Our Flamenco red 206 arrived at Evo Towers in November 2003, just in time for the annual Fast Fleet gathering in north Wales where regular contributors Tony Bailey and David Yu drove all of our long-term test cars before delivering their verdict. They weren't too impressed with the little Pug and neither, it seems, was photographer Andy Morgan. He was the car's custodian but it turned out to be something of a short tenure. Two months after taking the keys, he handed them back and went off and got himself a nice Audi S4 Avant instead. So it fell to me to rack up the miles in the 206 (thanks, Andy).

In truth he probably didn't experience the 206 at its best, as the character of the car changed markedly once it had a few thousand miles under its wheels. Other owners have reported that the engine feels very tight up to about 2500 miles and this was certainly the case with our car. Those who drove the Pug when it arrived and then later on our hot hatch group test in April felt a big difference in the engine's punch. By the time it went back to Peugeot, the 206 was fairly flying down the road, with a marked increase in power once the revs hit the 4000rpm mark. With peak bhp not arriving until 7000rpm, it was a frantic rush of power that meant you really had to be on your game to get the most out of the car. Unfortunately the five-speed gearbox didn't help you keep the engine on the boil thanks to a sloppy action - not something you would expect of a car with such sporting pretensions.

While we're on the subject of the gearbox, an extra ratio would have been welcome as cruising at motorway speeds in top gear meant the engine was revving very high - 70mph equated to roughly 4000rpm, which didn't make long journeys particularly enjoyable. It also did nothing for fuel economy as our car never topped 30mpg and never got close to the 'combined' figure of 32.8. With my 500-mile-a-week commute, I got to know the cheery lady at my local Shell station pretty well. Fuel bill aside, the only extra costs were a 12,000-mile service and two new Pirelli P7000s for the front wheels. I never had to put any oil in, with the oil changed at its initial 6000-mile check and at the full service.

The Peugeot does have other good points, in addition to the performance: it's well equipped (digital climate control, rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlights), the interior is well built and from the outside its chunky styling isn't unappealing. But these things aren't enough in this sector. Driving dynamics are critically important, and the 180's chassis never really flows, never really inspires.

It's frustrating because here is a car that arrived three years after the original Clio 172 (now followed by the even better 182) yet still couldn't match it in terms of driving enjoyment. Even with Peugeot's offer of four years' interest free finance, my money would be going to the Renault dealer.