I owned both at the same time I still have the 205 now the Golf is a distant memory.
Mk1 was a bit more agile than the mk2 but the mk2 was much better built and if were honest the mk1 wasn't any better built than the 205 it was the solid feel of the mk2.
Having owned nearly every hot hatch you can I still have my 205 which says something as its coming up 12 years of ownership.
If you really want something that feels fragile you want an Uno or R5GTT they were flimsy.
