When looking for a new toy recently i had the pleasure of driving the two back to back (along with a CTR), being a lover of all things pug, ie 2 x 106gti's and a 306 Rallye, i would have loved to get a gti 180. But it just didnt cut the mustard in my opinion, here are my write ups:
206 was very nice, but whilst the Aegean blue colour is gorgeous, I just couldn’t get on with the external looks or the hideous ‘leather’ parts of the interior - seats were excellent though! It pulled well with a smooth power curve, but little in the way of out and out excitement or any noticeable kick in the rev range (and yes it was warmed up), steering was nicely weighted, but felt quite detached and gave poor feedback I thought – no doubt due to the variable assistant malarkey. I decided that it would make an excellent motorway cruiser, but not quite exciting enough to make me lust after one. I think my mums gonna be receiving one soon though, as my dad fell in love with it on the test drive and it looks ‘sporty and nice’ – looks however can be deceiving for those after the biggest thrills, like myself.
Civic Type-R, very comfy, and the gearbox was lovely with good positioning on the dashboard, but didn’t do anything until 10 million revs and the steering was very artificially weighty which I didn’t like. The thing that put me off the most though was that it was like driving a rocket powered Renault Espace, it felt and looked like I was driving a family bus. A good car for a young couple with a newborn child, lots of space and practicality but with decent driving fun for the weekends – great for the guy who refuses to grow old and buy an estate car to please the wife and kids.
Clio 182 ‘full-fat’ with both cup packs. I got in, turned the traction control off and pulled away …. it felt alive, excellent steering, with feedback bombarding you from all angles. Reminded of the first time I drove a 106 gti, just like a go-cart with the potential for much grinning and idiotic driving. Hit 5k rpm and it took off, spinning round to the redline before you realise its time to change gear. Awesome fun and just what I want, im losing the outright speed of my car, but the buzziness and handling ability more than make up for it . . and it’ll cost bugger all to buy & run. Brilliant, im off to find one in inferno orange . . . i actually bought one in racing, but hey i much prefer it now
Owned it for 5 days and absolutely love it!!
