RE: PH Carpool: Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9
Discussion
Lovely car and kudos for enjoying it as intrended.
Bizarrely mine 1.6 Gti was the most reliable car I ever owned.
Bought it from a dealer for £500 on a switch card. Drove it like I stole it for 3 years without a single hitch.
All I spent money on were brake pads and a set of new boots.
A late night drive from London to Hereford will stay with me forever. What a car.
If ever there was an example of 'less is more' this car was it.
The only reason I got rid of it was a drunk driver smashing into the side of it at 3am whilst parked up on the side of the road outside my flat. As soon as I heard the big smash I just knew it was my little pug that had been crunched. Gutted.
Bizarrely mine 1.6 Gti was the most reliable car I ever owned.
Bought it from a dealer for £500 on a switch card. Drove it like I stole it for 3 years without a single hitch.
All I spent money on were brake pads and a set of new boots.
A late night drive from London to Hereford will stay with me forever. What a car.
If ever there was an example of 'less is more' this car was it.
The only reason I got rid of it was a drunk driver smashing into the side of it at 3am whilst parked up on the side of the road outside my flat. As soon as I heard the big smash I just knew it was my little pug that had been crunched. Gutted.
I think this sums up the 205 nicely:
"How naughty you become when you get behind the wheel! Good 205 GTIs are alive and make you do naughty things."
It is just fun to drive, probably because of its shortcomings rather than inspite of them. Yes the 309 is a better balanced car (I've owned both) but it just isn't as much fun to drive as the 205.
"How naughty you become when you get behind the wheel! Good 205 GTIs are alive and make you do naughty things."
It is just fun to drive, probably because of its shortcomings rather than inspite of them. Yes the 309 is a better balanced car (I've owned both) but it just isn't as much fun to drive as the 205.
one of my all-time faves and always appears in my 6-car dream garage..
Had 2 (both 1.9s) 1st had a semi-seized rear shock..found this out when in the dry at Battersea 'roundabout had massive understeer and then it snapped into oversteer..i narrowly missed the lampost. the 2nd was much tidier...lovely steel grey.
have always wanted a fully restored one...(with an original (spec) exhaust...loved the 'splattery' sound it made)
not jealous of the bloke who has this fantastic example...nope, defo not..not in the slighest....
Yes, a lot of people bought 195/50x15s for their 205 1.9/309 Gtis. They were usually cheaper and easier to get hold of although the OE tyre was a 185/55x15 Michelin MXV ( IIRC ) as standardlike i did, though i was convinced by doing so it lost a smidgen of sharpness,though had plenty to start with, so no great lost. could have been the tyre i chose (i found the orig. Michis sharp and informative)
Had 2 (both 1.9s) 1st had a semi-seized rear shock..found this out when in the dry at Battersea 'roundabout had massive understeer and then it snapped into oversteer..i narrowly missed the lampost. the 2nd was much tidier...lovely steel grey.
have always wanted a fully restored one...(with an original (spec) exhaust...loved the 'splattery' sound it made)
not jealous of the bloke who has this fantastic example...nope, defo not..not in the slighest....
s m said:
Batfink said:
s m said:
They were 185 width on both cars as standard. 185/60x14 on 1.6, 185/55x15 on 1.9
I stand corrected. I think all my 1.9's ran 195's. I never owned one from new though. The weight on the steering and grip is still very apparent when you switch from 14" to 15". Lower profile, overall increase in unsprung weight, rotational inertia etc etc.
I had a 3 year old cherry red 1.9 in my yoof.
It's hard to describe the driving experience to younger types used to abs, traction control etc etc.
Basic, raw, uber responsive to throttle and steering inputs. It's kind of like a junior Caterham 7
I have driven or owned all sorts of fast cars in my time but there will always be a soft spot in my heart for "Poppy".
Poppy was also without question THE most unreliable, cantakerous, badly built car I have ever owned.
She had at least 2 or 3 strops a month, regularly leaving me broken down in traffic, at junctions, stranded miles from anywhere, cost an absoloute bloody fortune to keep on the road and at times drove me to utter despair.
But despite that, when everything was working and she was feeling feisty it was a joy to drive in a way that just cant be matched by more modern cars.
I miss it terribly.
It's hard to describe the driving experience to younger types used to abs, traction control etc etc.
Basic, raw, uber responsive to throttle and steering inputs. It's kind of like a junior Caterham 7
I have driven or owned all sorts of fast cars in my time but there will always be a soft spot in my heart for "Poppy".
Poppy was also without question THE most unreliable, cantakerous, badly built car I have ever owned.
She had at least 2 or 3 strops a month, regularly leaving me broken down in traffic, at junctions, stranded miles from anywhere, cost an absoloute bloody fortune to keep on the road and at times drove me to utter despair.
But despite that, when everything was working and she was feeling feisty it was a joy to drive in a way that just cant be matched by more modern cars.
I miss it terribly.
Edited by LordVader on Monday 22 October 14:27
Edited by LordVader on Monday 22 October 14:29
I worked for Morgan Stanley as a Valet many many moons ago and I got to drive a lot of exotic cars but I always remember taking a blue 205 1.9 GTi out for a quick hoon round the streets of Canary Wharf. What a great little car, loads of wheel spin in 3rd and you could feel everything through the steering wheel, just raw mechanics and boy was it quick. It was only a year old and I was only 18, good times
On the strength of that I bought a 309 1.9 GTi and it was one my favourite cars. It never went wrong and just kept on giving....
On the strength of that I bought a 309 1.9 GTi and it was one my favourite cars. It never went wrong and just kept on giving....
Edited by M666 EVO on Monday 22 October 15:11
t when they're lowered.My Brother loves these and for the life of me I could never see the attraction. Its basically a shopping trolly with an engine. Maybe its the fact that he is an 80's child.... He has 2 at the moment and a 306 gti. They do make good rally cars Im told and are an excellent starter and plenty of parts to be had (ive seem parts for sale in france in Carrefeur).
A fantastic style icon but when I drove a 1.6 it did nothing for me (bit of a girly car really 
). By contrast, an R5 GT Turbo I test drove felt like a scalded cat and had me scrabbling to pay the man.
The 1.9 redressed the balance somewhat but I can never imagine driving any car the way I drove that Renault.
Love this one though - shows how far the hot hatch concept has lost its way - adrift in a sea of lard.
). By contrast, an R5 GT Turbo I test drove felt like a scalded cat and had me scrabbling to pay the man.The 1.9 redressed the balance somewhat but I can never imagine driving any car the way I drove that Renault.
Love this one though - shows how far the hot hatch concept has lost its way - adrift in a sea of lard.
Had a 1.9 and then a 1.6 GTi in the early 90's. My first hot hatches and made you feel like your driving skills were better than they actually were, found the 1.6 to be more useable than the 1.9 though. Got a 1993/K reg Clio 16v after that, more civilised than the 205 but not very reliable, great when it was working!
Mine is the other 205 mentioned in Nicks write up. It is now 26 years old and has just come out of a 4 year lay up. 67k on the clock now and still makes me smile when I drive it. Also have one as a stage rally car, which has been developed to death and is more focussed than the road car, which makes it less pleasant to drive on long distances but much better in competition.
It's nice to see 205s getting put back to standard now and more and more people that I know are trying to buy one.....Long Live the 205!
Many thanks to unckie Nick for giving Bart a clean!
It's nice to see 205s getting put back to standard now and more and more people that I know are trying to buy one.....Long Live the 205!
Many thanks to unckie Nick for giving Bart a clean!
Edited by pugtop on Monday 22 October 18:22
I had a white pug 1.9 gti back in the day
i loved the interior at the time and it was a fun car
but - it was not that great in the power department
it had good torque and power in its day but never quite went as well at the astra gte for example
lots of electrical and idling problems with the airlfow meter
i sold it and bought a fiesta RS turbo - much much quicker and easily tunable
i loved the interior at the time and it was a fun car
but - it was not that great in the power department
it had good torque and power in its day but never quite went as well at the astra gte for example
lots of electrical and idling problems with the airlfow meter
i sold it and bought a fiesta RS turbo - much much quicker and easily tunable
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff