Peugeot 206 Build Has Ceased After 13 Years Of Dealers' Complain
We are living in a society where getting internet connectivity has become a basic right. So automotive industry is also not detached from this, now one can experience the wide range of cars from the one place in your own home. The features that the Peugeot thought of marketing as their leading edge for the car 206 too proved to be not much handy as the dealers complained. Though it could recreate some of the old charms of the model 306, but 206 has seats which are too high and the wheel, which adjusts for rake only, doesn't sit anywhere near enough to vertical. It's a tight fit for the driver's feet, as the pedal box is far too cramped and the sponginess of the middle pedal makes heel-and-toe changes difficult. Interior fit and finish the 206 gives feel of a much older car with cabin architecture and ergonomics that fail to impress. Buttons for the automatic climate control sit too low on the console and the dash and door plastics feel hard and cheap. So as the expert dealers say, 206 is an old car, it's uncomfortable, expensive and isn't fast enough for a GTI. Worst of all, it simply fails to gel as a driver's car. Hence Production of the Peugeot 206 will cease in Europe as dealers are no longer ready to market it 聳 after 13 years 聳 at the end of next year, according to company sources. While EU legislation will finally kill it off completely from European market, it is likely to continue to be made in South America, China and Iran.
6 million to own one. Cue this story鈥檚 battlebots, the Honda Civic Si and the Volkswagen Golf GTI. We drove this pair of machines through the mountains of Southern California鈥檚 Los Padres National Forest, ignoring their dissimilarity in body style to focus on their shared enthusiast-friendly mission. Of course you will also recognize these two from their appearances on our most recent 10Best Cars list, a reward both cars earned, in part, for their high ratio of performance per dollar. 24,990 all in, which is a mere 71 percent of the average cost of a new vehicle. 200 upcharge that鈥檚 a relative steal鈥攊t鈥檚 about what it would cost to have a single replacement shipped to you. Tires aside, Honda doesn鈥檛 offer any choices with the Si after you pick your color, although you could get a coupe. Regardless of door count, every Si comes with a six-speed manual gearbox mated to a tweaked version of the standard Civic鈥檚 turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder. An extra 3.8 psi of boost produces 205 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque鈥攇ains of 31 and 25, respectively. 4055 differential pays for, well, the differential for starters, an electronically controlled limited-slip unit.
Also bigger brakes from the Golf R, as well as a sunroof and blind-spot monitoring. Plus the SE ditches the standard halogen headlights in favor of LEDs and swaps the stock 6.5-inch infotainment screen for an 8.0-inch system. Bridgestone Potenza S001 summer tires are a no-cost swap from the stock all-seasons. 695 on leather, as our test car demonstrates. But doing so is a mistake, as a GTI without plaid upholstery is like a GTI without a manual transmission. 32,015 test car had the latter, although a dual-clutch gearbox is also available. All 2018 models now make 220 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque from VW鈥檚 venerable EA888 turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four. Yes, Oscar Goldman, we do have the technology. Slipping behind the wheel of the Si is like donning a mighty exoskeleton; it makes you feel invincible on the road, as if you have suddenly become a much better driver. Like its big brother, the Type R, its chassis is its greatest strength. The Si pips the GTI鈥檚 0.95 g of lateral grip on the skidpad, where its lower stance and wider tires help it achieve 0.97 g.
More significantly, the Si is 1 mph faster through our slalom, proving its quicker reflexes. The Civic鈥檚 strengths feel even greater on the street, where the Honda鈥檚 larger size serves to amplify the brilliance of its underpinnings. You drop down into the Si鈥檚 perfectly sculpted sport seats as if you鈥檙e behind the wheel of a sports car rather than a sedan. And yet it is the longer car by more than a foot, with a wheelbase that stretches nearly three inches farther than the VW鈥檚. But most of the time it drives as if it鈥檚 a class smaller, rather than one larger. Weighing just 2904 pounds, the mid-size Si undercuts the compact GTI by 280 pounds. Climbing into the upright chair of the Volkswagen feels as if you鈥檙e boarding one of the company鈥檚 Microbuses by comparison. The character of their handling follows the pattern. Where the Si corners flat, promising never-ending grip, the GTI leans, warning the driver to back off earlier than necessary.
