RE: Spotted: Peugeot 309 GTI

[gmackay2]

I always wanted a 1.9GTI, as I had 309 SRI which was essentially the same as the 205 GTI 1.6. Brilliant little car, but I rolled it and it ended up looking like this.

which was a shame as it only had 70k miles on it and i think i only had it about 2 months?

[HSV_V8]

My 2nd car was a 1990 309 GTI Turbo Technics converted from new, 5th injector and 2 stage boost (on the fog light switch!), LSD, baffled sump, koni adjustables, Guttman wheels and around 180bhp. What an awesome car, never forgot how good it drove, much preferred to the 205 GTI.

Unfortunately ended up stripping it after deciding to repaint it while buying several cars in the mean time and the project never got finished. Sold the engine to a lad from peugeot sport club(i think)and eventually sent the shell off for scrap after it had been sat a couple of years..... gutted, should have thought on a bit.

[Speedy1995]

Which was faster the 309 Goodwood or the GTI ?

[CarlosV8]

gmackay2 said:

I always wanted a 1.9GTI, as I had 309 SRI which was essentially the same as the 205 GTI 1.6. Brilliant little car, but I rolled it and it ended up looking like this.

which was a shame as it only had 70k miles on it and i think i only had it about 2 months?

Clearly there must have been a defect with the handling on the SRis...



I loved that car!

[CampDavid]

Speedy1995 said:

Which was faster the 309 Goodwood or the GTI ?

They were mechanically identical. Leather is heavier than cloth if one wishes to be a pedant though

[Daveyraveygravey]

Speedy1995 said:

Which was faster the 309 Goodwood or the GTI ?

I think the Goodwood was just an up-specced GTI, leather and more leccy crap, so probably was slower (marginally).

I had an E reg gun metal grey 309 GTi as my first car, loved it to bits and still peruse the classifieds looking for another.

To my eyes, the front is better looking than the 205, I preferred the quad lights at the bottom. Yes the arse is a bit bleurgh but beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

It had cable-operated rear (three-quarter) windows, a couple of levers behind the handbrake worked them. Always thought that was cool!

Some scrote broke into mine one night, I didn't realise until I tried to get behind the wheel which was about 6 inches nearer the seat and no longer round!

I am sure I read the interiors and build generally was meant to be less fragile than the 205, but that would seem to go against what most on here are saying.

[speedtwelve]

Had a Phase 1 GTi around ten years ago. It had 8 previous owners, 140k on the (probably clocked) clock and was up for £500 at some dodgy traders next to a dog track in Glasgow. After checking it hadn't been stolen and there weren't any dismembered bodies in the boot I bought it. It didn't miss a beat for the year or so that I ran it. That 1.9 XU engine was a peach, very torquey and grunty for what it was. Throttle-response was the thing that sticks in my mind; it was electric. An excellent back-road blaster. I didn't think that my particular car handled quite as well as a good 205 GTi TBH, as it was a tad understeery when pushed, and I couldn't get it to lift-off oversteer at all (on an airfield, incidentally). The car also had those fabulous 1.9 Speedline wheels.

The interior was, as mentioned, a new dimension in st build-quality. The plastics would have been rejected by Fisher Price, and the gear lever always felt like it was about to detach in your hand. As far as chassis stiffness is concerned, if you parked the car with the nearside wheels up on a kerb the tailgate wouldn't open...

[R0B.]

Speedy1995 said:

Which was faster the 309 Goodwood or the GTI ?

I thought all the Goodwood's had a catalytic converter therefore slower than non cat standard GTI's?

[gmackay2]

CarlosV8 said:

Clearly there must have been a defect with the handling on the SRis...



I loved that car!

^^^^^hahahahahahahh! Brilliant! Yip I agree those SRI's had a viscous streak a mile wide!!

[Dodgey_Rog]

This brought a tear to my eye, nostalgia wise....

Reminded me of the commercials; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdJu-jSi65I

and;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiKkIO6JK4U&fea...

I found one for a friend, an 88E, one owner with 30k miles on it back in 2005 for about 1500 quid. His missus stuck it under a bus and wrote it off!!!

[CarlosV8]

R0B. said:

I thought all the Goodwood's had a catalytic converter therefore slower than non cat standard GTI's?

My Goodwoood doesn't have one, so is the full fat 130bhp. They were only an option at the time.

[sjabrown]

Much much rarer than the 205. When I last looked on how many left there were something like 100 GTIs and a further 40 or 50 Goodwood's taxed compared to approx 2000 205 GTIs.

Looked at buying one last year, and viewed two. Both very rusty underneath near the rear beam mounts and inner wings. 205s unless crashed and repaired are very much more rust resistant it seems.

[wal 45]

There were 2 versions of the Goodwood with slightly different engines:

Pre Sep 92 130bhp leaded/super unleaded no cat
Post Sep 92 122bhp unleaded with cat

Goodwood is mechanically identical to 309 GTI although I found a few odd suspension bits that were listed as 309 16V when buying from a dealer (probably updates across the range). It was just a run out special much like the 405 Le Mans, only option was a wood or leather steering wheel as far as I remember.

Looked good but that was it for me I'm afraid.

[R0B.]

CarlosV8 said:

My Goodwoood doesn't have one, so is the full fat 130bhp. They were only an option at the time.

Ok, fair enough.

[furtive]

J4CKO said:

the handling was pure comedy on 13 inch ditchfinders

Indeed. I got stopped by the the local plod once in mine. He claimed I went round a very sharp corner at "over 40mpg" in a 30 limit. I pointed at the width of the tyres and offered him the keys to try and get it round at anything near the speed limit. He declined, but let me on my way

It also had the read window washer jet located on the left of the boot lid, which made it impossible to use when the car was moving. If you adjusted it so that it hit the rear window whilst stationary the jet of water got pulled away from the glass when moving and just made the road behind you wet.

It could be pointed at the pavement though to spray pedestrians. I would never that though

Edited by furtive on Thursday 6th September 14:31

[M666 EVO]

Big Fat Fatty said:

Superb cars, I used to have one and was gutted to see it go. I genuinely think these are better looking than it's sibling the 205, £1750 you say? Hmmmm.....tempting.

Agreed

I had a 1992 (K) identical to this, well except mine was 4 door. Big sliding roof. Awesome car. It was like new when I got it, paid £1500 for it from some dealer, drove it for about 2 years and had NO problems whatsoever, it always started and I didnt do a thing to it. It was remarkably quick too...

I unfortunately crashed it on the way to my then GFs, I was on the motorway, it was pissing down and I just went to overtake someone and the back just slid out, I bumped into two cars and it then smashed into the central reservation before ending up on the hard shoulder. I was gutted. Insurance guy said it was worth £1300 due to the wheels being immaculate. I even managed to drive it to the folks all battered and bruised, it was a proper machine. I miss it

[tomoleeds]

i liks Peugeot"s then,the 205 GTi, 405 Mi6 etc,they were good cars to drive,but whils other makes have moved on in build quality Peugeot"s have not

[redgriff500]

They do handle well.

But the build was cheap and rattly when new, there are better ways to spend £1700.

[bob1179]

I love Peugeot 309's, I had a 1987 309 GE when I passed my driving test, then a 1992 309 'Style' a few years later. I always wanted a red, three door, 309 GTi. I still do to be honest so I've organised to buy this one.

I can't remember the last time I was this excited to be getting a 'new' car!

[ws323f]

One of my friends bought a 5 door one of these a few months ago for £500. I never knew a five door version of the Gti was made untill then.