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

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.

I'll give him a respectful nod next time I see him then.

That'll worry him.

"Adrian" wrote in message
...
"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...

Annnnd - you made the point in a later post, but I cannot remember the last
time I saw a Visa, let alone the GTI...

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

"Albert T Cone" wrote in message
...
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...

It needed an intercooler and more boost, too...

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

"Depresion" 127.0.0.1 wrote in message
et...

"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%.


The G40 is an interesting little machine because it doesn't look
interesting... if you see what I mean.

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

"DervMan" wrote in message
...
"Depresion" 127.0.0.1 wrote in message
et...

"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%.


The G40 is an interesting little machine because it doesn't look
interesting... if you see what I mean.

Unless you know what you are looking for they are very hard to tell apart
from the GT from a distance.

"DervMan" wrote in message
...
"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.

309s do the same. Hence I left a 309 roof shaped dent in the hedge and
road


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.... :-)

LOL

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).

I'd say the 106 is possibly a wee bit quicker round the twisties, but lacks
the brute force of the 1.9 GTi so you need to keep it wound up. But IME the
106 is a bit more forgiving as well when you go a bit faster than you
should.

Either way, both fantastic drivers cars.

Ones without PAS give your arms the kind of workout that the BullworkerT
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 XS can be hustled along very nicely, but lacks the sophisticated
suspension of the GTi, and also lacks the torque. But the engine loves to
be rev'd, as long as you keep the tricky Solex carb in tip-top shape. And
more comfortable? I'd say not - the suspension still isn't soft and IIRC
5th is 18mph/1krpm. Although that does mean you can get to the redline in
5th

Having owned both I think I'd take the DT over the XS. You get nicer velour
seats, a better set of instruments (where the needles dont look like they're
made of carrot sticks, as one female passenger kindly pointed out once), and
most importantly you get the proper uprated wishbone front suspension like
the GTi. You loose out in the power stakes (75bhp for the DT?) but that
could easily be recovered with a little fiddling under the bonnet, and I
never found it a problem when I rallied mine up against the GTis.

I've been looking at 205 GTis a bit recently (along with 309
GTis/Goodwoods), but the spec I really want would be a phase 2 (so it has
the pleasant subtle changes in looks) 1.9 GTi with the lower-ratio'd 1.6
gearbox. Apparently they're a proper giggle. Oh, and it would need to be
Miami Blue.

"Depresion" 127.0.0.1 wrote in message
...

"DervMan" wrote in message
...
"Depresion" 127.0.0.1 wrote in message
et...

"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%.


The G40 is an interesting little machine because it doesn't look
interesting... if you see what I mean.

Unless you know what you are looking for they are very hard to tell apart
from the GT from a distance.

Which to average Joe is very hard to tell from the 1.0 S hehe

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65

"Carl Gibbs" wrote in message
...

"DervMan" wrote in message
...
"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.

309s do the same. Hence I left a 309 roof shaped dent in the hedge and
road


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.... :-)

LOL

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).

I'd say the 106 is possibly a wee bit quicker round the twisties, but
lacks the brute force of the 1.9 GTi so you need to keep it wound up. But
IME the 106 is a bit more forgiving as well when you go a bit faster than
you should.

What appealed to be the most about the 1.9 was that you didn't have to
thrash it so as to get sufficient acceleration to keep ordinary vehicles
firmly behind - even Passat 1.8Ts and suchlike, which are of course as quick
as hot hatches. The current crop of machines has a similar ability, but
with far greater headline power figures.

I never drove a 106 back to back with the 205, only the 206; I'm sorry to
say that after the 205, the 206 felt far too "mature" but also not entirely
as forgiving as its refinement might have you believe.

Either way, both fantastic drivers cars.

Ones without PAS give your arms the kind of workout that the BullworkerT
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 XS can be hustled along very nicely, but lacks the sophisticated
suspension of the GTi, and also lacks the torque. But the engine loves to
be rev'd, as long as you keep the tricky Solex carb in tip-top shape. And
more comfortable? I'd say not - the suspension still isn't soft and IIRC
5th is 18mph/1krpm. Although that does mean you can get to the redline in
5th

Meh; it's softer, though? Plenty of my mates had the XS model and, yeah, it
was firmer than the ordinary 205, but the 205 was far more supple than the
majority of contemporary machines anyway...

Having owned both I think I'd take the DT over the XS. You get nicer
velour seats, a better set of instruments (where the needles dont look
like they're made of carrot sticks, as one female passenger kindly pointed
out once), and most importantly you get the proper uprated wishbone front
suspension like the GTi. You loose out in the power stakes (75bhp for the
DT?) but that could easily be recovered with a little fiddling under the
bonnet, and I never found it a problem when I rallied mine up against the
GTis.

I've been looking at 205 GTis a bit recently (along with 309
GTis/Goodwoods), but the spec I really want would be a phase 2 (so it has
the pleasant subtle changes in looks) 1.9 GTi with the lower-ratio'd 1.6
gearbox. Apparently they're a proper giggle. Oh, and it would need to be
Miami Blue.

As I remember, Peugeot mated the 1.9 with the automatic and produced the
Gentry as a run-out model.

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

"DanB" wrote in message
...
"Depresion" 127.0.0.1 wrote in message
...

"DervMan" wrote in message
...
"Depresion" 127.0.0.1 wrote in message
et...

"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%.


The G40 is an interesting little machine because it doesn't look
interesting... if you see what I mean.

Unless you know what you are looking for they are very hard to tell apart
from the GT from a distance.

Which to average Joe is very hard to tell from the 1.0 S hehe


You beat me to it, but, yes very much!

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

"DervMan" wrote in message
...
"Carl Gibbs" wrote in message
...

"DervMan" wrote in message
...
"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.

309s do the same. Hence I left a 309 roof shaped dent in the hedge and
road


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.... :-)

LOL

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).

I'd say the 106 is possibly a wee bit quicker round the twisties, but
lacks the brute force of the 1.9 GTi so you need to keep it wound up.
But IME the 106 is a bit more forgiving as well when you go a bit faster
than you should.

What appealed to be the most about the 1.9 was that you didn't have to
thrash it so as to get sufficient acceleration to keep ordinary vehicles
firmly behind - even Passat 1.8Ts and suchlike, which are of course as
quick as hot hatches. The current crop of machines has a similar ability,
but with far greater headline power figures.

I never drove a 106 back to back with the 205, only the 206; I'm sorry to
say that after the 205, the 206 felt far too "mature" but also not
entirely as forgiving as its refinement might have you believe.

Unfortunately I've never driven a 206, but opinions seems to be that the 106
was the last of the proper Pug hot hatches.

Either way, both fantastic drivers cars.

Ones without PAS give your arms the kind of workout that the
BullworkerT 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 XS can be hustled along very nicely, but lacks the sophisticated
suspension of the GTi, and also lacks the torque. But the engine loves
to be rev'd, as long as you keep the tricky Solex carb in tip-top shape.
And more comfortable? I'd say not - the suspension still isn't soft and
IIRC 5th is 18mph/1krpm. Although that does mean you can get to the
redline in 5th

Meh; it's softer, though? Plenty of my mates had the XS model and, yeah,
it was firmer than the ordinary 205, but the 205 was far more supple than
the majority of contemporary machines anyway...

Yeah it's softer, but I'd still take the GTi for any sort of drive (spirited
or long runs). The bonus of the XS is obviously the cheaper insurance and
road rax though. IME the fuel economy isn't any better. Potentially even
worse (I could get mine well under 20mpg on an event).

Having owned both I think I'd take the DT over the XS. You get nicer
velour seats, a better set of instruments (where the needles dont look
like they're made of carrot sticks, as one female passenger kindly
pointed out once), and most importantly you get the proper uprated
wishbone front suspension like the GTi. You loose out in the power
stakes (75bhp for the DT?) but that could easily be recovered with a
little fiddling under the bonnet, and I never found it a problem when I
rallied mine up against the GTis.

I've been looking at 205 GTis a bit recently (along with 309
GTis/Goodwoods), but the spec I really want would be a phase 2 (so it has
the pleasant subtle changes in looks) 1.9 GTi with the lower-ratio'd 1.6
gearbox. Apparently they're a proper giggle. Oh, and it would need to
be Miami Blue.

As I remember, Peugeot mated the 1.9 with the automatic and produced the
Gentry as a run-out model.

Indeedy. They still pop up for sale every now and again. Not my cup of tea
though!

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com