Thread: 205 1.9 GTi

I used to have one the exact same. But I still think they are stunning and seriously cool!!

Handle like a go kart and getting quite rare now so gets a cool from me.

Almost the same cult status as the Mk2 Golf GTI imo, too bad most of them have rotted away to nothing, for the ones that are still about, they demand respect on the twisty stuff.

I used to have Graphite Grey 1.9GTI when I was 18 the insurance was steap but what a car. I put 15" TSW Stealths on it a must have at the time, Avo adjustable suspension, Stainless exhaust etc, it was awesome, handled like a Go Kart, part of me wishes I never sold it.

Mind you I did get through a set of Yoko A510's in 3000 miles.

A couple of mate's had these when I had my MkII GTI. They were definitely rapid and nice on the corners but sometimes wondered if the chassis was up to the job at hand. There's a guy a couple of miles from me that seems to aquire these every couple of months, do them up and then plaster a nasty dimma kit or something as horrible onto it then sell it on. Really is a shame to see the process over and over again.

Loved mine and it educated me in lifting off mid corner! It was all or the wall!

For two years I used to drive the A339 from Basingstoke to Alton (nice and twisty with a good surface in most places) at 5 in the morning and this car would put a smile on my face every time!

Cool car! Don't forget the T16 either, what an immense little rocket that was.

Who'd have thought it, a forum full of Audi-loving pro-Deutsche anti-Francaise chumps are bigging up a Peugeot

Used to have one, the most fun car I think i ever owned!!!

It was the first car I really loved, sold an absolute minter to some annoying chavs, it was a shame really but it was the first bite i'd had in months, dread to think how it looks now, if it still exists that is...

Originally Posted by batwad

Who'd have thought it, a forum full of Audi-loving pro-Deutsche anti-Francaise chumps are bigging up a Peugeot

They don't make them like they use to do they?

Top car.

Especially on a set of Dimma split rims with colour coded centres.

When i owned one i acctuall forgot how many special edtions were made. Loads of different ones. Griffe, there was one that had something to do with radio one. the list really does go on.

i love these cars ive had 5 1.9s (2 mi16s one was a dimma original) and 3 1.6s i currently have a 1.9 with the mi16 engine purely as a summer/track day toy, running on twin 45 carbs

this in my mind is the ultimate gti, yes ok the body is a bit flimsy and the plastic interior is cheap, but nice day out on the track or windey b roads you dont think of that

they handle and have enough power to keep you happy

the 1.6 is a better alround car than the 1.9 though, as the 1.9 can become a bit skitty when pushed and the 1.6 is better balanced,

they only made 25 radio one models and it only came in black with diffent stereo and cd etc.........but if you look on auto trader theres always someone saying theirs is a radio one model and it s red or white etc

alan

my mate had one years ago, so much fun!

This IS the car that started the Hot Hatch off, its an icon. Sub zero in my book.

Originally Posted by A4Quattro

This IS the car that started the Hot Hatch off

I love the 205GTI but I think the MK1 Golf GTI might have a good claim to that one

It's a cool car for raising the bar within the hot hatch market!

Ultimate original Hot Hatch GTi

I had 2 back in the day and the 2nd was a Turbo Technics conversion! That thing loved petrol.. lol

Originally Posted by S3Steve

I love the 205GTI but I think the MK1 Golf GTI might have a good claim to that one

Yeah, VW invented the name...but a bendy old Mk1 GTI with no brakes is no match for the Pug.

205s are sublime to drive...they just got it sooooo right with the 205 GTI...and sadly, little has ever got close to the near perfect blend of power, weight, balance, grip and brakes that the 1.6 205 GTI had.

Sure the 1.9 was a wee bit quicker, looked better and had a 'nicer' interior...but the 1.6 is the true icon, in my book.

Absolutely brilliant...even now.

Sub zero!!!

I've had a couple, and we absolutely adored them,.....a genuine hoot.

My mate brought his cheeky sleeper round a couple of weeks ago,...................

Originally Posted by Dan Gliballs

Sub zero!!!

I've had a couple, and we absolutely adored them,.....a genuine hoot.

My mate brought his cheeky sleeper round a couple of weeks ago,...................

It really is 80's night at your house every weekend isn't it?

I loved my 1.9 GTi though was greatly dissapointed when I couldn't do much with a mates considerably cheaper 1.6 GTi.

I had it chipped (superchips), a magnes manifold and exhaust, a K&N completre with sticker, strut brace etc etc rolling roaded less than standard, top end rattled like a fiesta popular and cardboard backed half leather.

Originally Posted by nervus

*It really is 80's night at your house every weekend isn't it?

*I had it chipped (superchips), a magnes manifold and exhaust, a K&N completre with sticker, strut brace etc etc rolling roaded less than standard, top end rattled like a fiesta popular and cardboard backed half leather.

*Haha, I've been rumbled

Yeah, I love late 70s/80s/early 90's cars, they have far more character



















LMAO!!!!


*I asked Ernie Larton (LAD Motorsport) to chip my GTi,.................and he refused as he said they didn't work LOL

Dan, would you by any chance describe yourself as a Vauxhall fan?

Oh, and can I please be the first to shout "WHALETAIL ALERT!" and post this

Is that a cheeky Mi16 Conversion? with carbs?

Originally Posted by Dan Gliballs

Sub zero!!!

I've had a couple, and we absolutely adored them,.....a genuine hoot.

My mate brought his cheeky sleeper round a couple of weeks ago,...................

Get the cool vote from me because I use to have a red one when I was about 19 yrs old only had it about 10 month I wrote it off being a bit of a pleb

I used to have Ph2 1.9 and have just bought a Ph1 on the cheap (quite rare now) as a bit of a toy!

http://www.david.barber.zen.co.uk/Pr...U/100_0654.JPG

...notice the ever present haynes manual! and next with the ralllye hoare rims:

http://www.david.barber.zen.co.uk/Pr...20TAU/Side.JPG

Love em'...

Originally Posted by Beerzo

Is that a cheeky Mi16 Conversion? with carbs?

Yep

It made 180bhp at Southern Carburretors in Wimbledon

Extremely ferocious little car

Originally Posted by batwad

Dan, would you by any chance describe yourself as a Vauxhall fan?

Ever so slightly yes

I've owned about 30 of them to date.

Originally Posted by Dan Gliballs

Ever so slightly yes

I've owned about 30 of them to date.

Be careful ... never let 'them' think there is a secret 'Vauxhall Underworld' group on this site ... ssshhhh!

Before my first Audi my last baby was a Mk2 Vectra 2.5 v6 GSi ... and I've recently bought my better half an Astra (mine for the weekend).

I wish I new how to post pics ...

Originally Posted by wigginer

Before my first Audi my last baby was a Mk2 Vectra 2.5 v6 GSi ... and I've recently bought my better half an Astra (mine for the weekend).

I wish I new how to post pics ...

You know what?
I'm pleased you don't know how to post pics...

Originally Posted by wigginer

Before my first Audi my last baby was a Mk2 Vectra 2.5 v6 GSi ...

Here Dan...
You seem to have a penchant for high power cars that can't corner.

(1999 Nogaro S4 Avant/Astra GTE Turbo.)

Originally Posted by Ess_Three

Here Dan...
You seem to have a penchant for high power cars that can't corner.

(1999 Nogaro S4 Avant/Astra GTE Turbo.)

LOL, you get MEANER by the day!!!

The Astra had all the chassis strengthened, and ran on Courtenay/Bilstein Premium suspension,...................MUCH better Also had a Quaife LSD to stop me torque-steering into the hedge with it's 300bhp per ton PTWR. Had to be awake to drive that wee sleeper

Aye, the S4 understeers into roundabouts etc, but it doesn't half drag you OUT of them quickly I need a safe, fast, turbo'd family estate car that I can carry my drums around in,..........................and sadly Vauxhall can't quite fulfill the criteria LMAO!!!!

Originally Posted by Dan Gliballs

LOL, you get MEANER by the day!!!

At least you take the comments in good spirit!
Fair play...

The Astra had all the chassis strengthened, and ran on Courtenay/Bilstein Premium suspension,...................MUCH better Also had a Quaife LSD to stop me torque-steering into the hedge with it's 300bhp per ton PTWR. Had to be awake to drive that wee sleeper

Aye, the S4 understeers into roundabouts etc, but it doesn't half drag you OUT of them quickly I need a safe, fast, turbo'd family estate car that I can carry my drums around in,..........................and sadly Vauxhall can't quite fulfill the criteria LMAO!!!!

I used to have a Nova SR that was tested in CCC years ago...Blydenstein engine, coilovers, Chavalier GSI brakes all round etc...it had a ZF clutch+plate LSD and you needed arms like Arnie to drive that bad boy.

I hasten to add, this was 1995...long before the Chavs got hold of the Nova.

Originally Posted by Ess_Three

*At least you take the comments in good spirit!
Fair play...

*I used to have a Nova SR that was tested in CCC years ago...Blydenstein engine, coilovers, Chavalier GSI brakes all round etc...it had a ZF clutch+plate LSD and you needed arms like Arnie to drive that bad boy.

I hasten to add, this was 1995...long before the Chavs got hold of the Nova.

*Not really,..................I wept openly at your last comments

*Good wee cars in their day I got my first one (E plate) in 1992. PCS sytem/K&N/Kent cam etc blah blah,.......................and that was when virtually NOBODY was modifying them (except for rallying etc). In fact I got it on the very same month that Max Pooer came out LOL!!! I've had 2 genuine Nova Sports too, along with that 2.0 16v shed sleeper you see above (badged as a 1.2L ).

Quite a journey from a Vauxhall Nova to a Porsche 911 then? LOL!!

Originally Posted by Dan Gliballs

*Not really,..................I wept openly at your last comments

Ahh...bless!

We now head Waaaayyyy off topic!!

*Good wee cars in their day I got my first one (E plate) in 1992. PCS sytem/K&N/Kent cam etc blah blah,.......................and that was when virtually NOBODY was modifying them (except for rallying etc). In fact I got it on the very same month that Max Pooer came out LOL!!! I've had 2 genuine Nova Sorts too, along with that 2.0 16v shed sleeper you see above (badged as a 1.2L ).

August 1st 1990 was when H655RSS, a Mistral Gray 1.4 SR was collected...

5 years later and all this lot done: Blydenstein B Pack+ Astra CDi head (same as Nova GTE but without the exhaust hot-spot), lightened and balanced 1.6 bottom end in the standard 1.4 block, twin 40 Webers, Pipercross filter, Avo remote-reservoir coil-overs, Gp 'A rear beam, discs all round, Nova SRI (F13 I think) gear kit in the standard F10 casing, ZF clutch and plate diff, GTE driveshafts (used to break SR shafts), modified 1.3SR distributor, etc, etc...what a beast!

Tested by CCC...it used to pull 7600 in top (18.7 MPH/1000 RMP in top) and against a Guttman 1.9 205 GTI, I passed him with the rev counter reading just over 7500 in top. You do the maths.

Let's just say, at only 785ish Kgs...it went. And went well...

Photos:
7th in the CCC Converted Car of the year competition 1995:


Then a test in November 1995:






Now that's what I call cornering!

Originally Posted by CCC Magazine

"Once our recommendations and findings have been put into practice, the car will surely be the best there is in that sector. It will be hard to better this effort, so get cracking you lot; I dare you to enter your car!

That, I like...

Quite a journey from a Vauxhall Nova to a Porsche 911 then? LOL!!

Nova 1.0, Nova 1.4SR, Mk3 Golf GTI, Integra Type-R, S3, (Mk3 Golf GTI 16v Anniversary...still got!) 911.

That's a nice front splitter with touring car metal rods at the front to boot LOL! How much BHP was that chavtastic mod worth Glen?

It's worth no more power...but it stops a car with the aerodynamic properties of a brick outhouse loosing it's steering as the nose lifts at a genuine 135+ MPH.
That thing was rock solid at 7000 RPM+ in top...

Without it, I'd have entered a field somewhere around 115 MPH.

The metal rods were added after the first one broke...the airflow just a tad too much for it with no support!

Bloody hell, that was probably the one issue I didn't own LOL!!

Great spec, and back in the days when carbs ruled, and tuning was sod all to do with remaps and winding up actuators (for the average man on the street anyway).

Same colour as my first one, though mine was a 1.3 obviously on an E plate.

TWIN 40'S ROCK!!!! I loved the sucking/barking/popping mine made on the Sports

Originally Posted by Dan Gliballs

Bloody hell, that was probably the one issue I didn't own LOL!!

I still have my copy safely tucked away...

Great spec, and back in the days when carbs ruled, and tuning was sod all to do with remaps and winding up actuators (for the average man on the street anyway).

Ah yes...those were the days.
When messing with the ignition advance meant a mig welder and a file, adding & removing metal from the advance curve in the dizzy...those were the days!!

Same colour as my first one, though mine was a 1.3 obviously on an E plate.

Good choice...

TWIN 40'S ROCK!!!! I loved the sucking/barking/popping mine made on the Sports

You got that distinctive smell on your fingers from handling Weber jets...great!
No man could be serious about fettling without a pocket full of main jets, idle jets, pump jets, emulsion tubes, air correctors and chokes!
Proper tuning...a bag of Weber bits, a Snap-On timing light (which I still have), a 13mm spanner, a flat blade screwdriver and a length of garden hose was enough to tune Webers.
Ace!

I always wanted a Nova Sport...I'd still have one now in my Lottery garage.

The 205GTI is the definitive 80's hot hatch. Owned both the MK2 Golf GTI and the 205 and there's no doubting that the little pug would leave the MK2 for dead in pure cornering ability and fun. That said the Golf was easily the better car- verdict: Cool. If you've got even a thimblefull of petrol racing around your veins then you'll agree.

Originally Posted by Ess_Three

I always wanted a Nova Sport...I'd still have one now in my Lottery garage.

Superb little cars, but only about 70 left on the register last time I heard

I had a very clean one when I was 19 (1993), then I discovered a genuine rotter when I was 28. I bought that to strip the engine parts off, and sold the rolling shell on for a profit.

I wanted to relive my youth but couldn't find a good one for sale,.................so at 30 I had my own replica built out of a white/C plate/3 door/no sunroof/brown interior/genuine 43K miles from new SR.............................

Nice!
With the correct Irmscher back box too!

Looks good on those wheels...I always liked 6" x 15" Revolution RFX on the Novas...with white centres obviously!

Originally Posted by Ess_Three

Nice!
With the correct Irmscher back box too!

Looks good on those wheels...I always liked 6" x 15" Revolution RFX on the Novas...with white centres obviously!

I grovelled to Brian Ashley for MONTHS to get that one-off red backbox made, infact it was unique as he made it suit a one-off full bore system that he made for me too

I'm a Revolution man too as a rule, and I had some on my first Sport all those years ago. Revolution's distribution warehouse is based here in Horsham BTW

You still got that one?

Got any other pics you could let me see?
PM or email if you prefer...

Originally Posted by jojo

That's a nice front splitter with touring car metal rods at the front to boot LOL! How much BHP was that chavtastic mod worth Glen?

Stone me ! I had the same splitter on my nova. Bought it from a guy called Pete neal when I was with the Performance Nova Group. Did you get it off him Glenn ?
BTW, who's the tall ugly bloke in the pics ?

Originally Posted by s3bow

Stone me ! I had the same splitter on my nova. Bought it from a guy called Pete neal when I was with the Performance Nova Group. Did you get it off him Glenn ?

Sadly not...
I made the splitter from a sheet of plastic normally used for lining double glazed replacement windows...shaped by my own fair hands!

This was long before the PNG, Courtney were only just going...Carqiup were on the go, and Nova Sport in Newcastle (they did my didsributor)...but mostly the info came from Harry Hockley Motorsport (I bought their Gp 'A' build manual) and from other text books (the splitter!)

BTW, who's the tall ugly bloke in the pics ?

The tall dark haired handsome chap would be me...before I lost my hair and put weight on. Doh!

Ugly bloke! Do you want banning?

Originally Posted by Ess_Three

You still got that one?

Got any other pics you could let me see?
PM or email if you prefer...

I'll have to take some photographs of photographs (no fookin scanner here).

The vauxhall underbelly is rising again....

All this talk of the old vauxhall days is bringing back memories. I too started off with a Nova. But mine was the finest Nova in the land, a lovely A reg 1.2L in a very tasteful Brown. ha ha

Then came the E plate 1.3SR in White, the day I bought it the cam went, so out cam the engine - nothing too drastic, just a rebuild, bit of head work, kent cam, janspeed 4 branch and the must have Webber 40's.

This lasted a while, until I got my hands on an Astra GTE 16v in Bordeaux red.
This was just as the turbo conversions / transplants where beginning to start. A friend converted his Nova GTE and that was it I had to have one, a £1k later and a 10k mile 2.0T lump was sat in the garage waiting to be fitted.
After some bloody knuckles and and a bit of trial and error the engine was in, a fortune spent in other mods, 6sp box etc etc that I wont go into and the rest is history.

An Astra GSi followed this which remained pretty standard then came the S3, the Leon Cupra R and the A4 2.8Q.

I still wish I'd kept my Astra GTE though, I dont know why but I loved that car.
I'll have to dig out some of the photos.

Whoops - Sorry back on topic, yes the 205 Gti is a cool car.