PEUGEOT 205 GTI 1984 test drive - 1994 hatchback
Mal, yes
In the early 80s, Peugeot began to create a new rally car of group B. French engineers carefully studied competitors' cars, especially the all-wheel drive Audi QUATTRO, which just at that time began to win on rally routes, but decided that they themselves would do better. And they did ... The car, released in mid -1983, was deliberately given an external resemblance to the PEUGEOT 205 hatchback that had just entered the market and the following year, it was promoted to it as a model 205T16. However, the similarity with the serial Peugeot 205 was superficial and was determined only by a few identical body panels. The rally 205T16 was larger, had a permanent all-wheel drive, and its 4-cylinder 350-horsepower 16-valve engine with a turbocharged was located in the base.
The victorious debut took place in 1984 at the rally of 1000 lakes. Over the next two years, the Peugeot 205T16 successfully fought with formidable rivals from Lancia, Audi, Ford, Austin-Rover and Toyota, winning in 27 months 17 world championships. Not all the capabilities of the car were completely disclosed, but at the end of 1986 the rules of the competition changed, and group B ceased to exist.
205T16 cars and their sisters of the 405T16 coupe received a 300 mm base and went to rally-rays (four wins in a row in Paris-Dakar races in 1987-1990), and their place in the national level of the national level was taken by the group A of the front-wheel drive PEUGEOT 205GTI And his elongated version 309gti ...
Sports PEUGEOT 205GTI first appeared before the public at the Paris Motor Show in 1986 and lasted eight years in production. Despite the solid age of the model, many now consider this hatchback unsurpassed in terms of a combination of qualities among cars, in principle available to an ordinary buyer. Proof of this can be the 205GTI lovers, existing in many European countries, and tuning companies that still offer special sets for this model. Therefore, when we had the opportunity to ride Peugeot 205gti, we did not refuse.
The exterior of the machine is not required to describe the car well known. But to note that its design was developed in the Pininfarina studio. An additional body kit does not only spoil the appearance of the car, but on the contrary, it turns it into a small muscular strong man.
The body is a three -door four -seater hatchback. The salon is modest, almost Spartan. The red carpet of flooring is somewhat reviving it, which goes well with two-tone gray ups of seats and gray-black plastic panels. Red stripes along the seats pillows.
In the driver's seat that has a standard set of adjustments (distance to the pedals and the back tilt), even a two -meter person will not feel constrained. Flotry upholstery of the seats and developed lateral support provide reliable fixation of the body of the driver and the front passenger. At the back you can also sit with convenience, but I don’t want to linger there for a long time.
On the instrument panel, in addition to the standard set (speedometer, tachometer, fuel level indicators and coolant temperature), oil pressure indicators and its temperature are present. The central console without excesses: large rotating heating and ventilation handles of the cabin, several buttons, an ashtray and radio.
The lever of the mechanical 5-speed gearbox is exactly where necessary, the front transfers are turned on according to the usual algorithm, and to turn on the rear you need to drown the lever and move it to the left and forth.
The steering wheel MOMO has the optimal section and diameter, lies very conveniently in the hands and does not cover the devices. Its bright traffic lighting is somewhat annoying, but this is a matter of taste. The proprietary feature of all PEUGEOT cars of the small class can be considered the absence of steering hydraulic power steering and the high information content of the steering drive, this fully applies to 205GTI. Gas pedals, brakes and adhesions do not cause any attractions by the size of the moves.
Under the hood is a 4-cylinder power unit with a volume of 1.9 liters with distributed fuel injection, which issues 130 hp. To the turn of the key, the motor responds with an uniform buzzing worthy of the usual 205, from the GTI version you involuntarily expect something else, more convincing. However, the dynamics of the car pleased despite the good rubber of Goodyear, the first attempts to smoothly move out, and we sent the asphalt a little. When accelerated, even in third gear in the back of the seat, presses quite strongly. However, the equipment of the car is not surprising only 880 kg. 
In corners, the machine behaves absolutely predictably, while showing a slight insufficient rotation. A rather rigid suspension provides good stability and controllability of the machine. The rolls in the corners are minimal, and none of them observed the internal wheel, and in the front-wheel drive car with such a power ratio and mass, this is very important for the maximum implementation of the engine capabilities, nevertheless, the machine was made for temperamental people. Despite the rigidity of the suspension, the car overcomes road joints and pits without painful shudder. The brakes were on top: excellent feedback, high intensity of braking. After Peugeot, the first braking on her car happened to the yuz seemed that she did not slow down at all, and I pressed the pedal too much ...
In general, a cool car is the same Peugeot 205gti. Although it was removed from production in 1994, it still remains the subject of lust for many young people in Western Europe. It is a pity that this car is little known to our youth. But Peugeot produces other, no less charged models of 106GTI and 306GTI. We will still tell you about them.
Alexey Kostyuk
Source: Motor magazine [No. 12/1997]