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Hi guys, well I'm back in OZ and as promised, here are my driving impressions - I still haven't stopped buzzing..
Like many Peugeot fans, I have always been in awe of the 4WD turbocharged 205 T16 rally car that dominated the Group-B rally championship in 1985 and 1986 before they, along with the other "monster" cars of that era were banned from rallying in 1987. In 1984, Peugeot homologated around 200 road-going versions in slate-grey with another 30 or so in white with the Peugeot Talbot Sport racing colours as per the rally car. Anyone that has ever read a road test of the road-going 205 T16 will note the unimpressive 7.2 seconds 0-100km/h (or thereabout) specifications. This is primarily due to it being around 1175 kg compared to the rally car at 900kg or less combined with the fact that the cars ran quite low boost whilst retaining a CR of around 6.5:1. This resulted in a power output of around 200bhp compared to around 500bhp and above in the rally car. Given the low CR it is fairly easy to raise boost and severely increase power in these cars and for this reason, many of the 200 road-going versions were tuned to rally spec by amateur rally drivers and unfortunately crashed leaving an apparent 30 or so spread around the world.
For the last year or so, in parallel to sorting out my 205-Mi16, I have been tracking down as many as possible of the remaining cars with a view to eventually buying one and Yes, I am a dreamer but also quite a determined one. As a bit of a reality check, this is no cheap option. By the time the car is purchased, freighted and the various duties and taxes paid you are looking at well over A$100,000.. and I do mean WELL over. Despite these initial challenges, it is still something I’m looking to do and I have so far tracked down 6, spread around the world.
I was lucky enough to meet up with one owner last week and to actually drive my first 205-T16. To me, this was an absolute dream come true - something I really feel priveledged to have done and I thought it would be worthwhile sharing my impressions:-
Firstly, driving into a carpark and actually seeing the car in the metal (or fibreglass as many panels are comprised) is an absolute event in itself. They are still a small car but have a real presence, with its widened track, flared arches and huge side-intakes for the rear mounted motor. It just looks awesome from every angle no matter how many times you walk around it. The rear sits low and wide with the 3 slats going the width of the car. The sides show bulges from every angle like a pit-bull and the front with the air-intake to cool the front-mounted radiator is just dominating. I spent about half an hour just walking around the car, taking pictures and looking in awe at the rear engine bay with it's beautiful offset 1800cc motor, the highly visible turbocharger and each of the rally spec components – the engineering is just beautiful to look at.
The owner was as passionate as I am about these cars and we shared stories and facts about the car. He knew every bit of history and the car was in absolutely pristine condition, having being used primarily for car shows. When I was offered a test drive, I just couldn't refuse.
Getting into the car on the left hand side (all homologated cars were left-hand-drive) was not abnormal for me as I spend a lot of my time driving left-hand-drive cars, but it had been a long time since I had drive a left-hand drive manual, so this was going to be interesting. Looking around the cockpit, which is what it felt like with the engine bay just behind you, a lot seemed familiar but I was faced with a significantly larger array of gauges for oil temperature, pressure, boost etc spread across the dashboard. The first thing I noticed was the very heavy clutch which took a fair amount of pressure to engage. The gear-shift felt absolutely solid - just beautiful and quite different to my Mi16 gearbox in shift-feel. The seats were firm but comfortable with what seemed to be quite good support. I put the car in neutral and turned the key, not quite knowing what to expect. The car burbled into life instantly and although not hugely intrusive the noise enveloped the entire car with a beautiful, low burbling sound not unlike a WRX except the engine was right behind us! I engaged reverse which is to the right and down and let the clutch out - I didn't stall it so, so far so good.
The steering was beautifully direct and the overwhelming feeling that I had with the car was solid and muscular - it felt like it had been milled from solid titanium, with each part so tightly bound to the other. I accelerated smoothly in first gear and not wanting to accelerate too hard in first, engaged second at reasonable revs – the gearchange was just beautiful, almost like a click-click and very unlike any Peugeot I had driven before - it felt quite like an MX5 box if anyone has driven one. In second, I let it rev a bit higher waiting for the turbo to kick in. The feeling here was similar to a Porsche 930 turbo. Not so much in terms of acceleration because it isn’t running high boost, but more-so in terms of the transition as the low CR makes the motor quite dull and lethargic until it receives boost and then quite suddenly it starts to pull and keeps pulling. You just know that with some serious boost this thing would be an absolute animal that would rip tar and pull you rapidly towards the horizon. Another click-click and I was in third and the car started pulling harder. The engine at higher revs sounds just awesome - you can hear it working just behind you and it just begs to be revved out. It was then that I noticed that the gauge was in km/h and we were starting to do some serious speed seriously quickly. Given the rarity of the car I backed off a bit and changed into 4th. Although I didn’t push it hard, you could definitely feel the 4WD drive-train working through the corners and I have to say it seemed to provide more positive feedback to the driver than the WRXs that I am so used to. That was probably the overriding feeling, one of being totally connected to the road. It was not that you felt every bump (as I do in my 205-Mi16) but that you felt all that was necessary and that every move of the steering wheel was instantly translated to a proportional result. Fifth gear is really very much of an overdrive, in fact I would say that the gear ratios are not that dissimilar from those in a Mi16.
We drove back to the carpark at normal pace and it was clear that this was a car that could be driven in traffic with little fuss although the heavy clutch action would take some getting used to on longer trips. The brakes were solid and progressive although like most 205’s I have driven, the pedal feel was soft. There were none of the usual creaks and groans that I was used to from my 205 chassis and suspension, everything just worked. The suspension was solid with almost no body roll. The extra track of the car wasn’t really noticeable and it certainly didn’t feel heavy. I just enjoyed each gearchange, the burble and then intense roar of the motor just behind us, each turn of the steering wheel and each time the turbo started to pull, knowing that with more boost this would be awesome.
To be honest it is difficult and probably unfair to compare this car to anything that we are familiar with today, especially on a short drive like this at medium pace. That said, it does not take long to realize that the car is something special and capable of excellent handling and very rapid acceleration. It didn’t take long for me to feel part of the car and to start imagining the history and the awesome drivers that drove the monster rally prepared versions. I started imagining the car arriving in Australia, I saw it sitting in my favourite tuning shop and the new ECU and turbo going in and I could see myself adding just one more line to the budget – some plastic surgery to get this permanent smile off my face !!!
Out of respect for the owner of this vehicle, I haven’t made any high quality images available at this stage but the ones below should at least give you some angles you probably wouldn’t have seen before.
I will continue to dream.. AND PLAN !!
Cheers to all
Steve
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205 GTi
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