1988 Peugeot 205 Reviews - Page 7 of 7

1988 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9 injection petrol from UK and Ireland

Year of manufacture	1988
Engine and transmission	1.9 injection petrol
Performance marks	10 / 10
Reliability marks	9 / 10
Comfort marks	7 / 10
Dealer Service marks	7 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper)	8 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)	8.2 / 10

Faults:

Clutch.

The following were replaced as a preventative measure: HT leads, sparks, brake discs.

General Comments:

This is possibly the best supermini you could ever own. Not only is it blisteringly fast (especially with K+N Filter, boost valve, and performance exhaust), but this little car thinks it's on rails. If you try hard enough, you can get it to oversteer (with Spax suspension, anyway), which is great fun on roundabouts. It's very good for upsetting ponces in their fleet Vectra 2.5 V6 SRi's, because they don't like to be beaten off the lights by a 10 year old Pug. Still looks immaculate but for some small car park blemishes. It's done 110,000 miles and still going strong.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st December, 1998

14th May 2006, 05:08

I'm a small independent engine tuner, and it really does make me laugh what some people fall for.

The standard exhaust on the 205 GTi 1.9 is better than any aftermarket "race" system in terms of flow. I've tested five different popular aftermarket systems and not one of them flowed any better than the standard system. Three were actually worse. Noise does not equal power.

The standard induction system can only be improved by switching to Weber DCOE carbs or even better, throttle bodies. The induction kits are marketing nonsense. The resulting induction noise is cool, but it doesn't improve power.

This is an "old school" engine which responds to mechanical mods rather than bolt on crap. To get more power out of it you have to remove the head and smooth out or enlarge the ports. If you have big bucks to spend, a set of bigger valves will give you a decent increase.

I have a customer running a 1.9 with 155 bhp on the standard induction system, exhaust and cam. It's been tested on three dynos and shows within 2bhp on each. When he brought the car into me it was making 125 bhp. It involved £600 worth of work which isn't cheap, but then compared to £300 for bolt on stuff that makes no real difference, he thinks he got a bargain.

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1988 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9 petrol from UK and Ireland

Year of manufacture	1988
Engine and transmission	1.9 petrol
Performance marks	10 / 10
Reliability marks	8 / 10
Comfort marks	6 / 10
Dealer Service marks	3 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper)	6 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)	6.6 / 10

Faults:

Not much: exhaust, alternator, electric window. Leaks from overhead light. I've owned a couple and they both did this.

General Comments:

Be careful when buying. Get a good one with full service history and you'll get

a car that's cheap to run, reliable and can out perform nearly anything. Buy a bad one and you'd better get to know your bank manager on first name terms. Never miss an oil change and don't save money on cheap oil.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd December, 1998

1988 Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 petrol from UK and Ireland

Year of manufacture	1988
Engine and transmission	1.9 petrol
Performance marks	9 / 10
Reliability marks	8 / 10
Comfort marks	5 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper)	6 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)	7.0 / 10

Faults:

I bought it 18 months ago and it needed a respray due to a dodgy paint job after a previous owner had it keyed.

205 GTi engines are naturally tappety - all Pug specialists tell me this is nothing to worry about.

The clutch is on its way out (55k genuine?? miles on the clock) and it's just developed a hole in the top of the radiator.

Electrical problem following stereo install - battery keeps going flat.

Sunroof (inflating type) leaks, but only since it was taken out and re-fitted for the respray.

General Comments:

The 205 is a great drivers' car.

Oversteer was pretty bad on the standard suspension, but a Spax PSX kit sorted it.

The standard brakes faded badly, so I had those upgraded to AP four-pot calipers. It's like throwing an anchor out the back!

This car has been heavily featured in Max Power and has had over £16,000 spent on it. Here's what I've learnt:

Don't fit 17in wheels, they scrape like you wouldn't believe.

Nitrous injection gives a whopping 70bhp incease for about £10,000. The engine's become more tappety since it was fitted. Could be coincidence.

Fitted Megaleads (plug leads) but they cause major interference on MW stations.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th September, 1998

1988 Peugeot 205 GLD 1.8 diesel from UK and Ireland

Year of manufacture	1988
Engine and transmission	1.8 diesel
Performance marks	9 / 10
Reliability marks	10 / 10
Comfort marks	8 / 10
Dealer Service marks	8 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper)	9 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)	8.8 / 10

Faults:

Nothing unexpected. New clutch at 111,000 miles, a couple of exhausts in 120K, three new sets of tyres in 120K, one new set of glow-plugs, one new battery. That's it!

General Comments:

Exceptional driver's car: fun, very reliable and stable.... a bit heavy on the steering but a guy's car....

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th April, 1998