Pete M wrote:

They have another party trick if you get one with the huge sunroof -
open it at above 40 mph with the other windows closed and you'll get to
know exactly what life is like inside a referee's whistle, unbelievable
turbulence.

Hehe, that was worth reading just for that bit. Nice one Pete!

"Pete M" wrote in message
...
Les Ross wrote:
Sounds like a lovely package, are they still used?

As in, "Do people still drive 'em?"

Yes. They're pretty sought after in good condition.

Best time to buy one was in the early / mid 1990s, right after when Peugeot
stopped making them. Rising insurance premiums, safety nanny nonsence -
used 205 GTIs were *cheap*.

We'd see the occasional 205 GTI coming in as a trade-in for the mark three
Golf GTI. The one with the 2.0 115 bhp donk. Fools. We'd offer them a
stupid amount for the 205 as well, "it's French, it'll fall apart, *this* is
a well build, near-premium car, sir" was the line.

Goobers.

Three year old Peugoet 205 GTI 1.6 (the original 105 bhp model) trade in was
around £3,000. Insurance for me at the time was something like £2,500. :-)

Quick little buggers, but they're a touch unforgiving if you're used to
ESP / ABS / TC as they don't bother with any of that nonsense.

A touch?

A touch?!

Don't believe that. They're a wonderful car for communicating with you but
not most modern stuff. Modern things whisper, "oi oi that's a little bit
too fast" and "hmm, too much power." Instead the 205 GTI rasps, "aw come
on, grannies take roundabouts quicker" and "you pussy, I'm barely being
driven" after taking roundabout. The car continues to abuse and provoke you
right until it starts to oversteer, when mysteriously it shuts up. I'm sure
the one I span mumbled, "muppet, you're supposed to give it more power when
I shake my ass" afterwards.

Probably the best hot hatch of them all, but not the easiest to live with.
Drivetrain shunt can be a pain in traffic as they've got what can only be
described as a "hair trigger" throttle pedal. One of those cars that
*always* wants to be going faster, and very often feels like it can.

Right until it doesn't, and the tail breaks away. Often seen a set of tyre
marks on the road that criss-cross before ending in a Peugeot 205-shaped
hole in a hedge. Brilliant stuff.

Build quality can only be described as "Flaky", they all rattle, but for
actual driving they're great little things.

Just remember one thing "DO NOT LIFT OFF" if you're cornering at high
speed and / or on a wet road, they're prone to spectacular and sudden
lift-off oversteer of the kind you don't forget in a hurry. The GTi 1.9 is
the only car I've managed to spin and do four complete rotations in before
somehow just about managing to not hit anything. My 911 was more
forgiving. If someone tried to release a new car with this little quirk
nowadays the Daily Telegraph would have a field day "Killer car on sale".
I have a feeling that this little habit is the main reason there aren't
many left.

In the late 1990s the insurance broker arm said that the 205 GTI 1.9 was
their second most claimed car.

The first was the 1.6.... :-)

I've seen so many 205 GTi's with badly repaired rear 1/4 panels I've lost
count. It's the first thing I look for on them, the second is to see if
the rear axle is still straight - that normally gets bent when they spin
into a kerb.

Having said that, with a bit of practice there still isn't much that can
compete with a 1.9 on a twisty lane. Very little has ever been made that
can raise a smile like a well sorted, standard, 1.9 GTi with PAS.

Arguably... the 106 GTi. Actually any of the AX / 106 sporty models come to
think of it. The AX GT was a hoot, the AX GTi was a bit pointless (cost
lots more than the GT but was half a smile more).

Ones without PAS give your arms the kind of workout that the Bullworker™
was meant to, but it does get lighter with speed.

Driven sensibly they'll do 35 mpg.

*cough*

Having said that, I don't know anyone who can do that for more than 5-10
minutes other than on a motorway.

Ahha that's better.

I was hoping you'd not then start discussing the cup holder.

25 mpg is more likely, and they like Super Unleaded. If you run them on
normal unleaded, and drive them in the same way everyone else does, the
valves tend to eat into the cylinder head like a fat kid eats cake. Noise
from the valvegear and smoke at start up tends to be a sign of one that's
not been run on super, or hasn't had the oil changed as often as it wise
on 'em - oil changes around every 4000 miles tends to keep them sweet.

They have another party trick if you get one with the huge sunroof - open
it at above 40 mph with the other windows closed and you'll get to know
exactly what life is like inside a referee's whistle, unbelievable
turbulence. Goes if you open a window though. The sunroof is sealed by
vacuum from the engine, which is a nutty little trick.

Your driving licence will turn into a gibbering wreck in the presence of
one.

Having typed all this out, I'd have another.

I'd still have; I suspect, forever will I mourn that I never did buy that
crippling-to-run 205 when I had the chance. And they mock me. They poke
fun until I tried to teach the little bugger who was boss.

I always figured that the 205 XS / GT (the 85 bhp donk from the AX GT) was a
reasonable stepping stone to the GTI. A little softer, a little forgiving
and more comfortable on a run. And therefore pointless.

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

"DervMan" gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

Having said that, with a bit of practice there still isn't much that
can compete with a 1.9 on a twisty lane. Very little has ever been made
that can raise a smile like a well sorted, standard, 1.9 GTi with PAS.

Arguably... the 106 GTi. Actually any of the AX / 106 sporty models
come to think of it. The AX GT was a hoot, the AX GTi was a bit
pointless (cost lots more than the GT but was half a smile more).

How about the Visa GTi? Same floorpan, same 1.6 mechanicals (most were
only 105bhp, but later ones were the same 115bhp spec as the 205), same
front end - but with a much better rear end - coils instead of torsion
bars.

It'd been hit fairly bloody hard with an ugly stick, true, but at least
it wasn't going to get nicked unlike the 205...

Adrian wrote:

How about the Visa GTi? Same floorpan, same 1.6 mechanicals (most were
only 105bhp, but later ones were the same 115bhp spec as the 205), same
front end - but with a much better rear end - coils instead of torsion
bars.

It'd been hit fairly bloody hard with an ugly stick, true, but at least
it wasn't going to get nicked unlike the 205...

An estate agent around here parks a very nice Merc 350SL near my
workplace. Recently, he's also been driving a black Visa GTi which
doesn't quite look the part, but is, I suspect an awful lot more fun to
drive.

Willy Eckerslyke gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:

How about the Visa GTi? Same floorpan, same 1.6 mechanicals (most were
only 105bhp, but later ones were the same 115bhp spec as the 205), same
front end - but with a much better rear end - coils instead of torsion
bars.

It'd been hit fairly bloody hard with an ugly stick, true, but at least
it wasn't going to get nicked unlike the 205...

An estate agent around here parks a very nice Merc 350SL near my
workplace. Recently, he's also been driving a black Visa GTi which
doesn't quite look the part, but is, I suspect an awful lot more fun to
drive.

There's low single figures of Wheezer GiTs left in the UK. Hell, there's
very few Wheezers of _any_ type left.

Pete M wrote:
They have another party trick if you get one with the huge sunroof -
open it at above 40 mph with the other windows closed and you'll get
to know exactly what life is like inside a referee's whistle,

Referee's whistles are better built, more substantial and more reliable.

Tim S Kemp wrote:

Pete M wrote:
They have another party trick if you get one with the huge sunroof -
open it at above 40 mph with the other windows closed and you'll get
to know exactly what life is like inside a referee's whistle,

Referee's whistles are better built, more substantial and more reliable.

Though presumably not as much fun from most points of view?

:-)

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

DervMan wrote:
"Pete M" wrote in message
...

Having typed all this out, I'd have another.

I'd still have; I suspect, forever will I mourn that I never did buy that
crippling-to-run 205 when I had the chance. And they mock me. They poke
fun until I tried to teach the little bugger who was boss.

I always figured that the 205 XS / GT (the 85 bhp donk from the AX GT) was a
reasonable stepping stone to the GTI. A little softer, a little forgiving
and more comfortable on a run. And therefore pointless.


You know that the TurboD has the same suspension as the GTi? Yes, it's
heavier, but only by about 20kg - not enough to affect the handling
enormously...

"Paul P" wrote in message
...


snip

Dickhead.

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65

"Pete M" wrote in message
...
Les Ross wrote:
Sounds like a lovely package, are they still used?

As in, "Do people still drive 'em?"

Yes. They're pretty sought after in good condition. Quick little buggers,
but they're a touch unforgiving if you're used to ESP / ABS / TC as they
don't bother with any of that nonsense.

Probably the best hot hatch of them all,

Came 3rd in a RealDriver poll, behind the R5 Turbo and the VW G40. With the
Polo getting over a third of the votes and the Renault being close behind and
the Pug not scraping even 10%.