RE: PH Heroes: Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9

[Thesaint01708]

Had 2 - both White, one was a D Reg, the other an F. Used to enjoy driving home from my partners in southend on a friday night because i would always get an Escort RS Turbo series 2 (mk4) full of lads thinking they had the most powerful car in the world because of that 'Turbo' word..

Lights would change, id be off, they'd be wondering wtf happened

Really tempted to get another for a weekend car - but for the same money you can get a Pulsar GTi-R and thats when things start to get serious

[TonyHetherington]

Daxed said:

Check out 205gtidrivers.com

st, that's my evening gone. What a good site

(PS Thanks)

[RESSE]

Great thread, takes me back to June 1990 and ordering my first company car - Topaz Blue 1.6:

A wonderful car and many happy memories:





A few years later, I bought this little beauty for weekend shenanigans (now sold (sadly)):

[NAS]

supersingle said:

I get mid twenties mpg on super unleaded. Pricey!

Huh? I used to get 36mpg with my 1993 catalytic version. 98Ron. Drove it everywhere like a lunatic. A lot of city work, twisty roads etc.

[zeb]

TonyHetherington said:

Daxed said:

Check out 205gtidrivers.com

st, that's my evening gone. What a good site

(PS Thanks)

+1

yes thanks, another evening lost here too

....Tony, lets try and not single handedly end the recession by outbidding each other on ebay for the next few months!!

[KM666]

Great write up but 'OMG' @ all the rich boys having owned em at 17 - 20 the mind boggles at how much money must have been floating about behind the sofa to fund one of these little monsters. Lucky for some, im not jealous, honest(!)
Re the lad at 15 whos blessed enough to have one, i think insurance will be a killer unless your parents got something to the tune of £9'500 to donate toward it. I'm 20 and being quoted £2500 for a ford focus 1.8 zetec (most expensive quotes, AA at £10k) You'll be extremely lucky to have it OTR for under 10 grand.
But if at 15 you own a 205 gti i dont think money is an issue.

...Why couldn't i be born rich

[Midgster]

KM666 said:

Great write up but 'OMG' @ all the rich boys having owned em at 17 - 20 the mind boggles at how much money must have been floating about behind the sofa to fund one of these little monsters. Lucky for some, im not jealous, honest(!)
Re the lad at 15 whos blessed enough to have one, i think insurance will be a killer unless your parents got something to the tune of £9'500 to donate toward it. I'm 20 and being quoted £2500 for a ford focus 1.8 zetec (most expensive quotes, AA at £10k) You'll be extremely lucky to have it OTR for under 10 grand.
But if at 15 you own a 205 gti i dont think money is an issue.

...Why couldn't i be born rich

Things were a bit different 20 years ago. Mine was 5 years old, 60K miles and cost me £2850 if my memory serves me right. Insurance at 18 was £350 TPFT or £600 Fully Comp. (I was earning about £9000 at the time)

Edited by Midgster on Thursday 31st March 17:34

[Baz Tench]

KM666 said:

Great write up but 'OMG' @ all the rich boys having owned em at 17 - 20 the mind boggles at how much money must have been floating about behind the sofa to fund one of these little monsters. Lucky for some, im not jealous, honest(!)
Re the lad at 15 whos blessed enough to have one, i think insurance will be a killer unless your parents got something to the tune of £9'500 to donate toward it. I'm 20 and being quoted £2500 for a ford focus 1.8 zetec (most expensive quotes, AA at £10k) You'll be extremely lucky to have it OTR for under 10 grand.
But if at 15 you own a 205 gti i dont think money is an issue.

...Why couldn't i be born rich

Exactly what I thought! The 205GTi and R5GTT were my mind blowing dream cars in 1987/8 when I was bumbling around in my tired '77 R reg. Datsun 120Y.

I could but dream!

I got to drive the 1.6 205GTi and the 309GTi some ten years later and I loved them both. They were worth the wait! Oh and the R5.

[TonyHetherington]

KM666 said:

'OMG' @ all the rich boys having owned em at 17 - 20 the mind boggles at how much money must have been floating about behind the sofa to fund one of these little monsters. Lucky for some, im not jealous, honest(!)

Was far from rich

I bought mine aged 18 in 1998, E-reg car so 10yrs old. I paid £2200 for the car and paid £1300 to insure it TPF+T. Which I paid off over the year, of course.

I then sold it for £2100 18months later and bought....an Escort Cosworth aged 19. £4150 to insure for the year. Now that was nuts. But bugger me it was great fun. I was earning £16000 a year at that point and so took a second job at a nightclub to be able to afford it.

[bigaoi]

:-)

Edited by bigaoi on Thursday 31st March 17:42

Edited by bigaoi on Monday 13th February 00:42

[TonyHetherington]

Ooo an XS

My mum had a 1litre XL, both my brother and I learnt to drive in it. Was a great little car!

[Baryonyx]

I remember being on a minibus on the way to Liverpool for a stag do recently, driving along the A1 through Gateshead and seeing a dark grey 205 GTI just cruising along. There were several pieces of expensive German metal nearby, including and Audi S4 and a couple of tidy BMWs. They were utterly eclipsed by this masterful French creation and looking at them then, I could scarely imagine anything more dull.

[KM666]

TonyHetherington said:

KM666 said:

'OMG' @ all the rich boys having owned em at 17 - 20 the mind boggles at how much money must have been floating about behind the sofa to fund one of these little monsters. Lucky for some, im not jealous, honest(!)

Was far from rich

I bought mine aged 18 in 1998, E-reg car so 10yrs old. I paid £2200 for the car and paid £1300 to insure it TPF+T. Which I paid off over the year, of course.

I then sold it for £2100 18months later and bought....an Escort Cosworth aged 19. £4150 to insure for the year. Now that was nuts. But bugger me it was great fun. I was earning £16000 a year at that point and so took a second job at a nightclub to be able to afford it.

£3500 budget for an 18 year old is pretty staggering i dont think either of my parents have ever spent that much on a car let alone just 2 years out of school!
I thought my couson was a proper rich sod when his grandad on the other side of the family bought him a £2000 VW polo.
As for the Escos... well no need to brag now!

[TonyHetherington]

Fair point - it was extravagant, but there was no help from my parents - 205 was bought by me (and insured) all with a £12k salary at that time. The Esc Cos was with a loan (car was £12.5k), and I was lucky it went UP in value to £14k when sold it 2yrs and 12k miles later.Even 10yrs ago I really really really liked cars

[Smike]

KM666 said:

TonyHetherington said:

KM666 said:

'OMG' @ all the rich boys having owned em at 17 - 20 the mind boggles at how much money must have been floating about behind the sofa to fund one of these little monsters. Lucky for some, im not jealous, honest(!)

Was far from rich

I bought mine aged 18 in 1998, E-reg car so 10yrs old. I paid £2200 for the car and paid £1300 to insure it TPF+T. Which I paid off over the year, of course.

I then sold it for £2100 18months later and bought....an Escort Cosworth aged 19. £4150 to insure for the year. Now that was nuts. But bugger me it was great fun. I was earning £16000 a year at that point and so took a second job at a nightclub to be able to afford it.

£3500 budget for an 18 year old is pretty staggering i dont think either of my parents have ever spent that much on a car let alone just 2 years out of school!
I thought my couson was a proper rich sod when his grandad on the other side of the family bought him a £2000 VW polo.
As for the Escos... well no need to brag now!

Like Tony H, a genuine LOL at the rich kids comment - all my friends were early 20s when we got our hands on 205s. The friends that bought them new had pretty good jobs - as mechanics for World Rally Teams you get a fairly good wodge even at 23 years old. Certainly no help from parents in our cases. Like Tony H, I had a couple of jobs to finance a reasonable car and a first house. You have to remember that insurance and houses were comparatively cheaper back then as well.

Anyway, back on topic and back to the Peugeot 205 1.9!

Here's the brief precis from Baudin....

[rdw33]

tim milne said:

I recently bought a Mi16 205GTi thinking it might make a nostalgic alternative to a new Renault 200 Cup. Unfortunately, age and the fact that it had been fettled by a succession of tinkerers left it somewhat wanting in the reliability department. Also, handling has moved on in the last twenty years and the Clio certainly clings on the corners with more enthusiasm.

But, it was blisteringly quick, though, and makes me think the 200 could do with another 100 horses...but at least it starts.

Ha thought you would be reading this article. I bought this off Tim... still bump starting it in Tesco's but you can't argue with its performance. Took it up to North Wales and drove the same set of roads 6 times. Awesome fun

[benn84]

ive just sold my 205 1.9 turbo technics - loved it, wont be the last 205 gti i will own im sure of it! in my opinion by far the best classic hot hatch!

[Smike]

rdw33 said:

tim milne said:

I recently bought a Mi16 205GTi thinking it might make a nostalgic alternative to a new Renault 200 Cup. Unfortunately, age and the fact that it had been fettled by a succession of tinkerers left it somewhat wanting in the reliability department. Also, handling has moved on in the last twenty years and the Clio certainly clings on the corners with more enthusiasm.

But, it was blisteringly quick, though, and makes me think the 200 could do with another 100 horses...but at least it starts.

Ha thought you would be reading this article. I bought this off Tim... still bump starting it in Tesco's but you can't argue with its performance. Took it up to North Wales and drove the same set of roads 6 times. Awesome fun

Anyone have the Turbo Technics modded ones?

Head to head here in this article with the Gutmann Mi-16 -> http://s786.photobucket.com/albums/yy141/MikeDibbs...

[bigaoi]

A proper hot hatch deserves a proper advert ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M59LD0OoItc

[BountyHunter]

geeteeaye said:

They definitely weren't skittish in the wet, believe me I had an Astra GTE - that was, the 205 GTi was excellent in the wet, certainly in comparison. I also seem to remember reading that the 205 GTi was one of the least crashed hot hatches of its time, the main casualties being the Escorts (XR3i & RS Turbo) and the Astra GTE 16v.

dont even try an compare it with an ashtray gte, it just doesnt happen.
ive had 4 205's (1.9 and mi16) all great, all skittish in the wet. (the 309 was much better in this regard)
dont get me wrong theyre massively fun, but not a car you can relax when driving in the wet.
i also had an escort rs1600i (and access to a mk2 golf gti) at a time when i was running a 205 GTI 1.9 as my daily for a yr, and the 205 was easily the most fun. However when i was travelling after work on a friday from essex to worcestershire to visit my then girlfriend i often took the escort or borrowed the golf if rain was likely.
the reason for this is the back end was lively - which is great on a blast or track session, but not so good when your tired after a weeks work followed by a 2 - 3 hrs drive.

modern tyres do help - but fortunately still leave the tail somewhat mobile if you want, which is just what you desire for a good fwd track/b road weapon

as for crashes - well i guess we will have to agree to disagree
but im old enough to have been around at the time and i well remember them being stacked regularly when inexperienced drivers bowled into a corner too quick so lifted and then ended up in ditch/lamp post/hedge etc etc

xr3i was a lot more benign (not to mention sturdier) which led to it being both safer and less fun.
the main issue that XR/RS fords had was iirc theft.
gte 16v was a pile of sh*te with only 2 redeeming features - good seats and a great engine and shouldnt even be mentioned in the same breath as other 80's and early 90's hatches.

Edited by BountyHunter on Thursday 31st March 23:52