Peugeot GTi: Europe’s hot hatch arrives

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 37

Peugeot GTi: Europe’s hot hatch arrives

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Peter Greenslade

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THE average car-buyer does not shop for the most powerful variant in a model range, but it is not a bad idea to have a demonstration drive just to see how the car copes with the extra power. If it comes through the test without drama, it is a safe bet that the less powerful version will prove to be a safe, rugged car, provided, of course, that the most powerful version has not been beefed up too much. I spent a couple days driving the Peugeot 309 range in Northland a few weeks ago, and have been driving the $42,000 Peugeot 309 GTI over the last week or so in Christchurch. This two-door notched hatchback is recognised as one of Europe’s “hot” hatches. It is capable of about 200km/h and will accelerate without fuss from rest to lOOkm/h in 8.55. In short, it is a quick car and also very nimble. It stops even more quickly, thanks to disc brakes all round, those at the front being ventilated. The rack-and-pinion steering is power assisted, but not so much as the casual driver would notice. Suspension, like that of lesser 3095, is by MacPherson struts, lower wishbones, coil springs and an anti-roll bar in front, and by trailing arms, transverse torsion bars and an anti-roll bar at the rear. As the rear suspension is all within the horizontal plane, there are no turrets, intruding into the luggage compartment. All the 309 s have the capacity to carry a disproportionate amount of baggage, taking into account .their size. Moreover, there is very little overhang at the rear, an extremely important safety feature. This has eluded all those designers who, in a quest of luggage space, have penned luggage boots that extend well beyond the rear axle, thereby offering space that if used will distribute weight so far to the rear that the car will tend to oversteer or fishtail in bends. At best, fishtailing can be hazardous, particularly in relatively inexperienced hands. The 309 GTI has a kerb weight of 930 kg, making it substantially heavier than the 1294 cu cm two-door 309 XL (850 kg the 1294 cu cm four-door GR Profile (870 kg and the 1580 cu cm four-door SR (890 kg The lighter, less powerful cars have typical French suspension that gives a very compliant, featherbed ride, the spring travel being long but well damped. Firmness, but with an acceptable degree of compliance to absorb road shock, is the main feature of the GTI which, unlike the lesser 3095, stands on 15in alloy wheels with 6in rims shod with 185/55 HR tyres. This set-up gives the car good road grip because the wheels and tyres present a large footprint, so there is plenty of rubber on the road. There is ample justification for the tyre size, because that 1905 cu cm four-cyclinder single overhead camshaft engine, which is fitted with a Bosch LE-Jetronic fuel injection system and transistorised breakerless ignition, develops a lusty 97kW at 6000 rpm. By current standards, its maximum torque of 121.5 Ib/ft at 4750 rpm is nothing to get excited about, until you learn that 95 per cent of it is available in the 2500-6000 rpm range, a characteristic that makes this particular 309 perform with the flexibility of a big American VB. However, it must be added that at engine speeds just above idling there is an unseemly degree of transmission snatch with which it is by no means easy to cope. The, five-speed gearbox has a delightful shift action once one is accustomed to spring loading biased toward the upper three ratios, and on the road it is difficult to think of a more responsive and roadworthy car, considering its size. As fractionally less than three turns of the small, wellpadded steering wheel swing the 309 from lock to lock, all that is required to turn a main road bend is little more than a flexing] of the wrists. Although the other 309 s require more wheel twisting, little more physical effort is needed. Steering is so precise and accurate that directional changes are generally accomplished more by slight body ■I

movements than by actual arm, wrist and elbow movements. The exceptionally wide torque band of the GTI at once removes most of the hazards involved in overtaking slower traffic. Seldom does an occasion arise when it becomes necessary to change down to a lower ratio to obtain a high engine speed in order to overtake more expeditiously. There is so much torque that simply depressing the accelerator gives a virtually instantaneous response. In fact, even fifth gear could hardly be described as an overdrive ratio. There is much more accelerative potential in fifth than one would expect in fourth in other two-litre saloons. . t One would expect that such a powerful, lightweight, two-litre front-drive car would be susceptible to excessive torque steer. This is not a problem; the reaction through the steering column seldom evinces itself as more than a slight tremble and one has to use the accelerator quite brutally before one can expect to fight the steering wheel. Similar treatment is needed to create front wheelspin. One does not expect powerful small cars to be exceptionally well-mannered. This one is an exception and is illustrative of the depth of chassis design that has gone .into it. There are cars that can be driven expeditiously in hill country, if one is prepared to wrestle on the brink of disaster and unwholesomely attract the attention of bystanders and road users. The 309 accomplishes that in a much more secure and safe fashion. In fact, it is the manner in which it goes about its work that is the impressive feature of this Peugeot and all the others, for that matter. With vast reserves of power throughout the rev range, it is easy to maintain a steady, legal pace up hill and down dale for ever and a day. With such superb road-holding, precision handling and general all-round ability, this is a car among cars, and certainly one of the best point-to-point cars it has been my pleasure to drive. At higher touring speeds the all-alloy engine emits a mechanical hum that is reassuring rather than annoying and around the legal maximum some wind roar starts to develop, but it does not increase substantially at higher speeds. Continued on next page.