My Peugeot 106 S2 Rallye
Discussion
Evening all,
Just a quick display of my latest purchase. My 1999 Audi A8 4.2 Quattro has been sold this afternoon, off it goes into the distance to start a nice life down south somewhere. Now, for something totally different...
I had been thinking of getting a Peugeot 106 Rallye for a while now. I didn't think it would come this soon, but circumstances dictated that if ever I was going to be looking for a little hot hatch, it was to be now. My immediate plans turned to selling the A8 and replacing it with a 106 Rallye. Or indeed, the best small hot hatch I could find. My heart was set on a 106 Rallye, but I was also considering 306 Rallyes, Clio Williams, Renault 5 GT Turbos, Fiesta XR2's and RS Turbos, old Hondas...the brief was that it should be small, light and fun. Having all the toys in the world had taught me that I rarely used them. Comfort was one thing, but I wasn't prepared to sacrifice the ability to blitz a B road for it.
As it happened, I spied an S2 106 Rallye for sale in Dumfries and Galloway. I'd been looking over the Rallyes for sale for weeks on end, and was either missing out on a good car that was miles away, or being disappointed at the mediocre standard of a lot of the cars I was looking at. I wouldn't have minded a few choice mods, but given that it would be my main, day to day car, something stripped, caged and with fixed, harnessed bucket seats would probably be a bit much. The pick of the bunch was the car I ended up buying. An 'R' plate model, being sold by a lad who had bought it from Peugeot Carlisle when it had 2000 miles on the clock (it is now at 116,000).
It is essentially unmodified, apart from the Alpine stereo. I have the original Peugeot Clarion cassette tape stereo in the boot. I may even end up fitting it at some point, as I tend just to listen to Radio 4 or have it switched off! Aside from that, there are no modifications over the standard S2 spec, save for the dealer fitted spoiler that came with the car. Heading to Dumfries for the car suited me quite well, as I had planned a weekend in the Lake District and I could head there on the way, crossing the country and going up to Dumfries and back down to the Lakes.
It's a car full of idiosyncrasies. Built to purpose, and to hell with convention. What a refreshing design brief. The car was produced for homologation purposes. Peugeot had never intended to release the model in the UK, but eventually imported approximately 500 RHD models for sale in the UK. That's just under half of the number of S1 Rallyes imported. The S2 was at the time the most exclusive performance 106 ever to make it to UK shores. I love the raw feel of it. Stiff pedals, a quirky offset clutch pedal, a tiny pedal box. The source of much criticism from club-footed drivers, attached to most 106/Saxos. The touches like the lightweight blue carpet, the 'Rallye' badged dashboard and the blue characters on the gearstick give it a cohesive feel that mark it out as something more special than say, a GTi.
Getting into it, there is an air of expectation. For me, the Rallyes have a certain mystique. They're part of that unbroken chain of legendary French hot hatches. In fact, the S2 Rallye seems like something of a 'last in the generation' for Peugeot, as there was no satisfactory replacement. Everything after that got bigger, fatter and heavier, and it seemed the French had largely lost their touch, something echoed in the rest of the car world. Getting into the car, firing it up and taking it for that first drive in the desolate hills around Dumfries was refreshing. It was like stepping back in time. For a second it was like being in the early 90's, in my dad's XR2 or Golf GTi. The roads were quite, there was a Magic Tree air freshener swinging about and cars were small and raw.
The It drives very well. The engine is a peach; it sits with a lumpy, growling idle that suggests that high-revving fun is waiting at the top of each gear. I love the fact Peugeot didn't add a second cam in. The end is responsive and torquey, but it changes character at 3500rpm. Then it comes on cam and starts making maximum torque, pressing on quickly to peak power at 6200rpm and providing grunt until 7000rpm. It is a real revver, and whilst it's not quite as manic as the S1's 1.3 engine, the spread of power is useful for digging into corners and pivoting the car around the light nose. I thought I would be a bit disappointed in the S2's 1.6 8V engine, having dreamed of the S1, but I am really enjoying it. Refinement, smoothness, easy torque; these were all things I definitely did not want and it does not disappoint. To a lazy diesel driver, it could come as a real shock, trying to stir this thing into life.
The gearshift is nice. Not the shortest of smoothest throw I've ever experienced, but pleasingly mechanical and direct. Blipping up and down the box is a joy, and a necessity. The brake pedal is very stiff, and I suspect it will take very well to some left foot braking once I can get it out for a proper run. The handling is very sharp and direct, though I've not yet tested it properly. I had four spare wheels in the boot and on the rear seats this weekend, and I've not yet had it out for an unladen run. The steering is not assisted, and is very heavy when manoeuvring. This characteristic is apparent when cornering too. It feels very heavy and stiff off the throttle, or on a lightly balanced throttle. I have found that a good dollop of throttle as you enter the corner gives the wheels the lightest they need to flow with the road. It is a car that doesn't really 'come alive' until you're really on it. That is an oft-mentioned cliche and I heard it about my MX5, but it is so much more accurate about the Rallye. Give it the revs and the pace it needs to settle into it's rhythm and then it delivers the experience and the thrills.
Just a few photos I snapped this weekend. There were better ones on the advert, which had now been deleted...
Have I fallen in love with it? I do really like it. It's not perfect yet. It has a standard Peugeot exhaust on it. That will be going. I had thought about getting a Pugsport Group N exhaust kit on it, but I don't live that far from AAS in Newcastle Upon Tyne. They are top notch fabricators and can make pretty much anything your heart desires. They'll tailor an exhaust to your needs. Mine is for something in stainless steel that will pass an MOT but still pop and bang. So that is to be sorted out. I am also looking into modifying the driving position too. I'm 6'2" tall, and even with the seat right back, my knees are still pretty close to the steering wheel. I'll have to see what I can do about that, maybe some lower seat rails or something. It's also completely rust free, and will soon be getting a waxoyl treatment to help it stay that way!
Just a quick display of my latest purchase. My 1999 Audi A8 4.2 Quattro has been sold this afternoon, off it goes into the distance to start a nice life down south somewhere. Now, for something totally different...
I had been thinking of getting a Peugeot 106 Rallye for a while now. I didn't think it would come this soon, but circumstances dictated that if ever I was going to be looking for a little hot hatch, it was to be now. My immediate plans turned to selling the A8 and replacing it with a 106 Rallye. Or indeed, the best small hot hatch I could find. My heart was set on a 106 Rallye, but I was also considering 306 Rallyes, Clio Williams, Renault 5 GT Turbos, Fiesta XR2's and RS Turbos, old Hondas...the brief was that it should be small, light and fun. Having all the toys in the world had taught me that I rarely used them. Comfort was one thing, but I wasn't prepared to sacrifice the ability to blitz a B road for it.
As it happened, I spied an S2 106 Rallye for sale in Dumfries and Galloway. I'd been looking over the Rallyes for sale for weeks on end, and was either missing out on a good car that was miles away, or being disappointed at the mediocre standard of a lot of the cars I was looking at. I wouldn't have minded a few choice mods, but given that it would be my main, day to day car, something stripped, caged and with fixed, harnessed bucket seats would probably be a bit much. The pick of the bunch was the car I ended up buying. An 'R' plate model, being sold by a lad who had bought it from Peugeot Carlisle when it had 2000 miles on the clock (it is now at 116,000).
It is essentially unmodified, apart from the Alpine stereo. I have the original Peugeot Clarion cassette tape stereo in the boot. I may even end up fitting it at some point, as I tend just to listen to Radio 4 or have it switched off! Aside from that, there are no modifications over the standard S2 spec, save for the dealer fitted spoiler that came with the car. Heading to Dumfries for the car suited me quite well, as I had planned a weekend in the Lake District and I could head there on the way, crossing the country and going up to Dumfries and back down to the Lakes.
It's a car full of idiosyncrasies. Built to purpose, and to hell with convention. What a refreshing design brief. The car was produced for homologation purposes. Peugeot had never intended to release the model in the UK, but eventually imported approximately 500 RHD models for sale in the UK. That's just under half of the number of S1 Rallyes imported. The S2 was at the time the most exclusive performance 106 ever to make it to UK shores. I love the raw feel of it. Stiff pedals, a quirky offset clutch pedal, a tiny pedal box. The source of much criticism from club-footed drivers, attached to most 106/Saxos. The touches like the lightweight blue carpet, the 'Rallye' badged dashboard and the blue characters on the gearstick give it a cohesive feel that mark it out as something more special than say, a GTi.
Getting into it, there is an air of expectation. For me, the Rallyes have a certain mystique. They're part of that unbroken chain of legendary French hot hatches. In fact, the S2 Rallye seems like something of a 'last in the generation' for Peugeot, as there was no satisfactory replacement. Everything after that got bigger, fatter and heavier, and it seemed the French had largely lost their touch, something echoed in the rest of the car world. Getting into the car, firing it up and taking it for that first drive in the desolate hills around Dumfries was refreshing. It was like stepping back in time. For a second it was like being in the early 90's, in my dad's XR2 or Golf GTi. The roads were quite, there was a Magic Tree air freshener swinging about and cars were small and raw.
The It drives very well. The engine is a peach; it sits with a lumpy, growling idle that suggests that high-revving fun is waiting at the top of each gear. I love the fact Peugeot didn't add a second cam in. The end is responsive and torquey, but it changes character at 3500rpm. Then it comes on cam and starts making maximum torque, pressing on quickly to peak power at 6200rpm and providing grunt until 7000rpm. It is a real revver, and whilst it's not quite as manic as the S1's 1.3 engine, the spread of power is useful for digging into corners and pivoting the car around the light nose. I thought I would be a bit disappointed in the S2's 1.6 8V engine, having dreamed of the S1, but I am really enjoying it. Refinement, smoothness, easy torque; these were all things I definitely did not want and it does not disappoint. To a lazy diesel driver, it could come as a real shock, trying to stir this thing into life.
The gearshift is nice. Not the shortest of smoothest throw I've ever experienced, but pleasingly mechanical and direct. Blipping up and down the box is a joy, and a necessity. The brake pedal is very stiff, and I suspect it will take very well to some left foot braking once I can get it out for a proper run. The handling is very sharp and direct, though I've not yet tested it properly. I had four spare wheels in the boot and on the rear seats this weekend, and I've not yet had it out for an unladen run. The steering is not assisted, and is very heavy when manoeuvring. This characteristic is apparent when cornering too. It feels very heavy and stiff off the throttle, or on a lightly balanced throttle. I have found that a good dollop of throttle as you enter the corner gives the wheels the lightest they need to flow with the road. It is a car that doesn't really 'come alive' until you're really on it. That is an oft-mentioned cliche and I heard it about my MX5, but it is so much more accurate about the Rallye. Give it the revs and the pace it needs to settle into it's rhythm and then it delivers the experience and the thrills.
Just a few photos I snapped this weekend. There were better ones on the advert, which had now been deleted...
Have I fallen in love with it? I do really like it. It's not perfect yet. It has a standard Peugeot exhaust on it. That will be going. I had thought about getting a Pugsport Group N exhaust kit on it, but I don't live that far from AAS in Newcastle Upon Tyne. They are top notch fabricators and can make pretty much anything your heart desires. They'll tailor an exhaust to your needs. Mine is for something in stainless steel that will pass an MOT but still pop and bang. So that is to be sorted out. I am also looking into modifying the driving position too. I'm 6'2" tall, and even with the seat right back, my knees are still pretty close to the steering wheel. I'll have to see what I can do about that, maybe some lower seat rails or something. It's also completely rust free, and will soon be getting a waxoyl treatment to help it stay that way!
Thanks for sharing. I've always thought I'd prefer an S1 Rallye if I ever had the chance, so it's nice to hear something good about the S2. So many of them have been fiddled with - Saxo VTS or 106 GTI engine plonked in, for example - that it must be rare to find a fairly original one.
Ponk said:
Tidy example with some sympathetic modifications. 
It's not a homologation special though sadly, that was the S1. Still, they are rarer than the S1 and in my mind a brilliant example of how a 90s hot hatch should be.
Plenty of like minded individuals over on the 106 Rallye Register.
Ah, I was getting information that they had been homologated off the S2 Introduction page on the Rallye Register. It's not a homologation special though sadly, that was the S1. Still, they are rarer than the S1 and in my mind a brilliant example of how a 90s hot hatch should be.
Plenty of like minded individuals over on the 106 Rallye Register.
Regarding the S1 vs S2 debate, in reality there is very little to separate the cars. Though there are far more S1's than S2's, the S2's are newer, but still old enough to have had a decade of use already. The best bet would be to just go for the best car you can find of either generation. Knackered S1's seem to trade for £600 up, with a working example up for around £1000 and the most pristine examples commanding upwards of £3000. S2 values seem to start a little higher, and again, exceed £3000 for the cleanest and best ones.
Stat wise, they are fairly similar. The S2 being marginally heavier, and notably faster due despite being 2bhp/tonne down. I guess that is due to the wider powerband on the S2. I've never driven them back to back but I suspect they don't feel all that different when placed together.
I suspect there's a good chance I have driven your car-was it first registered in Carlisle? I can't remember the dealers name?
Edited to add I've just read your whole post I'm pretty certain it was that car, I test drove it before the guy bought it on 2k miles. The garage may have been called Graham & Bowness back then but it changed hands a few times do I can't quite remember? It was only knocked down last year & is now a huge sainbury's
Anyhow, I can't remember what I owned at the time, more than likely a ford RS of some sort. (probably a fiesta or escort turbo going by the dates) & hankered after a new car with a warrenty. Remember the late 90's? There really weren't many exciting cars about but the little pug was getting rave reviews. Carlisle was an even more desolate place than it is now & performance cars were so rare-our dealers just did not stock them.
It was jammed in at the back of the dealers & I recall they had it in for ages as it wouldn't sell. I went & sorted out a deal as I loved the look of it, subject to a test drive.
I was still on the tools back then & turned up in my work boots to drive it & kept hitting two peddals at once!
& that was why I never bought it.
Edited to add I've just read your whole post I'm pretty certain it was that car, I test drove it before the guy bought it on 2k miles. The garage may have been called Graham & Bowness back then but it changed hands a few times do I can't quite remember? It was only knocked down last year & is now a huge sainbury's
Anyhow, I can't remember what I owned at the time, more than likely a ford RS of some sort. (probably a fiesta or escort turbo going by the dates) & hankered after a new car with a warrenty. Remember the late 90's? There really weren't many exciting cars about but the little pug was getting rave reviews. Carlisle was an even more desolate place than it is now & performance cars were so rare-our dealers just did not stock them.
It was jammed in at the back of the dealers & I recall they had it in for ages as it wouldn't sell. I went & sorted out a deal as I loved the look of it, subject to a test drive.
I was still on the tools back then & turned up in my work boots to drive it & kept hitting two peddals at once!
& that was why I never bought it.
Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Monday 25th February 09:46
LaurasOtherHalf said:
I suspect there's a good chance I have driven your car-was it first registered in Carlisle? I can't remember the dealers name?
It was jammed in at the back of the dealers & I recall they had it in for ages as it wouldn't sell. I went & sorted out a deal as I loved the look of it, subject to a test drive.
I was still on the tools back then & turned up in my work boots to drive it & kept hitting two peddals at once!
& that was why I never bought it.
I've a mate who hails from Carlisle. I'll ask him if he can remember the dealer's name. The original sales invoice is probably in with all the paperwork I have, but as I'm just about to go out I don't have time to get the folder and look through it. But it probably is the same car. I'm guessing there were about 250 S2's in each colour (Bianca White and Indigo Blue being the only colours sold in the UK). So between production from early 1996 to late 2000, how many blue ones went through a dealer at Carlisle? Not many, I would wager...It was jammed in at the back of the dealers & I recall they had it in for ages as it wouldn't sell. I went & sorted out a deal as I loved the look of it, subject to a test drive.
I was still on the tools back then & turned up in my work boots to drive it & kept hitting two peddals at once!
& that was why I never bought it.
Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Monday 25th February 09:46
Funny, I remember reading a PH article on these cars. I can't recall if it was a SOTW or a PH Hero article, but it got a huge response with many people telling stories of owning these cars, having seen them on the road or lusted after them. There was even a comment from someone who worked for Peugeot at the time, and being the youngest lad in the dealership, got last pick of the keys for the car he got to drive and was left with the Rallye. For whatever reason, his colleagues left him to it and he had a great time blasting about in the Rallye.
Sad to think cars like this are 'old fashioned' now. Tiny foot print, sharp, manual pedals. A proper gearbox and all the joy that brings. Small wheels, cheap to tyre and fuel. No frills, but an absolutely superb drive instead. A friend of mine bought a 309 GTi brand new from Peugeot. I'm looking forward to taking it over his way for him to have a look at.
Regarding the pedals being close together, they most certainly are. The throttle is about the size of the top of a matchbox! It's very small indeed, but it's very easy to cover the brake and the throttle at the same time, so an ideal car for footwork if that is your thing. As I mentioned before, the resistance in the brake pedal makes me think left foot braking will come in handy with this car, as a means of pivoting the nose in and keeping pressure on the throttle. I'll be wearing my trainers to work today though, as my work boots would probably be too wide (despite me having chosen those boots specifically because they are good for driving in, in every other car at least!). I've got size 11 feet but luckily they are pretty slim, so I'm not mashing the pedals by accident.
i suspect the dealer was called Graham & Bowness, though like i said it could have been different at that particular point as i think it may have also been Myers & Bowman & latterly David Hayton at various times.
as for the numbers, i would lay money on it being the same car, as i said we just didn't get many performance cars up here back then before the credit fueled boom years. they were so rare back then that most cars that were local were well known to us enthusiasts & i certainly don't recall there ever being another blue one around these parts back then.
lovely colour for the car though & the reason it stands out to me-i ended up going for french racing blue on my R26.R as a bit of a "homage" as i always did love the colour on those cars-good job i wasn't looking at the classifieds when it was for sale or i might have went for it!
unfortunately although i'm a complete hoarder when it comes to car info & bits i have very little from my younger days in carlisle as most of it was binned when i moved to spain, it's a wonder there wasn't a photo of the car taken or at least some details like a sales sheet from when i was going to buy it.
as for the numbers, i would lay money on it being the same car, as i said we just didn't get many performance cars up here back then before the credit fueled boom years. they were so rare back then that most cars that were local were well known to us enthusiasts & i certainly don't recall there ever being another blue one around these parts back then.
lovely colour for the car though & the reason it stands out to me-i ended up going for french racing blue on my R26.R as a bit of a "homage" as i always did love the colour on those cars-good job i wasn't looking at the classifieds when it was for sale or i might have went for it!
unfortunately although i'm a complete hoarder when it comes to car info & bits i have very little from my younger days in carlisle as most of it was binned when i moved to spain, it's a wonder there wasn't a photo of the car taken or at least some details like a sales sheet from when i was going to buy it.
that looks like a really clean example. i bought my S2 last year after my mate had an S1 in uni, and like you i have fallen in love with it. everytime i get in it i can put a massive grin on myself by just booting it out of a roundabout or catching a corner just right. It more than makes up for the creature comforts you have to do without and having to explain that it doesn't have central locking. have a great time in it and i encourage you to get a pugsport exhaust for it as it sounds cracking.
If I a) had any money and b) didn't have too many cars already, I suspect one of these would be near the top of the list. Love them and indigo blue is gorgeous. Welcome to the Rallye club. I hadn't driven mine for a few weeks until Saturday and I'd forgotten how brilliant they are across country. So honest and tactile compared to the modern stuff.
Stunning little car. So much cachet and value to a true petrolhead, while having the stealth factor of being a typically 90s looking French tin box to the average motorist. A truly great car, they don't, and couldn't build them like this any more.
It must be the absolute antithesis to your A8, which was a brilliant car in it's own right but I know I'd take the keys to the Rallye every time if I had the choice of the two. Toss a decent exhaust on there and cane the B roads in it until the apocalypse.
It must be the absolute antithesis to your A8, which was a brilliant car in it's own right but I know I'd take the keys to the Rallye every time if I had the choice of the two. Toss a decent exhaust on there and cane the B roads in it until the apocalypse.
Baryonyx said:
I've a mate who hails from Carlisle. I'll ask him if he can remember the dealer's name. The original sales invoice is probably in with all the paperwork I have, but as I'm just about to go out I don't have time to get the folder and look through it. But it probably is the same car. I'm guessing there were about 250 S2's in each colour (Bianca White and Indigo Blue being the only colours sold in the UK). So between production from early 1996 to late 2000, how many blue ones went through a dealer at Carlisle? Not many, I would wager...
Funny, I remember reading a PH article on these cars. I can't recall if it was a SOTW or a PH Hero article, but it got a huge response with many people telling stories of owning these cars, having seen them on the road or lusted after them. There was even a comment from someone who worked for Peugeot at the time, and being the youngest lad in the dealership, got last pick of the keys for the car he got to drive and was left with the Rallye. For whatever reason, his colleagues left him to it and he had a great time blasting about in the Rallye.
Sad to think cars like this are 'old fashioned' now. Tiny foot print, sharp, manual pedals. A proper gearbox and all the joy that brings. Small wheels, cheap to tyre and fuel. No frills, but an absolutely superb drive instead. A friend of mine bought a 309 GTi brand new from Peugeot. I'm looking forward to taking it over his way for him to have a look at.
Regarding the pedals being close together, they most certainly are. The throttle is about the size of the top of a matchbox! It's very small indeed, but it's very easy to cover the brake and the throttle at the same time, so an ideal car for footwork if that is your thing. As I mentioned before, the resistance in the brake pedal makes me think left foot braking will come in handy with this car, as a means of pivoting the nose in and keeping pressure on the throttle. I'll be wearing my trainers to work today though, as my work boots would probably be too wide (despite me having chosen those boots specifically because they are good for driving in, in every other car at least!). I've got size 11 feet but luckily they are pretty slim, so I'm not mashing the pedals by accident.
The vast majority of the UK cars were registered on an R plate. There were a handful of S plates and literally one or two Ts. Funny, I remember reading a PH article on these cars. I can't recall if it was a SOTW or a PH Hero article, but it got a huge response with many people telling stories of owning these cars, having seen them on the road or lusted after them. There was even a comment from someone who worked for Peugeot at the time, and being the youngest lad in the dealership, got last pick of the keys for the car he got to drive and was left with the Rallye. For whatever reason, his colleagues left him to it and he had a great time blasting about in the Rallye.
Sad to think cars like this are 'old fashioned' now. Tiny foot print, sharp, manual pedals. A proper gearbox and all the joy that brings. Small wheels, cheap to tyre and fuel. No frills, but an absolutely superb drive instead. A friend of mine bought a 309 GTi brand new from Peugeot. I'm looking forward to taking it over his way for him to have a look at.
Regarding the pedals being close together, they most certainly are. The throttle is about the size of the top of a matchbox! It's very small indeed, but it's very easy to cover the brake and the throttle at the same time, so an ideal car for footwork if that is your thing. As I mentioned before, the resistance in the brake pedal makes me think left foot braking will come in handy with this car, as a means of pivoting the nose in and keeping pressure on the throttle. I'll be wearing my trainers to work today though, as my work boots would probably be too wide (despite me having chosen those boots specifically because they are good for driving in, in every other car at least!). I've got size 11 feet but luckily they are pretty slim, so I'm not mashing the pedals by accident.
On the continent they were sold with 16v engines, 1.4 engines and with many of the options found on the Gti (inc colours).
I love history like this! I still have the original invoice for mine and a letter from the first owner complaining that he didn't get a full size spare.
Peugeot went halves with him. What a beauty! The 1.4 / 1.6 8v is a peach and your description on the steering and how the engine changes after 3500rpm brought back a few memories for me.
A very rare sight on UK roads now, i'm sure you will have fun in it, i'd love to own another at some point - values will probably hold up well too.
A very rare sight on UK roads now, i'm sure you will have fun in it, i'd love to own another at some point - values will probably hold up well too.
Ponk said:
I love history like this! I still have the original invoice for mine and a letter from the first owner complaining that he didn't get a full size spare. Peugeot went halves with him.
My aforementioned 309 GTi owning friend still has the Peugeot keyrings that came with that car. As well as correspondence between him and Peugeot (delivered by post, those were the days!) as he battled to get them to replace a switch that had fallen off inside the new car. I am pleased to report that inside my Peugeot, all switches are still attached after 13 years and 116,000 miles. Peugeot went halves with him. Finally had the 'eureka' moment with the car tonight coming home from work. Roads were empty, temperature fairly mild. Dry and with the moon helping to illuminate the roads. A warm up along a dual carriageway got things started. I still love how direct it feels on dual carriageways. On the same roads my Audi felt pedestrian at the NSL. It was so isolated, eerily quiet inside. But threading off the D/C, over an off camber mini-roundabout and down a sweeping hill, I could only marvel at the composure of the Rallye. Once the gearbox is warmed through, the change is much slicker. The close gear ratios are well chosen, giving a strong stream of power up and down the box. The gears are relatively short, to generate maximum punch from the engine, but the wider power band of the S2 makes it easier to keep on the boil. Third gear is very responive and flexible too. You still have to make a concerted effort to be in the right gear whilst getting your foot down, something I like.
Across some NSL B roads on the way home from work, the Pug was really at home. Quicker, dare I say, than the A8. I'm still getting to grips with trading the 310bhp and 300ft/lbs of torque in the Audi with the more modest Peugeot figures. The Audi must, I tell myself, must have a better bhp/tonne ration. And yet, I think the Peugeot is the match when accelerating. No need to wait for kick down, I suppose. And whereas the Audi was using masses of torque and petrol, pushed through a complex AWD system, it never really could hide it's weight or size. The Rallye feels light, it feels accurate. It's darty, it's responsive. Whilst I enjoyed the Peugeot to start with, I feel as though it will be something I come to love over time. It rewards you as you learn to drive it how it wants to be driven. A continuing reward.
Regarding seeing another Rallye, I'm not sure when that will be. I have seen one Rallye on the roads in the past year. Before that, I used to see an Indigo Blue S2 that had succumbed to a sad fate. Being driven round, 5 up, lowered to the point where the tyres were clapping off the arches. Loud happy hardcore tunes pouring from it as it drove round the town centre endlessly on a Friday and Saturday night. I kind of feel sorry for it, having led that life. There are many 106 Quiksilvers and Saxo VTRs that would have quite happily performed in that role. I've not seen it for a long time though, so I am hoping it has moved on to a better life! They do seem to be popular cars though. As I was filling up with petrol just south of the Scottish border on friday, a lad at the petrol station commented on how much he liked the car. Never happened in the Audi, the only people that seemed to notice that were other D2 A8/S8 owners who would usually wave when passing.
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