- Doors and Seats
2 doors, 4 seats
- Engine
2.0i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
100kW, 190Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 6.3L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
NA
- Ancap Safety
NA
Peugeot 206CC
Two cars for the price of one
There's a lot to be said for a convertible with a folding metal top. Compared with conventional soft-tops with folding canvas hoods, the increasingly popular folding metal top has some important advantages.
Security is the most obvious; it's still possible to smash a window but the metal top at least rules out the chance of a knife being used as the key.
Southern winters are also a less daunting prospect in a car with a folding metal roof. The car will lose interior heat more slowly than with a cloth roof, and the glass rear window of a metal-top car (although some cloth-tops also have glass windows) allows for the use of a demister.
A soft-topped car is also a noisier vehicle, which might seem an inconvenience more than a problem until you have to drive in heavy traffic between rows of trucks or over a long distance at freeway speeds.
Mercedes-Benz's SLK roadster range started a trend that now includes cars at the other end of the price-scale such as the new Holden Tigra.
Peugeot, meanwhile, which had enjoyed plenty of success with its popular but ageing 306 convertible, made the switch to a folding metal top for its convertible model with the 206CC, which landed here in 2002.
It might be one of the swishest lookers in Peugeot's 206 line-up (roof down, at least) but the CC model was the least sporty to drive.
The extra strengthening needed to enable it to operate properly as a convertible, plus the mechanisms and motors to operate the folding top, added about 100 kilograms to the weight of the basic car.
To counter that, Peugeot fitted it with the same engine (as an option, anyway) as it fitted to its 206 GTi hot-hatch. It could be hammered along, making full use of the revvy power of the 2.0-litre engine, but you had to work at it a lot harder for a similar result.
The relatively high power and torque peaks in the 100 kW motor didn't bother the manic little GTi hatch but they didn't suit the CC nearly so well.
The need to keep the engine above about 3500 rpm for meaningful thrust to be available meant the gearbox got a good workout.
That wouldn't have been such a problem if the five-speed shifter wasn't notchy and vague.
Also, keeping the revs high also ensured ample engine noise was included in the overall ambience.
Even less performance was available from the base-model, with had an 80 kW 1.6-litre engine, initially available only with a four-speed automatic for really yawn-inducing progress. Frankly, only the 2.0-litre (which was manual-only) should come into your reckoning.
Throw in the 206's offset pedals and indistinct clutch action and it was less satisfying than it probably should have been.
The supple but well controlled ride of the basic 206 package was there, tyre grip was OK, but the CC lost rigidity with the roof down and its overall dynamics suffered as a result.
The loss of rigidity also meant some scuttle-shake crept into the equation.
That's borne out by the odd creak from the roof when it's up.
For posing past your favourite coffee shop, this won't be a problem, but thumping the CC across tram tracks and whatever else in the course of the daily commute might see the novelty wearing thin over time.
As a relatively modern design, the CC was pretty well specified when it came to safety gear. The 1.6 model got dual front airbags, side airbags, brake-force distribution, seatbelt pretensioners and anti-lock brakes.
The 2.0-litre model only added alloy wheels and some better trim bits and pieces, but the bigger motor is worth the extra money on its own.
Either version has plenty of convenience and luxury gear, including climate-control air-conditioning, full electrics and even relatively high-tech stuff such as automatic headlights and rain-sensing wipers.
The beauty of the 206CC - and cars like it - is that it's two cars in one. For one price you get a convertible and a hardtop coupe. And when you take that into account, some of the car's shortcomings seem less important.
What to pay
An early, 1.6-litre 206CC will cost about $24,000. The vastly preferable 2.0-litre version is only a few hundred dollars dearer, mainly because it lacks an automatic-gearbox option.