1989 Peugeot 309 GTi review from Cyprus

Rear window Heater wires came off and could not be soldered back in place.

Blower Fan Blade came apart twice.

Alternator died once (when car was 12 years old) but it was repaired at a small cost (some capacitors died)

Passenger window mechanism fell apart once (when car was 13 years old)

Generally very reliable with most of the (not very serious) problems appearing after the car was more than 10 years old.

The Peugeot 309 GTI was introduced in 1987. It shares the same Engine/Gearbox as it's smaller Brother, the 205 GTI 1.9, has a bigger (and slightly heavier) body, and different suspension settings.

Thanks in part to improved weight distribution between the front and rear axles compared to the 205, the 309 is a much better handling car.

The 205 GTI 1.9 had already been one of the best handling cars in it's class ever made, but it's transition from Power Understeer, to Liftoff Oversteer was somewhat twitchy, and I could dare say even dangerous if for any reason you had to lift the throttle or brake mid Bend, then you'd probably spin before realizing what happened!!!

The 309 however remains stubbornly neutral up to the limit (it can also lift a rear inside wheel), unless excessive power is applied which in this case mild Understeer predominates. Lifting off the throttle mid-bend results in BEAUTIFULLY controlled Oversteer, with everything happening so predictably that your Grand Mother could Control it (Well maybe not your Grand Mother...)

Autocar and Motor Magazine voted the 309 GTI as "Best Hot Hatch" for 3 years in a row, Max Power Magazine Quoted "The 309 handles similarly to the 205 BUT MUCH BETTER!!" and "The more you push this car, the BETTER it Gets!".

This last comment is certainly true and I can say that the handling of most cars falls apart as speed increases, however the 309 GTI feels more taut and responsive the faster you go! (Around bends of course).

Until this moment the 309 GTI is still considered by many as one of the best handling Front wheel drive cars ever made.

Good handling cars generally suffer from bad ride quality, but with the 309 GTI this is not the case. It absorbs equally well small and big bumps at any speed, and only big bumps that are taken at town speeds can jitter the 309.

The secret lies in the fact that the suspension characteristics given to the car (and most Modern French cars in Particular), which include relatively SOFT springing, anti-dive and anti-lift suspension design, VERY stiff anti-roll bars, and well matched damping can make this car resist body roll, diving during braking, and lift during acceleration, and still provide ride quality, most (Non-French) cars wouldn't even dream of!

The only negative point is a tendency of the rear suspension to squat during Heavy acceleration, but this gives a very pleasant "takeoff" feel to the car.

However this concerns the Standard suspension.

Steering and Brakes are equally impressive, the former being power assisted rack and pinion with 3.1 turns lock to lock, providing plenty of feel, outstanding precision, virtually zero play around the straight ahead position (Unlike many German cars...), and the latter being four relatively large diameter discs (Ventilated at the front), providing excellent stopping power (without ABS), good bite, a taut brake pedal, good linearity, and fade free performance, although here I have to mention that I replaced all the Rubber Brake Lines with Racing Ones which are Reinforced with Metal Braiding and do not allow the rubber tubes to expand with pressure or increased temperature.

The standard wheels are 6x15" Speedline Alloys, shod with 185/55VR15 Tyres (Michelin Pilot HX MXV3A Tyres worked particularly well).

Gear ratios are extremely well matched, with a very high geared 1st (It will reach approx. 70Kph (43Mph) @ 6750RPM Cut-Out), close ratios between all gears, and with the 5th gear being low geared enough to provide useful acceleration. Good Gearchange (not as good as the best Japanese), and effective synchromesh complete the picture.

It's normally aspirated 4 cylinder oversquare All Aluminium engine has a capacity of 1905cc, 8 valve cylinderhead, and with a compression ratio of 9.6:1 and Bosch L-Jetronic Fuel Injection, develops 130Bhp @ 6000RPM, and 16.8Kgm (121.5lbft) of torque @ 4750RPM, with the torque curve flat enough to allow useful acceleration from as low as 2000RPM in 5th. (approx. 65kph (40mph) onwards). This engine however sounds and feels stressed beyond 6000RPM, so revving it to the 6750RPM Cut-Out Limit is somewhat sadistic! Eliminating the two standard partitioned exhaust silencers to a "Straight Through" exhaust system, proved a great help in this aspect.

Performance figures are not very impressive by current standards, and this 930Kg car will reach according to Peugeot test figures, 62mph (100kph) in 8.0 Seconds, and a top speed of 128mph (206kph). In practice the top speed claims of Peugeot seem somewhat optimistic, since most 309 GTI 8v owners I know never achieved more than around 120mph (193kph).

Fuel consumption is not good, and I've seen some horrendous fuel consumption figures from this car when you really push it down to 16mpg (18litres/100km).

In normal conditions the car averages about 25mpg (11litres/100km) which is still not good.

Other Plus points of this car are comfortable and supportive bucket front seats, good visibility and driving position (for me at least - I'm 1.67m (5'6") tall), good headlamp performance with 2 fog lamps, and 2 long range lights as standard (although mine has a modified electric circuit with high power relays to use 6x100w halogen lamps instead of the standard 55w...), useful instrument dials including oil pressure and oil temperature gauges, a big loading area, and enough room for 4 adults.

Negative points include plasticky dash, creaking plastic fittings that fall apart, very slow ventilation fan and windscreen wipers, flexible bodyshell (which strangely feels stiffer the faster you go!!), and that horrendous fuel consumption mentioned before.