The 206 is just a slightly longer 182, same cabin width, some 182s have 540s, so same engine, except rated for more HP. If you really understand how to fly a 172, how to stop yaw with the rudder, how the airplane should roll into turns, how to not shock-cool the engine, you'll be fine. If you get away flying a 172 on rote and don't exactly understand how to pull off a good landing, even if it happens every once and a while and if you don't know what should be happening visually during any landing, a plane like that can bite you. I was led to believe that planes like the 206 and slightly bigger were going to "bite back", but the weight counters the extra power most of the time. It's likely that a 206 outfit may be maximizing performance in some way, so that means you usually have to be on your game.

I fly with pilots all the time that I would feel comfortable with in ANY size plane. I also fly with pilots that perform poorly with bad habits that won't get away with that performance in any airplane, usually defending said performance by claiming that if it was "the plane they know" it would be alright. It always comes back to the experience vs. ability, but it REALLY comes down to cost. It costs a lot to examine whether everyone that applies has the ability, so it's easier to set arbitrary hours to weed out a group with a higher percentage of those that don't quite have it down yet...