106xsi or 205gti

[K87]

Got a bit of a dilemma on my hands here guys and hoping you can put some logical suggestions out there.

I currently have a 205 gti 1.9 as my daily driver, and a 106 1.6 xsi sitting in my garage doing nothing.

Once I finish uni in June I'm gonna be starting to do trackdays as fingers crossed I'll have a job and will be able to afford to.

now I can't decide which car to use as my road car and which to use as the track car? The 205 is quicker but the 106 I could upgrade engine wise to be about the same with a gti conversion.

I'm currently swaying towards using the 205 as track car as it is pretty quick already, I can tweak the suspension and brakes up and eventually if I find I need more power an mi16 conversion would be pretty straightforward.

Any one else any thoughts?

[GravelBen]

Which one is quicker is pretty irrelevant really, which one is more fun to drive?

[K87]

Pretty much the same enjoyment from both to be honest.

[tony.t]

K87 said:

Got a bit of a dilemma on my hands here guys and hoping you can put some logical suggestions out there.

I currently have a 205 gti 1.9 as my daily driver, and a 106 1.6 xsi sitting in my garage doing nothing.

Once I finish uni in June I'm gonna be starting to do trackdays as fingers crossed I'll have a job and will be able to afford to.

now I can't decide which car to use as my road car and which to use as the track car? The 205 is quicker but the 106 I could upgrade engine wise to be about the same with a gti conversion.

I'm currently swaying towards using the 205 as track car as it is pretty quick already, I can tweak the suspension and brakes up and eventually if I find I need more power an mi16 conversion would be pretty straightforward.

Any one else any thoughts?

Both are quite old and of nominal value. If you need a road car pick the better of the 2 for that.

They'll both be of similar performance on track and both can be made track ready for similar outlay. I've known of a couple of Mi16 conversions and the owners have found out it's not a simple conversion ( well not if you want any sort of reliability on track) and can well turn into a money pit giving little pleasure.

[GravelBen]

Would looking at it from the other side make the decision easier? Is one of them particularly better to live with as an everyday road car?

[K87]

Well they're both about the same size, same insurance, the 106 I think gets better fuel economy which would be better on road I guess. They both feel similar to drive. There's only 2 years separating them, both pretty basic, electric windows, same steering feel, sunroofs. There just doesn't seem to be anything which sways either one.

Hmmm decisions decisions

[GravelBen]

Heres another idea - seeing as the two cars are so similar, why not just sell one of them? Then you could buy something like an MX5 or MR2 thats also cheap but more fun and drives at the right end.

Another point to consider - you may well already realise this but making sure - there isn't much you have to do to a car to use it on a few trackdays, especially with a relatively light car. Theres no reason you can't use the same car for both track and road, remember its about just getting out there and having fun.

Edited by GravelBen on Monday 7th December 02:37

[t11ner]

I'd go for the 106.

I've had a 106 Rallye which I changed for a 205 MI16 (both mainly used as track cars) but I always missed the 106 even though it was just the 1.3! I just found it to be a very friendly and fun track car which was still capable of surprising quite a few "faster" cars because it was so nimble.

In the end I got myself a 106 GTi which is now supercharged so I've got best of both worlds!

HTH

Steve H

[naetype]

The 205 is a pig as a daily driver, you should be well aware of the driveline shunt. It simply doesn't like puttering along at 30, hates it in fact. It's meant to be driven balls and brain out, anything else is an insult to its designers and its DNA. I never got over 25mpg on my daily commute.

I hated it as a smoker. However, when I got it out on a sunny Sunday morning there was/has been nothing else to put such a huge grin on my face.

There is NO choice in my view.

Edited by naetype on Monday 7th December 20:42

[K87]

naetype said:

The 205 is a pig as a daily driver, you should be well aware of the driveline shunt. It simply doesn't like puttering along at 30, hates it in fact. It's meant to be driven balls and brain out, anything else is an insult to its designers and its DNA. I never got over 25mpg on my daily commute.

I hated it as a smoker. However, when I got it out on a sunny Sunday morning there was/has been nothing else to put such a huge grin on my face.

There is NO choice in my view.

Edited by naetype on Monday 7th December 20:42

I use it as my daily at the moment and think I know what you mean about the shunt. And agreed the fuel economy never goes north of 30 even when I'm trying. In fact no matter how i drive it I always seem to get the same economy!

Once I can get insurance on the 106 I think I'll be swapping over and saving the 205 for the track.

Strange thing is my current insurers won't insure me on the 1.6 100bhp 106 but are fine with the 1.9 130 bhp 205!! Bizare

[Batfink]

everyone now fits the gti-6 engine to the 205,
I personally have a 306 1.8 engine with a gti-6 head to go on, and others have done an mi16 with gti-6 head to get rid of the oil surge issues.