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rotis23

205 Vs 309

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Guest ollysmith

i'm on my fifth car now, and i've never sold one (and i'm proud) B)

Edited by ollysmith

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Adam B

I often wondered about this as I'm still a mk1 astra fan at heart and the 309 is a very similar size. My astra GTE felt much more relaxed at higher speed cornering but wasn't afraid to oversteer, in fact it was easier to setup for drifting than my 205 - felt more balanced, then again it had crap tyres and suspension and everything was at much saner speeds even though it was probably quicker in a straight line (modded 130 engine B) ). It drifted so well in fact that it drifted itself into a hedge when I wasn't fully awake. Hey hum.

I prefer the look of 205s - thats why I went for mine

Anyway sorry for the load of crap about astras - on to 309s again....

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richt

My mark 2 GTEs handling came no where near the 309 or 205 gtis.

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huxley309

bro had a mk2 gte and id agree.....bit lardy but no sluch when pushed but not very precise neither...

 

oh and the rear arches rust B)

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C_W

But the Mk1 is apparently totally different and a much better handling car.

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pugboyracer

The Astra GTE mk1 is even worse than the mk2 in my opinion! Really wallowy, soft damping. Horrible.

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Deadliest Pug

I chose my 405 SRI after trying.........

 

Cavalier SRI, lovely engine, handling was complete crap and the seating position was horrible.

Citroen AX GT, lovely car, great to thrash (Even better than the 1.6 GTI, if not as capable) and a real hoot, but on a daily commute was just plain nasty.

205 1.6 GTI, lovely revvy engine, great handling and mechanically felt very strong, but still a bit too buzzy and cheap feeling.

 

The I tried my SRI, it felt so much more flowing but with all the traits of the 205, just watered down. I just prefer the 405 as an overall package and still do, the 205 is a great hot hatch, just not as great a car IMO.

 

Dave!

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Deadliest Pug

I'll take that as a compliment but if you say that in person i'll smack ya :)

 

Dave!

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KRISKARRERA

Well you know the 405 always gets slated for being a taxi or family car or too heavy or whatever but it handles great for such a big car.

Only right now I want to push it off the nearest cliff!

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TEKNOPUG

mmmmmmm...Mk1 Astra GTE's......can't think of another car which I have given so much abuse to and it never grumbled once. Totally over-engineered IMO - VX first hot-hatch and they weren't really sure what they were doing. Mk2 are pish.

 

309's are probably a better overall package, weight distribution, width, length etc. If only they had given it a proper dash like the later 205's :D . 205's are much scarier when things go wrong but there's nothing wrong with being scared occasionally. It's the whole inevitably of the moment when the back step's out beyond recovery.....ho-hum...wonder what I'm going to hit and where I'll end up :)

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huxley309

the phase1 309's have a proper dash....room for 2 coke cans by the stereo too :)

 

i do like the mk1 gte's and heard good things but shame they are a bit of a rot box

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Guest ollysmith

Don't the phase 2 309GTi's have the same dash as the phase 2 205GTis?

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Anthony
Don't the phase 2 309GTi's have the same dash as the phase 2 205GTis?

The clocks (speedo etc) are the same, but the dashboard itself is completely different. I'm sure someone will have some pictures showing a 205 and a 309 to graphically show this...

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Guest ollysmith

but it's still got the windy heater controls and the like... it's not a huge step from what my phase 2 XS dash was like..

 

admittedly the phase 1 309 dashes were U-G-L-Y :)

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Guest ollysmith

and the nice plastic spoilers on the phase 2's kick arse compared to the XR3i stylee things glued on the back of the phase 1's :D :D :(

 

but i think this phase 2 snobbery is getting a little off topic :)

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d-9

I agree about the phase 2 spoiler, much nicer, thou you get used to the p1 spoiler.

 

The phase 2 dash looks better, but is completely impractical by comparison to the phase 1 dash. With the phase 1 dash you have a massive cubbyhole with a flat bit in front of the gear stick, great for keys/phones/radio front boxes/coke cans, and a massive bin above the glove box, which is handy for the passenger.

 

The p2 dash has an ashtray in place of the center cubbyhole, most people remove the ashtray and use it as a place to dump keys, but its still tiny. The bin in front of the passenger has been replaced with a indentation in the dash, which looks like a great place for the passenger to put their phone, except when you go round a right-hander with the window open, their phone exits through the window.

 

Ive lived with both, and I far prefer the phase 1, the only problem is the position of the rear wiper button, which is bang in the middle of the dash.

 

heres a photo of the p1 dash, cant find a p2 photo

http://www.dcs.ex.ac.uk/ug/cs02/dc0/pix/309/inside5.jpg

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huxley309

spooky...mine has a red led bang on where your is....and the dial for the headlights....

 

on the vent on the right the rectangular bit where the adjuster is...

 

does yours sit to the left orr more to the right.....refitted mine after stripping the dash but dont know if its right lol.....

 

i too prefer the phase 1's

fewer of em about plus didnt pinnin design the styling on the phase 1's but not the two's?

and the centre cubbyhole is the daddy :D

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huxley309

agreed i prefer the stalks on the ph1 as well.....seem more straightforward lol...

 

yup looks like ive got it right.....would only go in one way...wasnt sure if it was me rushing....cheers

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Sandy
i too prefer the phase 1's

fewer of em about plus didnt pinnin design the styling on the phase 1's

LOL, bit hopeful mate; it was designed originally as a Talbot Horizon replacement by the man who penned the Hillman Imp and Avenger. What an illustrious career!

It was then Pugified by Peugeot when their brand strategy changed.

 

I prefer the S2 back end, but I insist on not having a hole in the lid and finding an S2 GTi without a sunroof is difficult! So my next one will probably be an S1.

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huxley309

i wasnt 100% sure anyway but you cant blame me for trying :D

 

i knew the 309 had something in relation to the talbot horizon.....dont they share similar shells/chassis?!

 

sandy do you know why pug never used the 309 for rallying....was it because at the time talbot had the design rights on the horizon which pug used for the 309 or is there another reason?

 

lould love to drive or even see a lotus sunbeam being rwd theyre meant to be a lot of fun...

 

sorry for the ot ppl :blink:

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Sandy
i wasnt 100% sure anyway but you cant blame me for trying :blink:

 

i knew the 309 had something in relation to the talbot horizon.....dont they share similar shells/chassis?!

 

sandy do you know why pug never used the 309 for rallying....was it because at the time talbot had the design rights on the horizon which pug used for the 309 or is there another reason?

 

lould love to drive or even see a lotus sunbeam being rwd theyre meant to be a lot of fun...

 

sorry for the ot ppl :D

LOL, it was worth a go, change history!

 

309 has extended and widened 205 chassis, only the engine from the Horizon was used in 1.1 and 1.3 upto 1991.

 

The 309 was used for Rallying, Colin McRae and Richard burns both cut their teeth in them, as well as the 205. It's also a very succesful club rallycar in Europe, esp GTi16.

 

I had a Sunbeam Ti, scary car, lush RWD moments but shat brakes!

 

Sort of on thread :D

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