Off Topic Bye bye 500!

[Lloyd71]

Well, that's it, my little 500 has gone. It was driven off today with the remark that "It's been looked after too well!" by the inspector! But what's it being replace with? Well, it's this:

1996 Peugeot 106 1.4XR
It's done 84,000 miles, is in perfect condition inside and out except for one dent, and cost (my girlfriend) £650! But how does it compare to the 500? Let's see.

Looks: The 500 wins this. It's still a looker, even today. Although I do love the Pug's front end....

Interior: The 500 wins this too, it's just a nice place to be. The 106 is very old now, but the build quality of the inside surprised me. It's actually pretty solid, and everything works perfectly. Plus the indicators actually bloody work. Take note, Fiat. The French were doing it just fine 15 years ago so why can't you do it today?

Performance: The 106 beats the 500 hands down. It's faster and corners better despite the age. It's brilliant fun when people assume it's a 1.1, too. :devil:

Comfort: The 106 clinches this one. Even though it's lacking in air con (Not missed it even in this hot weather!) the suspension is excellent and the seats are mega comfy.

Costs: The 106 cost £650. The insurance is cheaper, too. The only thing more expensive is the tax but given that the car will have paid for itself in 3 1/2 months I'm not complaining.

Overall I'm pretty happy. The £200 in my pocket each month is a nice thing to have but the Pug has really surprised me too. Everyone I know has scoffed at me for driving it over the 500. Until they've been in it and then they've changed their minds. It's not exactly a fast car but it's quick and nimble enough to put a smile on my face along with my passenger. It's still got electric windows and central locking which are the only mod cons I need and the keypad immobiliser never fails to entertain either. The Transporter has one.

 

[pearce_jj]

Is this a joke?

 

[Lloyd71]

Nope. I can scan the Voluntary Termination letter if you like!

Oh, and getting rid of this car has meant I could go to Jamaica this year and Kenya next. I'm sure when I've got Elephants drinking from a watering hole beneath my hotel window I'll be pretty happy about it all.

 

[pearce_jj]

Hmm.

 

[Lloyd71]

Oh, and while I'm here, this isn't the car I had my eye on; I'm saving up inbetween the holidays for one of those (Toledo TDI) in good condition.

 

[loveshandbags]

Well, that's it, my little 500 has gone....

Performance: The 106 beats the 500 hands down. It's faster and corners better despite the age. It's brilliant fun when people assume it's a 1.1, too. :devil:

Comfort: The 106 clinches this one. Even though it's lacking in air con (Not missed it even in this hot weather!) the suspension is excellent and the seats are mega comfy.

You have to have Italian blood in you to extract performance out of a 500 particularly in a 1.2 :devil:
My experience of Pugs were that they were 'orrible cars with a front suspension that started to squeek after a couple of years and the noise got worse as if the mice were breeding. You're lucky that you haven't got electric windows because all the Meganes that I know off - the motors went on fire.

Ah no - seriously - best of luck with the new 106 - they are a very economical run around and they have a good comfy ride. At least you'll get lucky in that one department.

I'd take that you will stick with us. Trackdayqueen is still on the Panda forum despite selling her 100HP.

 

[Lloyd71]

You have to have Italian blood in you to extract performance out of a 500 particularly in a 1.2 :devil:
My experience of Pugs were that they were 'orrible cars with a front suspension that started to squeek after a couple of years and the noise got worse as if the mice were breeding. You're lucky that you haven't got electric windows because all the Meganes that I know off - the motors went on fire.

Ah no - seriously - best of luck with the new 106 - they are a very economical run around and they have a good comfy ride. At least you'll get lucky in that one department.

I'd take that you will stick with us. Trackdayqueen is still on the Panda forum despite selling her 100HP.

I've definitely been 'extracting' the performance of the 500! The 1.2 loves being revved so who am I to deny it some?

My suspension has been so far, it's quieter than the 500 which was starting to creak! As for electric windows, I have got them. If they set on fire, no big deal I'll just buy another old car and run it into the ground. It's so relaxing not worrying about it getting dented in car parks etc. though, it's a huge weight off my shoulders.

I'll be sticking around on the forum though, maybe now I can give a non biased opinion on the 500?

 

[306maxi]

I like 106's

Always liked the '06 Pugs until the 206 came along and started the rot

Did you not consider a GTi or a Rallye? They're proper beasts

 

[grimwau]

Lloyd, glad you'll be sticking around and if you come to any of the meets we have allocated you Barry's old parking space ......... next to the skip, lol.

 

[loveshandbags]

I like 106's
Always liked the '06 Pugs until the 206 came along and started the rot
Did you not consider a GTi or a Rallye? They're proper beasts

There's 'a bit of a' cult following on the 205GTI. This is one that I saw last w/e. Looks the best in white a bit like the 500. I never had one but I mate of mine let me drive his 1.9 but it was ‘inclined to misbehave’. He reckoned that the 1.6 had the better balance. There are quite a few 'Jap imports' which I could never understand . They ship them over to Japan and then back again.

 

[RUI]

The 106 GTI is the best handeling car I have ever driven....
Where in Jamaica are you going, last year we went to the Royal Plantation in Ocho Rios. I can recommend it 100% you even get a butler..

 

[Lloyd71]

I like 106's

Always liked the '06 Pugs until the 206 came along and started the rot

Did you not consider a GTi or a Rallye? They're proper beasts

Both the GTI and the Rallye were too high on insurance for me. I would have loved a GTI though....

The 106 GTI is the best handeling car I have ever driven....
Where in Jamaica are you going, last year we went to the Royal Plantation in Ocho Rios. I can recommend it 100% you even get a butler..

I've already been! Me and my girlfriend went to celebrate our one year anniversary. We stayed at the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort which is just outside Lucea. It was amazing, it's such an interesting and beautiful country.

 

[ahmett]

Yes the Peugeot 106 Rallye was everything a car should be: a car with a good power to weight ratio!!! The French used to make decent cars! I drove a Pug 207 rental a few weeks ago, and it was the worst gear shift i have ever seen!

 

[loveshandbags]

They reckon that the 306GTI is the best handling of the pug range plus it could easily take the 1.9 16V engine which made the 205 front heavy. I once had planned to break open the piggbank and buy a new 106GTI until I heard that in a frontal impact I would have zero protection. I did deliberate on getting a 205GTI in place of a RS Turbo but I wanted something different and new that I would hanker for the 1.9. Car Tax was based on cc so the RS was cheaper on paper to run but wasn't in reality.

I like the 5 star safety rating in my 500 and I like the comfort of knowing that I have a knee bag.

 

[J333EVO]

I totally understand where you are coming from.

I used to own a red series 1 106 Rallye, all 101bhp & 80lb ft from it's handbuilt 1300cc engine to meet the then homologation rules for JWRC.

It was possibly the best handling, most intuitive, and communicative car I've ever driven.

Fantastic steering, wonderful balance, snappy gearchange, great brake pedal feel & good stopping power. Above all though it had great ergonomics from a drivers point of view with low slung seat & steering wheel/gearstick where you want then to be.

It came from a time when Peugeot actually manufactured all their own dampers & I remember reading about the chassis engineer who did the MK1 Focus & Golf MK 5 saying the best set up mainstream cars ever were Peugeots from that period due to the dampers. When he worked for Ford they got a 406 in to strip it & found the dampers had a tolerance imbalance of less than 5% yet all car manufacturers work to nearer 10% & Ford concluded to match the 406 would cost then an extra £100 per car which on a car like a Mondeo was a huge amount of money to absorb.

Even with less power the 106 Rallye makes the 500 Abarth feel what it is, a great engine with not much else to back it up with poor steering feel, too thick over designed steering wheel to further corrupt any feel that could be there poor gear change, over servo'd brakes that wilt too quickly & consequently not much fun from a visceral point of view apart from that wicked little power plant.

Of course I care nothing for the brain washing EURO EnCrap ratings as the safest car ever is one that's never in an accident.

 

[Lloyd71]

Driving the 500 after driving this was weird, the steering felt terrible! It felt completely disconnected and far too light. I kept thinking I had left the City Steering on! And don't get me started on the throttle response. It felt completely detached. It makes me remember why I loved my old Metro so much!

 

[306maxi]

I totally understand where you are coming from.

I used to own a red series 1 106 Rallye, all 101bhp & 80lb ft from it's handbuilt 1300cc engine to meet the then homologation rules for JWRC.

It was possibly the best handling, most intuitive, and communicative car I've ever driven.

Fantastic steering, wonderful balance, snappy gearchange, great brake pedal feel & good stopping power. Above all though it had great ergonomics from a drivers point of view with low slung seat & steering wheel/gearstick where you want then to be.

It came from a time when Peugeot actually manufactured all their own dampers & I remember reading about the chassis engineer who did the MK1 Focus & Golf MK 5 saying the best set up mainstream cars ever were Peugeots from that period due to the dampers. When he worked for Ford they got a 406 in to strip it & found the dampers had a tolerance imbalance of less than 5% yet all car manufacturers work to nearer 10% & Ford concluded to match the 406 would cost then an extra £100 per car which on a car like a Mondeo was a huge amount of money to absorb.

Even with less power the 106 Rallye makes the 500 Abarth feel what it is, a great engine with not much else to back it up with poor steering feel, too thick over designed steering wheel to further corrupt any feel that could be there poor gear change, over servo'd brakes that wilt too quickly & consequently not much fun from a visceral point of view apart from that wicked little power plant.

Of course I care nothing for the brain washing EURO EnCrap ratings as the safest car ever is one that's never in an accident.

I had a 406 and even with the heavy turbo dismal lump up front it was a fun car to drive, on my favourite drive over the Denbigh moors I never once felt like the 406 was ever anything other than sure footed. The 500 can get very skatey and it's feels bloody unstable under hard braking. With new tyres on the front and tyres just above legal on the back you could get power on oversteer out of it on wet roundabouts and it was so easily contrallable, I really don't feel that confident in the 500's handling. The only reason my 500 grips well is because it's got a good set of tyres, but as some people fail to realise, handling doesn't just mean having a lot of grip.

It's good to see someone who really knows their stuff about Peugeot's. On the subject of the dampers, Peugeot even made their own dampers for the 205 T16, the 306 Maxi (where my username comes from, my name isn't Maxi!!!!) and the 206 WRC. The 307 WRC also had Peugeot dampers but they dumped them at one point for another brand (Ohlins seems to ring a bell) and the car got even worse and they quit

Only thing I'd say is that the S1600 (later JWRC) cars were of course 1.6's and not 1.3's

Good to see you like the car Lloyd

 

[loveshandbags]

Here's a guy who is clearing enjoyng his 106 1.3 Rallye and after all is 'hard work' got short changed...

 

[J333EVO]

Only thing I'd say is that the S1600 (later JWRC) cars were of course 1.6's and not 1.3's

True, but only once regulations changed hence the series 2 106Rallye going to 1600cc with 103bhp & I think 101lbft. The series2 was never as good to drive as the series one, maybe that 7250rpm rev hungry 1300cc unique to the Rallye wasn't going to be matched with an off the shelf engine shared with Saxo VTR & possibly other cars.

It was also heavier & a bit more refined, & it had nice touches like blue carpet and dials unique to it.

Other 1300cc cars it earlier class were 205 Rallye, Citreon AX(Visa maybe) Nova Sport/SR/SRi & I'm sure others but my knowledge isn't that good on them.

 

[306maxi]

True, but only once regulations changed hence the series 2 106Rallye going to 1600cc with 103bhp & I think 101lbft. The series2 was never as good to drive as the series one, maybe that 7250rpm rev hungry 1300cc unique to the Rallye wasn't going to be matched with an off the shelf engine shared with Saxo VTR & possibly other cars.

It was also heavier & a bit more refined, & it had nice touches like blue carpet and dials unique to it.

Other 1300cc cars it earlier class were 205 Rallye, Citreon AX(Visa maybe) Nova Sport/SR/SRi & I'm sure others but my knowledge isn't that good on them.

I don't think it was an official junior championship at that time though? The only other car I can think of in that class would be the Felicia.