306 Gti 6

[Puglife]

Road going 205 gti is fine, they are comfy and i used mine as a daily for 4years.... get an mi16 and you have nearly 200bhp/ton

[madpugger]

I'd def go for the 205, but 306 is good too.

I have an Mi kicking about if you need

I am actually in the process of getting my old 205 back on the road (my brother in law bought it off me years ago and moved abroad so its sitting in the garage) The plan was for an M116 to go in but nowadays the 106 engines are cheap too... Bit off topic there sorry!

On the build quality... No idea where that all comes from, especially with the 205 and 306s etc. Yes the doors sound tinny when you close them, but they don't rust, they rarely break if maintained, they don't rust (again) and parts are pennies.

[Error404]

Don't dismiss the 205 until you've driven one Andy .... soooo much better than MkIIs IMHO and parts are soooo cheap and easy to come by. Plus good ones are now appreciating in value.
I've had 3 of them, a ropey 1.6, then a tidy 1.9 then I sold that for a 1.6 with a 1.9 rear beam, lairy cam and konis

[Rusty]

Would need to be a tidy standard engined car with sorted chassis to tempt me, need to look into insurance on Mi16 conversion, limited NCB on 2nd car is the problem, can't cost mroe than the BM. Again, it's a runaround that's fun rather than a toy that's uber fun...

[K Simmonds]

I do have to concede that the 205 is a great little car and will out handle a Golf. A good mate had a 1.9 running a 1.6 gearbox, no idea of how fast it actually was but it felt like a rocket to about 80.

[Greenm3]

I'll second the 205 GTI, ive rallyed on for 2 years and loved it, and had one as a road car, had the MKII valver as well and it was no where near the fun of the pug nor had the capeabilities of the Pug, even thoug i hate saying it the 205 is better than the MKII. Oh and get the 1.9Pug not the 1.6 due to the 1.9 having power steering, FE is pretty good as well.
just my 2p worth!
Mike

[Error404]

only a few of the later 1.9s had PAS, its quite rare

[Puglife]

Dont need PAS in a tin hatchback that weighs 850kg....
205 drivers forum is a good place to look but dont get caught up in the expense theory that the cars are worth thousands...

1.9gti with 1.6 gearbox is great unless you use it daily and do motorway miles.... If you need any advice of things to look for ask away or join the above forum... clean 1.9gti is easily obtainable for under £1500 and cost pence to maintain.

[als2]

Just my two cents! 306 gti6 is a craking engine and if you want can be tuned to the moon, the 306 is obviously heavier than the 205 but comfier too if thats a concern. If its a 205 u go for then defo the 1.9 and valve stem oils seal will be ur major indicator of wear, mmm nice and smokey! Only know one man who can change them wiht the head on! But if your thinking of a Mi16 version then theres not alot that will touch even a standard engined one, if your prepaired to drive it! Look at the spec on the Mi16 engine and ul see it came with some of the most advanced engine parts at the time not to mention HUGE valve sizes!! But heres my real point, get the 309 GTI it handled even better than the 205 and break away was less fierce! that coupled with an Mi16 engine, 45 carbs, cams, 4-2-1 exhast.................MMMMMMMMMMMMM the good old days!

[Error404]

yup the 309 did handle better than the 205, mostly due to the wider rear track - you can fit the 309 rear beam to the 205 and at one time there was also a Koni torsion bar available for them

[als2]

also availablw was the bilstein torsion bar which was a thick as a babys arm!!!!! i had a 309 with gti6 cams exhaust and nitrous was fun! also had another 309 with a 100 quid Mi16 in it, when i got the Mi16 it wouldnt go over 50!!!! stripped rebuilt and boy did she fly!!!!!!
Also ran a 205 with ex patrick watts engine in it!!!! now that was a hoot!!

[MidnightBlueS2]

Make sure the rear suspension bushes are still good or else you'll still get a fair bit of "rear steering".

Other than that they're great hatches and really quick around corners once you know how to throw them into it :mischeif:

[URSIMPO]

306 GTI6 is a great car, with lift off oversteer. There are 4 rubber bushes under the rear subframe which allow the section to move, this effectively causes rear steering -to a degree (excuse the pun).
If you have a kid, then no need to buy them a rattle as the interior will provide much fun for them.
Finally, the have a crap turning circle when turning right, as the sixth gear, makes the gearbox bigger, and so protrudes in to the wheel arch.

[ciaranthemurph]

I had a mint GTI6 for 2 years before the S2 and it was a great little thing. Nothing really went wrong with it apart from the central locking and alarm, but supposedly 'they all do that'. Gripped like a ****** and had a cracking engine. My mate swears by them and is on his 6th I think, plenty of them with 100k+ miles. Was looking to get another last year (a rallye) but the whole thing sort of fell through as there was a shortage of nice ones.

As long as you don't expect Audi build quality you'll be fine. Oh, and avoid mini-roundabouts!

[Beetie]

The 309 goodwoods come with nice leather and wood steering wheel! lol