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Peugeot 205 GTI

Posted on 03. May, 2009 by Groovy Car in Supermini

The Peugeot 205 is a supermini produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1983 and 1997. It was declared ‘Car of the Decade’ by CAR magazine in 1990.

Peugeot 205 GTI came in 1.6-litre and 1.9-litre, in-line four cylinder configurations, and is considered one of the best hot hatches of all time. Compared to modern cars they can be tricky to handle, due to their tendency towards rather sudden lift-off oversteer during hard cornering, and a complete absence of electronic driver aids. However once mastered, or in the hands of a skilled driver, these cars are still known to offer a very rewarding driving experience. The 205 GTI was certainly one of the first front wheel drive cars said by many motoring experts to be as rewarding to drive hard as an equivalent rear-wheel drive car.

The 1.6 GTI came with a XU5J engine, producing 105 bhp DIN (77 kW), for the 1987 model year the XU5J received the cylinder head with larger valves from the 1.9 GTI’s XU9JA engine thus becoming XU5JA. The new engine was quoted for 115 bhp (86 kW; 117 PS) . The 1.9 GTI came with an XU9JA engine producing 128 PS (94 kW; 126 hp) , although later models with a catalytic converter produced 122 PS (90 kW; 120 hp) . Internally these engines are very similar, the main differences on 1.9-litre versions being the longer stroke, oil cooler, and some parts of the fuel injection system. The shorter stroke 1.6-litre engine is famed for being revvy and eager, while the 1.9-litre feels lazier and torquier. Outside the engine bay the main differences between the 1.6 GTI and the 1.9 GTI are half-leather seats (1.9 GTI) vs. cloth seats (1.6 GTI); and disc brakes all-round (1.9 GTI) vs. discs at the front and drum brakes at the back (1.6 GTI); as well as the 14-inch (360 mm) alloy wheels (1.6 GTI) vs. 15 inch alloys (1.9 GTI).

The 205 is still mentioned to this day in group car tests of the newest GTI models or equivalent. Peugeot itself has never truly recreated this success in future GTI models, although came very close with the highly regarded GTI-6 variant of the Peugeot 306. A cabriolet version of the 205, known as the CJ (or CT in France), was designed and partially assembled by Pininfarina of Italy. A CTi version, with the same plastic arches and wheels as the 1.6 GTI was also available. Some later models incorporated the catalysed 1.9 engine.

Tags: peugeot