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The Peugeot 205 GTI was a truely stunning car in its categories group A & N below 2000cc (A7 & N3). The 205 GTI is by many amateur drivers and observers regarded as the true spiritual successor to the Mk1 & Mk2 Escort, while the Mk3 Escort certainly did not have any of the spirits that made previous RWD Escorts so outstanding. The 205 GTI had a superb handling, it was ultra reliable and easy to maintain, motorsport parts were cheap, of good quality and plenty of them available, and forming the original base of the World's most successful one-makes championship to date, there were soon absolutely masses of 205s found on the rally stages. Indeed, if you think to compare the heritage of the 205 GTI to RWD Escorts is a bit ambitious, try this: www.205challenge.com - it's still going strong today!
In WRC terms the gA & gN 205 ironically had its more famous moments only after the works team withdrew from the sport. The 205 GTI was launched in 1984, very much in line with the groupB 205 T16, even debuting on the same event, and not surprisingly the GTI stayed in the shadow of the T16 for the time being. Tho by pure coincidence the stronger GTI 1.9 version arrived only in early 1987, when the first groupA season started. When groupA became the top WRC category, there was no works involvement any more and the 205 GTI had neither turbo nor 4x4, but all this couldn't stop it to become a fairly regular top10 finisher or even groupN winner.
The strongest version 205 GTI was the 1.9, that was only launched in 1987 to improve low end torque over the original 1.6. As a 1905cc 8v this top 205 GTI should hardly have been a match to its 2.0 16v class competition, yet it was exactly that. One of the reasons was the stiff and robust torsion bar rear axle that over the years became very typical for French cars. Firm torsion bars along the axle itself made coil springs obsolete while the dampers were horizontally located along the longitudinally mounted trailing arms (the axle itself being located in front of the wheels rather than between them). For road use this allowed the tiniest inner wheel arches, giving the car an ultra wide, flat boot. In driving physics it meant the wheel travel was always in a straight line rather than in a camber as with the traditional triangle track control arms (usually in curves turning negative on the outside rear wheel, such having that wheel flat on the ground, which is not the case on the Peugeot torsion bar rear axle). This was on the 205 combined with an unbelieveable traction and front grip for a FWD. All this already meant the FWD 205 never had a tendency to understeer, it was in fact more wildly oversteering than many RWD cars. Add to this the low weight, especially on the rear, a super direct and crisp steering, strong and reliable brakes, easy going low end torque, the 205 was such a superb overall package that it could make up its power deficit for a long time and in a real fun manner.
This is underlined if you compare the 205 to the successes of its main opposition. If we are looking at FWD non-turbo cars of that era, there are only 3 that ever managed podium finishes at WRC level: The Volkswagen Golf GTI 16v, the Opel Kadett (Astra) GSI 16v and the Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9. Of these the Peugeot was the least powerful car by far. The Golf managed to win the Bandama Rallye 1987 with Kenneth Eriksson. However here it must be said that was the event where the Toyota team management was involved in a fatal plain crash, and all other works drivers bar Nissan's Shekhar Mehta stopped competing to mark their respect. Volkswagen's only ever win certainly was not a graceful one. The Kadett won in NZ 1988 with Sepp Haider. This again was a works entry on an inexplicably low key Rally NZ, the top10 being made up with cars as Toyota Starlet, Daihatsu Charade and Suzuki Swift. The 205's biggest moment of glory was a very different story. Jean-Pierre Ballet finished 3rd overall in Monte Carlo 1988 with a 205 GTI 1.9. But Ballet was not a big name driver, having rarely made it into the top10 with group B Porsches beforehand. His entry had in difference to the Golf & Kadett highlights no works support whatsoever. And still Ballet left people as Timo Salonen in a works Mazda 323 4WD Turbo, Alain Oreille in an R11 Turbo and a number of strong Audi Coupé Quattros behind. Clearly the 205 GTI didn't have to hide behind any other non-turbo FWD cars.
Another interesting aspect of the 205 GTI is that the car was homologated in no less that 6 of the 8 rally classes, and the lower the classes the better it got! Above we mainly talk of the 205 GTI 1.9 in A7 & N3.
The original 205 GTI was the 1.6 for classes A6 & N2. The only differences to the 1.9 was that the 1.6 had a shorter stroke and in gN it had rear drum brakes and 14" wheels rather than 15". The 1.6 also had a closer ratio gearbox and in road trim was only 15BHP down on the 1.9, but being a whole class lower, you see how interesting this car was.
And the 205 Rallye 1.3, that came in 1987 like the 1.9, literally was a piss take! Peugeot wanted to show that group A as it was was an unfortunate top rally category. For the lowest, up to 1300cc, categories A5 & N1 they developed a 205 minus all gimmicks, super light and an engine that would have exactly 1299.9cc and with 4 huge caburettors it would deliver 100BHP already in road trim, just 30BHP down on the 1.9. The exact minimum number had been produced. This was like in the group B days a homologation special, only that the minimum production number had been increased from 200 to 5,000 units. Clearly it was created to show off the FIA and their new rules, the car obviously cost much less than any bigger category homologation special, but why else would you create a homologation special for the class least likely to delvier overall results? Not surprisingly this car stayed a class winner for more than a decate, and it did so in such stunning way that it only stopped dominating when the FIA increased the max displacement from 1300cc to 1400cc! And even then it still could win its class, it just wasn't dominating as much any more.
|
Model & Evo. (Activity) |
BHP@ RPM |
Torque (Nm)@ RPM |
Length Width Height |
Weight (Kg/BPM Ratio) |
Trans. (W'base) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 205 GTI 1.6 (84-96) |
145/6250 | 160/4000 | 3705.1589.1355 | 850 (5.9) | FWD (2420) |
|
205 GTI 1.9 (87-00) |
175/6000 | 194/4750 | 3705.1589.1355 | 875 (5.1) | FWD (2420) |
|
205 Rallye 1.3 (87-00) |
130/7500 | 140/4000 | 3705.1589.1355 | 785 (6) | FWD (2420) |
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