172 beaten by 205 1.9!!!! Aghhhh!

[Mav]

On saturday night i was 2 up and a 205 came wizzing past before slowing down and wanting to play. I decided it should be a good match but was surprised by how he managed to actually pull away from me when accelerating from roundabouts. To add insult to injury he had 3 people in hi car and i was almost out of fuel!!!

Whats going on? From the specs i should at least level peg with the older car. And its not my dodgy gear change (i sorted that by wearing different shoes in the car as i found my problem was my big feet not pushing the pedal right to the bottom )

Do you reckon it was modified in anyway? it didnt look like it from the outside.

Feeling a bit depressed, time for a portion of viper and chips i believe.

Mav

 

[KDF]

either your 172 is knacked or the 205 was modded,

pug 205 1.9 GTi is 7.8 seconds 0-60

although having owned 2 205 GTis I can vouch for the handling on the twisties, In the 2 years of ownership I NEVER once managed to get the tyres to let go.

You may say I wasnt trying that hard but believe me I was, scared the mailto:cr@p">cr@p out of my GF and a few friends.

One of em in the back (not wearing seatbelt) slid from one side of the car to the other and hit her head of the rear quarter glass, pissed myself laughing though... hehe

 

[steve a]

Umm maybe a MI16?

 

[Mav]

Thats what i was thinking Steve. And i was trying on the roundabout but i had to let off a bit as the understeer was taking me to the barrier. He seemed to have no problem. (he was lowered to the floor though)

How can u tell if it is a MI16? Any badges?

 

[geoff_clio182]

Probably just an MI16 engine conversion, but those 1.9s are quite easy to tune up so it wouldnt surprise me if you got beaten.

 

[Mav]

I assume that they have a weight advantage as well? It looked like it was made of paper to me!!

 

[Steveold]

You should get bigger front tyres if your understeering!

 

[Mav]

Id like to but i want to keep the same rolling diameter. Is is it possible to get 205s or 215s with the same RD? Does anyone know for sure if u can get 205s on the standard wheels? ive heard tell but not tried it.

 

[Clapshot]

If it was an mi-16 im pretty sure you would have known it wasnt standard, they are about 160bhp standard and the 1.9 GTi is 130bhp, not a lot to them either so they wont weigh much. went a run in one and it was seriously rapid, only problem was the mental insurance. It had a few things done to it aswell so it prob had a few more horses to give. It managed to let the tyres go regulary!! There wouldnt have been any badges unless the person who did the conversion badged it, seen that a few times!h

 

[Ben H]

The 205 GTi 1.9 is legendary. It was without question the benchmark by which all hot hatches have followed since. The 5 GT Turbo was more tuneable that the Pug, but back in the day it was the 205 that showed the 5 where to go on the twisties.

It took Renault until 1991 with the 16v, then the Williams, to get ahead.

Id be very surprised if it wasnt a 2.0 MI16 lump in there: a very popular modification, which expalins why there are so many engine-less 405 MI16 and Citroen BX GTis out there!

 

[Clapshot]

Is the 16v actually ahead of the 205? Ive heard people saying that the wiliams was the first to better the 205?

 

[Turkish]

Mate of mine had a 205 with a 306 gti 6 lump in it running carbs and a few other mods, had no limiter so revved to about 8000 spat flames, had about 235 bhp and cuz it weighs the same as a biscuit tin we used to smoke standard scoobies with ease. was probably an mi16 though as gti6 conversions are well rare

 

[Ben H]

I think the 16v/Williams took the 205 GTi concept further. They added a bit of refinement, less snap-tastic handling and more technology - rather than sheer grunt.

I dont think a 16v/Williams is really appreciably quicker in a straight line or in handling terms - they have different power delivery characteristics and more friendly handling.

Remember that the Williams was a special edition of the 16v. The Williams was a more thorough re-working than the Cup is of the 172, but it is nevertheless a very similar machine to the 16v.

 

[Clapshot]

oh ok, i always got the impression that the williams was far more superior to the 16v in handling terms. I never really knew but i remember reading a supplement that was part of performance car magazine, it had icons, nearly icons and undeserved icons or something like that. It raved about the williams and put it in as an icon but the 16v was a nearly icon and said it was nearly very good but failed to put a smile on your face. i dont have the mag here but thats how i remember it, something like that ne way!

 

[Dazz F]

Where abouts was this race? I mean I know the 172 will p**s on the 205 in standard form but most are modded. For instance my mate has one that has a 306 GTi-6 engine with cams modded head twin carbs etc and is packing 220 bhp and i know the Mi-16 conversion is cheap as chips so it is possible.

Dazz

 

[Simon172]

my friend has an extremely good condition miami blue 1.9 gti 205 and hes had the flywheel lightened and balanced, and gas flowed - its pretty quick even with those mods.

 

[16V_Matt]

ive raced a standard 1.9 gti and i had to slow down to avoid runnin up his ass!

Matt

 

[weyland]

Yep, was definately modded to some high degree. Have toasted plenty of 1.9 gtis (standard) in a straight line when 2 up and a full tank (no chance in the corners though). You can tell if they are modded by the fact that it is faster than you! as no way is a pug 1900 faster, even if you are 4 up, full tank, full boot etc it will very very close......and it should be lowered as the handling would be suicidal without lowering it as the heavier mi16 engine and gearbox etc.. play havoc with the chassis, like my friends one was like.

Dont like being beaten? Then buy either a ferrari, tuscan r, or r500, I could not decide so got all 3..



Bye Bye

 

[Nick Read]

They are easy to mod or tune, the MI-16 is a nice conversion and the thing is that a lot of 205 owners like stealth (good on em) - the job is done properly and youd never know until you get smoked. Things like TB conversions, had work etc reap a lot of power, much more than youd get out of a CLio 16v with similar work. Plus they are light.

 

[Pysco]

The 1.9 GTI can be made very very quick simply by swoping the box for the 1.6 GTI box, my mates done this in his otherwise standard 1.9 and he canes me upto about 90mph.

 

[Scott R]

The 205 was without doubt the best handling hot hatch in its price range.

Still miss mine now. Mine was lowered 60mm on standard 15" wheels and had the cam, head, flywheel, etc all done and then had the twin carb conversion. Had my 172 lowered and it still does not corner, handle and hold like the pug.

Scott