Naza Bestari (Peugeot 206) full review
It’s been a number of months now since the launch of the much anticipated Naza Bestari (rebranded Peugeot 206). One of my friends has gotten her order delivered and had been driving the car for the past few months. Naturally, I test drove the car and are ready to give a full review with some of the minor details that might not otherwise be evident when you look at the car at the showroom.
the Naza Bestari (Peugeot 206)
The performance:
The TU3 1.4 liter engine that is the heart of the car generates about 75 horsepower. As far as everyday driving is concern, it is pretty sufficient and have no trouble going uphill. However, due to the relatively heavy weight of european design (1025kg curb weight), this car isn’t exactly a screamer at all.
As a comparison, the Kelisa is around 760kg while producing about 55 horsepower with its 1.0 liter engine. In terms of horsepower over weight ratio, both cars are almost the same (around 0.073 hp/kg). However, the slightly cheaper Proton Waja 1.6 is 1175kg with the campro engine generates 115 horsepower, 0.098 hp/kg.
As far as fuel consumption is concerned, this car isn’t exactly a super saver’s dream. A RM70 full tank only gets you around 400 km in city driving (RM 1.92 per liter). Not terribly cheap to operate for a 1.4 liter car, but it is over one tonne in weight.
the nicely illuminated meter cluster
Transmission:
The 206 comes with the 4 gear automatic transmission with tiptronic. In my opinion though, tiptronic is a feature that ultimately many will never use. While in automatic mode the car performs pretty much up to expectation, however, shifting into tiptronic mode has a noticable, if not slightly annoying lag. That said, it might be that I am spoilt after testing the 2.3 liter Mazda 6.
There are, however, two other features that might be quite useful, the snow and the sports option. The snow option attempt to give the car more grips, while in Malaysia we are not going to expect any snow, it is useful during heavy down pours. Another use of this option might be during long downhill drives if you do not want to shift down to lower gears with the tiptronic.
The sports option delays gear change till higher RPM, thus letting the engine rev longer to give the car more power for overtaking maneuver. Then again, the relative lack of engine horsepower pretty much limits what you can achieve anyway.
The current gear is also shown on the meter cluster if tiptronic is used.
audio control, head lamp height control, tiptronic gear shift, side aircond vent
Other nice features:
There are several very nice features that comes with the Peugeot 206, some of which you can’t find in Japanese cars of similar prices.
- engine oil indicator - when you switch on the car, the level of engine oil is displayed on the meter console. no more getting your hands dirty checking engine oil level before any long trips
- head light height adjuster - you can adjust the height of the head light from within the car. On the contrary, to do the same with most other cars will need you to open the hood and have a screw driver.
- steering stereo controller - while not really located on the steering wheel, the stereo controller is situated on the right of the steering wheel. Very handy for changing volume, switching radio channels and such without having to take your eyes and hand away from the steering.
- thermometer - there is a reading of outside temperature displayed on the stereo LCD output, something nice to have though not exactly necessary. Unfortunately, in-car temperature is not available.
- door indicator - when a particular door is opened, it is shown on the stereo display. In most other cars, there is only an indicator light without any information on which door is opened.
Built quality and the missing headrest:
It is reported that over 200 components on the Bestari are locally made in Malaysia, and not surprisingly, this is shown in the overall built quality. My friend has to send the car back to the dealer twice to fix an annoying rattling sound at the left rear of the car. The fittings in the car are less refined, if you notice the lower right picture above, the gap between the door and dashboard is big enough to fit a thumb.
Then there’s the plastic cover of the oh shit handle on the driver side that keeps opening up. That was solved using glue instead. The last annoying thing is the lack of headrests on the rear passenger seats. Instead, there were hard plastic covering the six holes where you would expect the three head rests. Worse still, there seem to be no way to purchase the headrests from Naza. It is very annoying if you are a rear seat passanger going on a long trip and constantly getting your head knocked on the hard plastic covers.
Finally, the spare tyre is mounted under the car instead of inside the rear luggage compartment like most other cars. It means that the spare tyre gets dirty easily and also makes refilling the spare a slightly trickier affair.
Overall conclusion:
Overall, the car still offers decent value for RM 68,888 including roadtax and insurance. Afterall, it is a good price to get the European feel. Especially you are those sort of person who loves the exclusivity of having something that isn’t as common as a MyVi or Waja.
More detailed information on the 206 can be found here.
Related Posts:
October 8th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
oh, finally you drove the car… or did you?
October 9th, 2006 at 11:08 am
Of course I drove the car.
October 16th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
For everyone’s benefit, the rear headrests are available from several sources including Nasim (Bangsar) and the main Naza showroom in PJ for a bit less than RM400.
As for the engine power, it is comparable to the available cars with 1.3/1.4 auto eg. Myvi, Satria Neo 1.3A or Getz 1.4A. I personally am still disappointed with the fuel consumption. I’m hopeful that it’ll go lower as the engine is broken in.
Any comments on service KY, either at Naza or C&C service centers? How did they handle the QC problems? I haven’t heard very good things about C&C service centers…
October 18th, 2006 at 10:35 am
tishaban,
Thanks for the info. The QC isn’t too great I suppose, but since this particular car is bought from C&C, it is natural to bring it back to them till the service warranty period ends.
In the mean time, the squirking sound at the rear still lingers..
November 2nd, 2006 at 5:24 pm
A lot of people seem to focus on hp, but isn’t torque more important for city driving?
hp = one of the factors for max. top speed
torque = one of the factors for max. acceleration (and power going up hills)
November 4th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
found that headrests are available from wat call “NAZA Galaxy Sdn. Bhd.”
http://www.nzgalaxy.com/acss2.htm
November 8th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
aw,
Agreed, people often overlook torque for hp, thanks to the vtec fad mostly..
3R1C,
Thanks for the info.
November 29th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
Very late comment but I was in a dealer’s test drive car registered in June 2006 awhile back and it had the same annoying rattle in the rear plus the plastic cover problem on the driver’s side oh-shit handle. Coincidence? I think not.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Finally I got an affordable dream car. I spent just a few hundred ringgits to restore to the original Peugeot 206. 100% no regret cancelling Satria Neo booking.
Thanks NAZA
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Wan1955,
hi wan…’ll be gettin my bestari 206 soon and plan to convert to peugeot 206 maybe replacing the badges and put some spoiler,skirting,rims and etc…u know any good w/shop with reasonable price.TQ…How much u spent urs to restore peugeot 206 parts..?
May 6th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
just got back from the showroom and most probably will purchase this 206 to replace my 5 yrs old kancil….
ask the salesperson on converting this 206 to the original peugeot 206 with all the badges and what not…it is possible but Naza wont entertain us on the spare parts later on if anything goes wrong with the car…anyone can clarify this?
thanks in advance
May 25th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Izad u can find those bodykits at BUMI Fiber at Subang Jaya ! it cost around rm 1500 without paint ! i just fix it to my Bestari & also 16 inch sports rim ..! hehe
May 25th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Fairul dont wory about converting this 206 to the original peugeot 206
coz i aldo did that & i hv been to Naza Academy in kedah, as usual to servis my bestari ! Its Ok just dont forget to bring ur warranty book!
May 25th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Fairul dont worry bout converting this 206 to the original peugeot 206
it is fine just dont forget to bring ur warrnty book when u visit naza for servis ! i already converting & thats no promble at all !
June 4th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
elo..
gua interested to buy a car., my VERY FIRST car!!
tis chick realy catch my eyes.., but how about d FEEL of driving??
which one u suggest?? tis BESTARI or HONDA CITY???
in term of DRIVING PLEASURE??
n., d problems hilighted above:
“”My friend has to send the car back to the dealer twice to fix an annoying rattling sound at the left rear of the car”"
is tat realy OBVIOUSE??
mind to giv any advice to me..,plz
tq
June 6th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
GO for bestari ! Smooth .. Steady & Sporty ( for sportivo ) ahaha
June 17th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
How bout the price for the engine parts, its gonna follow malaysia or europe prize
August 4th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
ist waz a good cars.love it so much….
August 4th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
gonna follow malaysian price…so dont worried
August 4th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
its gonna be a gathering somewhere in october….there will be in one utama damansara…..hope gonna c u guys there….
August 10th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
KY,
The termometer serves a purpose, but I’m surprise it’s installed in the Bestari! It’s for Climate Control feature of the Auto Air Conditioning. If you read 206Online forum, someone who plant o convert to Auto Air Con have to install the termometer and the wirings and stuffs.
The temperature will help the auto air con adjust the temperature in car. The Auto Air Con, “Auto” features is also very intelligent whereby it will auto adjust the fan speed, cooling to match the temperature set by the driver, e.g. You left your car outside on a hot day, you went and start your car, the air con will blow max to cool the temperature inside the car down to the specified temperature,… or in the night it’s very cold, you can adjust it to maintain the @ certain temperature). Very very cool and nice!
Honestly speaking, the features available are amazing, the LCD are also amazing, if you check out the manual (not sure if bestari manual are the same as CBU), the LCD can actually very powerful, but you’ll need a different head unit (player). Even other features are very amazing and nice to have. For the tiptronic, it’s a NICE TO HAVE features. Whether european feel or not, it’s not comparable with Vios or City, this car is way more class and features.
Actually, priced @ 68K should be considered cheap, considering it’s a FRENCH import, not an ASEAN car. Else, then it’s the japanese being OVERPRICED. One more funny thing is, notice this CKD drops 30K from it’s CBU price, and people complains. While the Swift CKD drops 10K from it’s CBU price… Well, of course, some may argue the 206 CKD use some local/non-french parts, but the major parts ARE from french. And we should also know the different HUGE TAX structure between ASEAN and NON-ASEAN.
Finally, the built quality, the assembly (QC) might not be properly done, but the quality of the materials are way better than those japanese (Vios, City, etc). Those simply just can’t compete in your review in detail.
September 9th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Hi all…
The bestari really caught my eye and I plan to get 1. But what I heard that is it dont come with reverse sensor. How come a new car can be without the sensor? and I heard that the pick up is not too good becos the car body is heavy.
Any comment about that?
And what u guys mean about converting to peugeot 206?
September 27th, 2007 at 10:09 am
where to find spare part for my bestari?…of course with the reasonable price…i live in seri kembangan…and also is there any club for the owner to join?…
October 9th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Hi i’m arif. I looking forward to get Bestari(Naza/Peuguot).
Kindly suggest.
Regards
Arif
November 1st, 2007 at 11:50 am
hi all…need to service my bestari…is there any place near kajang?…coz too far to go to puchong or kl…got one place..but only workshop in kajang but doing services for peugeot n citreon…they can do when i asked…but is that ok to go there…?…
April 21st, 2008 at 12:43 am
hye all…
I’m'getting my blue 206 next week!!!! Cant wait!!! hehe ^_^
May 5th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
hi all….
i’m waiting for my 206 bestari to be delivered….as soon as i get my plate number (booking mehh….)…kawtim to have tinted and reverse sensor from the dealer… am planning to convert to the ori peugeot…i mean the badge…anyone knows the price???
May 8th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
i am booking my bestari tomorrow…can anyone tell me where i could find the bodykit shop in IPOh. thanks
May 15th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Lim9333, what color ur choosing? mine is svelte grey…hehheheh
cheers to 206 Bestari owners…..!!!
May 31st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
hello,…
i’m interested to buy naza bestari…but i’m still worried about it’s fuel consumption ,is it ok or not?
June 1st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
faizajm,
I think the fuel consumption is pretty decent. After all it’s a 1.4 liter car.
June 29th, 2008 at 12:44 am
oh my god, sounds like bad reviews for this bestari, i’ve juz booked the car in pj naza branch,…should i cancel it?? hey guys, how long u start seeing problems??
July 7th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Been driving the Sportivo for over a year. The leather interior is worth spending a bit more. Best is the handling, although the suspension setup are a bit on the soft side. 150 on the highway and no floating sensation at all. Even the wife didn’t notice the speed until I pointed out to her! LOL
September 29th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Hi there,
Been driving 206 for 2 years, fuel consumption is pretty decent. I touch up with the ori Peugeot badge too, get from the dealer, quite expensive.
Good for driving in town, which i did…home - college - home
But second hand price is not good, been thinking I should have get a second hand one as the car is well built with good engine and expected to last long
October 6th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I’m an owner of 206 Bestari Sportivo since Feb 2007. It’s AFY9595. Haha! For me, it’s the perfect car driving in town- a pretty town-Ipoh.
The fuel consumption is good comparing to my old Proton Iswara 1.3.
It’s body is light and has great pick up power. It’s absolutely smoke any 1.3 or 1.5 Wira. Trust me, i tried before, racing with my friends.
The acceleration is great but low top speed- max 170kmh.
But that’s enough for a small cute car right?
Proud with it! Cheers to other 206 owners!
October 9th, 2008 at 7:39 am
My 206 come with headrests la…
Doesn’t has any annoying problem at all. =)
November 21st, 2008 at 1:12 am
I am from Malacca. Can anyone tell me where in Malacca to change
to ori Peugeut look?