With various other CARkeys characters having disported themselves at the international and UK press launches of the hottest production 206, I was numbered off to use another example for local journeys and what might have been a couple of dreary motorway hauls.This kind of thing is not exactly what the GTi 180 was designed to do, but showed that it's a perfectly satisfactory runner even away from Alpine passes and the like, although I wouldn't have minded diverting a few hundred miles to whack it up the Col de Rousset out of Die and up to the Vercors plateau, where one of its predecessors showed itself to be a real mountain climber.There's no doubt about the sporting intent of the GTi 180, from the moment you see the 17" five-spoke alloys, the low-profile tyres, the tailgate spoiler, the mean-looking twin tailpipes and the car's whole businesslike stance even when parked.It's the same inside, thanks to the almost race-style front seats with their pronounced side and shoulder bolsters, the drilled metal pedals, the elements of aluminium trim, and the chromed gearlever knob, which is perishingly cold for the first hour or so if the Peugeot has been left out of a garage overnight. You have to wear gloves - or, somewhat eccentrically, at least one on your left hand.Some other small details are very nicely done, like the stitched leather surround for the instrument panel, the third steering wheel stalk for the audio controls, and the informative fascia-top trip computer display.The mixture of leather, Alcantara and Zagros cloth trim in the upholstery sounds like a severe case of pudding over-egging, but it works very well, as long as you enjoy the actual seating position behind the wheel, which not everybody, I've observed, seems to do.Peugeot's latest variable valve timing engine certainly sounds the sporting note, and it shifts the car very smartly away from a standing start, as well as giving it strong mid-range performance.As you'd expect, the gear ratios are close-packed, but I'd say the 180 needs more than just five of them. While providing a good flow of upward changes, the transmission ends up with a top gear in which the car runs at 3400rpm for an indicated 70mph. That's too much engine, for both sound levels and economy. There ought to be a six-speed box with a longer-legged top.This is one of those Continental-designed cars with wipers biased towards left-hand drive. The driver's wiper does admittedly have a "kick" to let it clear more of the right-hand side of the screen, but the fact remains that the wipers clear more of the passenger's glass than of the driver's, and I've never seen the sense of that in a UK-market car.In this model, rain sensor wipers and light sensor headlamps are standard. I can cope with the former, but the latter still seem one of the daftest ideas imaginable. The dipped headlamps come on in the oddest situations - for instance, as you drive under a filling station canopy, thus making people already there think you're trying to order them out of the way - while being far too sensitive to the presence of roadside trees and so on. It seems particularly odd to be driving, visor down, into a setting sun with the headlamps on as if it's already dark.While the 180 is in its natural habitat on winding A- and B-class roads, and when tackling a climb, it sits quite happily on a motorway cruise. The low profile tyres on this model seem to be a little less unyielding than is the case with some other cars with similar equipment, although you're never in any doubt when you hit a rough patch.This is one of those models with a puncture repair kit instead of a spare wheel, and before I took it over the test car had hit trouble which showed how that no-spare system doesn't always work. It put a front wheel into an unexpected middle-of-the-road pothole and didn't just puncture the wheel but also bent the rim, so that the tyre wouldn’t hold pressure for more than a very few miles.Otherwise, the GTi 180 is well and sensibly equipped, with items like ESP, brake force distribution, brake assist, digital climate control, a CD autochanger and curtain airbags all standard. The price tag seems pretty fair for what you get, and this is another Peugeot which really looks the sporting part. Engine 1997cc, 4 cylinders Power 174bhp Transmission 5-speed manual Fuel/CO2 32.8mpg / 204g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 7.4 seconds Top speed 137mph Price £15,195 Details correct at publication date
Our Rating
