Peugeot 505 GTI #1

Where its 505 GR sibling was such an under-powered car, this GTI version is quite a beast. The underlying decision to purchase a GTI was its performance consideration, then the awesome ride sensation of a 505 GR. Owing to its large 2.3 L, EFI and second generation of Bosch engine management the GTI has a brisk acceleration figure of 10.1 seconds from nought to 100 km (approximately 60 mile-hour). More than enough for a 6 cylinder BMW e28 520i tailgating, a serious competitor of GTI on similar pricing class in that era (late 80s).

This time I would not make a necessary apology for a Valentine's Day gift reminder. Mind you it is 9 days counting down!..........Though I must admit that my article looks much better, don't you think?

Pressing on.... My 1989 black automatic GTI was purchased as a second hand way back in 1994. As its previous owner had maintained well, the car had clean engine bay, clean interior and no erratic idle problem (a common recurring problem on open loop engine management and fuel injected car ; replace its throttle position sensor).

All dashboard panel showed no crack, another weakness of GTI. It was equipped with greyish black velvet upholstery, unfortunately not as luxurious as and has less padding than 505 GR's. Though the overall look of dashboard and steering wheel was more modern of style. It look better say compare to W123 Benz but still behind Bimmer of the same era.

The central locking device was the same one carried over from GR, the old electric actuator producing a shocking noise. Once my occupant got scared and almost had a heart attack due to its noise! No wonder Benz engineer adopted a vacuum operated central locking, but on the downside it is a costly repair once its central vacuum flask needed a replacement.

On engine department the GTI provided a smooth and turbine alike revving with ample of flat torque across the band, it's a much civilized and better NVH engine design than its predecessor. I had not driven a manual gear on GTI yet, but through my memory recollection all Peugeot drive train were excellent. They were not as notchy as the over-engineered Mercedes Benz's.

One nice feature of this GTI auto transmission was that once your feet is off the gas pedal it subsequently recognize it by allowing gear downshift, in order to maintain the road grip as well as acting as engine braking. The kind of feature that we do miss from auto in comparison to manual transmission for safety precaution and car's stability in general.

I had one nasty experience when our driver shift to reverse gear before the car stop, it immediately ruined the series of 1, 2 and 3 gear coupling. A big dent to my wallet, even then when the currency exchange was favourable! Other comparable auto trans were not apparently as sensitive. This only for the shoehorned performance oriented auto trans of ZF 4 speed 4HP-22 if I'm not mistaken. It's 15 years ago. Change its fluid regularly normally at 60,000 km and upgrade into synthetic base oil (Red Line Oil Synthetic D4 Automatic Transmission Fluid).

The ride was a bit firmer than the GR, but it was still comfortable than any of its German counterparts. Undercarriage was strong with the exception of normal tear and wear of tie-rod etc. Likewise its spark plug ignition wire, European wire sets were normally less resistance type and more durable than its Japanese competitor's. No need for upgrade for this, unless there is a visible crack on it. However both : Standard Motor Products Ignition Cap and Standard Motor Products Ignition Rotor were susceptible to worn out. You need to change them regularly, at least once a year (twice, better!). Now, I may have lost my precious memory on this. It might be applicable on GR only. Then it could be wrong!

For a better fuel mileage you might consider to upgrade its Oxygen Sensor, some might have not been fitted as OEM. Up to 10% mileage improvement, check this out ; 1984-1991 Peugeot 505 Delphi Oxygen Sensor as a bonus your emission would also reduced. See my past article on how this sensor works.

This is my second article on 3 series of exemplary ride-handling composure Pug 505 model. In fact as its composure is one of the best kind in the world; I consider 505 as one of rare vehicle next to Citroen DS, SM, CX as well as GS in terms of excellent ride technology.