gearbox and clutch, then the engine pulley, then the heater matrix (dash out).

It the missed bad, which took me 2 years to find was the cat. I only put it back on for an MOT.

It's back on the road now, but after changing 2 lower arms, 2x strut mounts, drop links and springs, it still knocks when turning heavy.

I get less trouble from the missus.

OK where do I begin I'm gonna try keep this sweet.

Yes clarkson rated it second best handling car at some point you say its rubbish I don't for one minute believe you have the driving skills of clarkson and the rally drivers that tested it, so you're not going to bring it to its optimum and feel how well it can perform.

As for all these running problems, it won't show on a dio machine as itll be your coil pack, yes replace this and enjoy your car again.

Or alternativly use a devoted owners club instead of a mr I think I know it all.

I recommend www.gtiowners.com.