That Renault 5 Turbo wasn't their only weird hot hatch, they made Clio V6 RS in the early 00s. Also mid mounted, also rear-wheel drive.

as an owner of a '89 205 gti in original condition, i approve.

Outside UK that Vauxhall Astra GTE is Opel Kadett GSI.

The 205 GTi is considered the benchmark for hot hatches even 30 years after it was released. Recently voted the greatest hot hatch ever. Peugeot still use it to advertise their more recent cars but none have really come close

Frenchman here, when was 20 in the end of 80's, i wanted 205 GTI or Golf GTI ... but i've got an old 2cv 😁

Renault Turbo 5 has it's roots on mad days of the rallying on Group B. That's why it is mid engine, similar stuff were also Peugeot 205 - 205 T16. FIA homologation cars for group b.

The Renault 5 Turbo was notoriously devious to drive. The turbo often broke traction on the rear wheels and sent even decent drivers off the road. I want one. 😁

I had a 1991 Fiat Uno Turbo, 1.4 liter Turbo Intercooled engine, five speed manual, curb weight under 2000 lbs with 122 raging ponies. It was a beast :)

The Lotus Sunbeam should've been on that list. Absolute "Turbo Nutter Bastard" car.

The first way you said Peugeot sounded pretty good. Definitely the best pronunciation of any American I've heard

I had a 205 GTi as a replacement while my car was being serviced. It had the 1.9 litre injection engine and weighed NOTHING. The gas pedal was like a speed control with the acceleration being almost instantaneous. The whole time I drove it, I had a grin from ear to ear. Huge fun!

The most valuable is the Renault R5 Turbo... They go from 100000 USD up to 300000 USD if they are in mint condition.

We had a Volvo 360 GLT in the family but just as sedan. It was real fun to drive, especially to chase BMWs! 🤪In the 80s about120 hp was a significant number here in Europe and the transaxle system (engine in front, transmission in the back) paid off.

Now we are talking. I actually owned a few of these. You are right, with the narrow windy Euro roads these would smoke most American cars. That 5gt is beautiful.

The Volvo 340/360 was actually built and developed in the Netherlands as an DAF 77. When Volvo bought DAF the design was almost finished and was slightly changed to look more like a Volvo. The smaller DAF 66 is also sold for a while as a Volvo 66. The Volvo 340/360 was an extremely popular car in Europe, you can still see them driving around here, although the 2.0 versions are very rare nowadays. Fun fact; if you like crazy European car things, you should take a look at ‘Ter Land, Ter zee en in de Lucht’, it features a backwards racing on a real circuit. The DAF’s are the fastest cars to go backwards because of their special transmission (CVT), which can go as fast backwards as they can go forwards (around 110 km/h).

The Vauxhall Astra was sold as a Pontiac LeMans and Daewoo LeMans in the U.S. In Europe it was known as the Opel Astra.

We had a Ford Fiesta in the 80s as a family car. Took us over the Alps from Germany to Italy for a camping trip (3 people, luggage and our camping equipment).

The grandpa of all GTIs is the VW Golf GTI. In my youth we never said the full name. Only GTI was needed and everybody knew what car it was. 110 HP were enough for that light and wonderful handling "Rennsemmel" (Racingbun 😜) and it left quite "bigger" cars in the dust. I remember a little struggle with a Camaro. In the end it was faster in a straight line, but on the track that Golf blew it away. That Camaro driver bited in his cap and we laughed and had some beers.

Before I get into it... I REALLY hope the Citroen AX GT is there. Underrated, fantastic, wee car! Booooo!! ☹ No AX GT, no Saab 99 Turbo, no FIAT Uno Turbo and no Lancia Delta Integrale. This list is incomplete!

I´m a former owner of a 1990 Peugeot/Gutmann 205 GTI with 140bhp. It was a fun (fwd!!!) car that you could drift with in the roundabouts. I also owned a 1987 Opel(Vauxhall) Kadett GSI 115bhp. That cars claim to fame was that it very aerodynamic and could (barely) reach 200 km/h at redline. I also owned the rare 1985 Mitsubishi Colt Turbo with 125bhp.

6:43 to remind you about the 5 Turbo, in America as far as i know, was known as "Le Car" :D

Oh wow. I had a Ford Escort RS 1600i and also a Fiesta XR2. I’ll never forget them. Very cool cars and I spent a part of my best time in my life with these cars 🥰

I'm an Englishman in my 50's, first decent car I ever had was a Ford Escort XR3i, then had an Escort RS Turbo, and a Vauxhall Astra GTE 16 valve. Once I started working at a Private Bank, I moved up to Audi's and the like as company cars, but I still have rosy memories of those days in the early 90's, picking up your mates to go clubbing, then ragging the arse off the Astra on Saturday nights.........

You should consider a video on the "flying coffins" or "coffins on wheels" of the 80s and 90s. There was a period in which the main manufacturers, to conquer the market of young lovers of sports driving, began to offer their small cars in the "on steroids" version. These small and very light little boxes were equipped with a more rigid suspension setup and turbo engines and caused the joy and misfortune of a couple of generations. Unfortunately, however, it was a rather difficult recipe to tame for inexperienced young people and often even for experts given that at the time the concept of safety was rather vague and tires and brakes were not those of today. For this reason they earned the name "flying coffins". Technically the Peugeot 205 GTI in this video falls into the category, but only partially because it wasn't turbo and had excellent suspension and brakes. The others were: Renault 5 turbo and later the Renault Clio 16 valve, the Fiat Uno turbo and later the Fiat Punto GT, the Lancia Y10 turbo, the Peugeot 205 and later the 106 (which both had various sports versions which still today monopolizes amateur or even high-level rally competitions, where, however, very large sums of money do not circulate) , the Ford Fiesta RS turbo and XR2, the Honda Civic VTI, the Citroën Saxo VTS, the Opel Corsa GSI 16 valves etc. It is absolutely worth discovering these crazy years that I was able to see but not experience firsthand and that a non-European has never even been able to see.

That Renault 5 GT turbo was also made front engine FWD with the 1.4 turbo. That one is more common, but still rare ofcourse. After that came the Renault Clio 16v.

Honda, Opel, Renault, VW etc... They were all legendary in the 90's. When driving was fun 😊🚘

A lesser known car but for me a hot hatch for sure, is the Citroen AX. I had a relatively base model with 60 hp and only 680 kg of weight. it was extreme fun.

The Renault 5 featured in a James Bond movie, and will be back on the market as an EV next month.

The R5 Turbo was in "Never say never again" the getaway car of the female villain, Fatima Blush... 😂

Days of those small light fun hut hatches only lasted a decade - all awesome fun back in the day

Volvo 360 GLT owner here: yeah, rare as it gets. Mine is one of 27 in the Nethelands. I'd say it's not a classic hot hatch in any conventional way, yet it deserves a place in the list. It's rear wheel drive, the engine is more torque over power, but it's a blast to drive. They have a layout similar to a Porsche 944: gearbox in the back for a perfect 50/50 weight distribution. So you can drift it really easily. And it is insanly well balanced so you can drive it as fast as you dare to go despite being ancient tech underneath. It leans, it creaks, but it never ever loses grip. Yet, with it being my daily driver, it's also a very comfy, safe and solid car. When you push it though, it shows how capable it actually is. If you're ever in the Netherlands though, shoot me a message, you're more than welcome to drive it.

The Austin Metro had a hot hatch version, too, which is missing from this list. The Volvo 340/360 actually started their lives as DAF design. Sadly Dutch car manufacturer DAF were on their last leg when they designed the car. They had stuck to their rather extremely yet really good older designs a bit too long and missed the train into the Seventies. When they teamed up with Porsche to design this transaxle gearbox car with superb balance, superb turning circle and extremely good ergonomy and economy, they were basically bankrupt. Volvo bought the DAF company thus, and sold the design as the Volvo 340 with the 1.3 litre Renault 4 cylinder. An EXTREMELY good engine. Very reliably and tunable and LOOONG lasting. I know of several that easily made it to over 300000 Km with no worries whatsoever. Designed in the Sixties! When Volvo wanted more power, they adapted the 3 series for the red four cylinder block known from the 444, 544, 144, P1800, Amazons, 244… The regular version comes with 2 litre 113 hp, but as the stronger versions of that engine block have exactly the same dimensions, fitting the 2.3 turbo is not much of an issue. …if you want that. the 2.3 litre B23E and F have been tuned and beefed up to putting out well over 200hp by tuners without turbos. Someone had claimed to have gotten 280 hp out off his.The 360 can be made one of the best handling and fastest hot hatches out there. 😉 I occasionally see videos where people take the B23s out of Volvos and replace them with V8s. As the common V8 blocks are roughly twice as heavy as the Volvo blocks, they throw the balance of the cars right out off the window, make them heavier in the front and thus taking traction away from the rear wheels. All I can tell them: You f*cked the opportunity to get a fast Volvo. I really love the V8s, but light fast cars are not the place for them.

They didn't added the Autobianchu Y10 Turbo or the FIAT Uno Turbo i.e, they were like small monsters, very quick and fun to drive

For starters : I really like the way you've evolved in pronouncing the Peugeot name more correctly.

France, Italy, and Germany were the leader in the 80's of the hottest tiny rockets on the market. Golf 1 GTi VS 205 Gti VS Ritmo Abbarth were the pinnacle for me ^^

The first version of the Ford Fiesta XR2 with 84 hp and 1.6 l engine was a blast to drive. 750 Kg empty weight. Which means it is freaking fast for the speeds below 100 kph. A BMW 323i has no chance against it to win the race at a traffic light e.g. and a BMW 323i has 150 hp. Specialty that only existed in this series of Fiestas was: The steering wheel was tilted about 10-15°. Left side was further away than the right side from you. Why was this so great? Well, it is easier to use the steering wheel one-handed, when parking, because it ergonomically goes with the natural motion of your arm. I miss this in any other car, because it was so great. It's also better for driving straight, because your arm position is more natural that way.

Opel kadett (second car) on American market was called Pontiac lemans

there was a neighbor who was a barbouze, and he had incredible cars including the R5 Turbo red. She had an unusual look. he also had the Peugeot 205 T16... When he came to my aunt's farm with his cars, it was magical for me as a child.

Back in the 70's and 80's it was extremely common for European manufacturers to take their small family cars and breath some sportiness into them. The intention of course was to entice people into the showrooms and perhaps sell them a family car from lower down the range. Fitting a more powerful engine, better suspension and brakes, bucket seats with red pinstriping, a front air-dam and rear spoiler, go faster graphics and an exclusive paint scheme became commonplace. Several took it further and developed rally cars - think Peugeot 205, Renault 5, Escort Mexico and so on. It's surprising that cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, Toyota Corolla, Ford Sierra Cosworth and Lancia Delta Integrale weren't on the list

The Volvo was a surprise! Peugeot 306 GTi was what I wanted, but ended up with a MG Maestro EFi 2.0. Most manufacturers had a Hot Hatch at the top of the range Great fun!

If you can call it a hot hatch for the time. the Volvo 480 Turbo or Citroen BX19 GTi are the one's for me (not in the list). its just so weird and cool. You often see all of these cars particularly at shows but occasionally driving about.

12:22: My first car at the age of 18 in the summer of 1988 was a used Volvo 343 DL with 71 HP / 52 kW. (Series 300, 4 cylinders, 3 doors) in the color dark blue with light stripes on the sides. It had leafsprings (Blattfedern) like in a carriage. (I hope the translater does a good job) I was very proud of my first car! 11:10: Around 1993 I had a used Ford Fiesta in red with yellow and turquoise stripes. It had a 4-speed manual transmission and unfortunately an engine failure at some point. A friend had installed a replacement engine for 700DM and it had more power and 5 gears! That was fun! Unfortunately I don't know the engine data and model exactly. But it was like the one in the video, only not as a sports version...but probably later with the sporty engine🚗😉🆒. 9:20 : Around 2000 I had a black, 3-door VW Golf 2 with 75 HP with a 4-speed gearbox. I couldn't have afforded a GTI. They were very popular in Germany. There were, and still are, clubs where GTI drivers met, tinkered with cars, tuned them and so on. They were the “opponents” or "rivals" of the Opel Manta drivers. Also a very interesting car by the way! There is also a German comedy film with actor Till Schweiger. The Movie called 'Manta Manta'. Or 'Manta - Der Film' Maybe it'll be interesting and funny to look at! You will see lots of cars, car racing and some german (flat) humour and good music ...😎 I'm glad that you, as an American, like our European cars that we drove when we were young!! Keep it up! 🍻Cheers! Greetings from Northern Germany 🇩🇪♥️

in 1991 my 23 year old brother bought a 205 GTI 1.9. He only had it for 2/3 years. He let me drive it & I did around 3000 miles in it over that time & it had the best handling, braking, steering feel & accuracy (& could be as scary AF with the speed it generated), but was one of the best cars I've ever driven. Not long after I bought a mk1 Toyota MR2 & apart from the difference in build quality the Peugeot was in a different league. I have a1992 TVR 290 S3 & still lust after all of those utterly wonderful 205's capabilities.

The 205 GTI actually had an 1.9 liter 8 valve with 130 horses. Then came the 1.6 also with 8v but less power. No clue why this happened tho, maybe displacement or emission tax or something... Later on when the Saxo VTS came, since the 1.6s where similar bottom ends with different heads, people started making hybrids or fully swaping those engines into the 205s, at least I've seen a bunch of them swapped in Portugal and France as a kid. EDIT: Yep I did confirm and indeed the 1.6 came for the first few years, but quickly replaced 2 years later with the 1.9. Always learning I guess lol

the renault 5 turbo was also used in many rallies

My Aunt had a Fiesta XR2 when I was a kid, it was a superb car and I eventually drove it when I got my driver's licence, loved it.

The Red Opel was called Kadett GSI in Germany...and the GSI 16 V got 150 PS...a real agil...fast Car...!!!❤😊😊

Being a teenager back in the 90s these cars were so common and have been in all except the volvo. The majority of the hot hatches were wrapped round trees put in ditches or burnt out in fields after being nicked. My mate had a beautiful black Peugeot 1.9 205 Gti and stands out when I think back to be the one i thought was the best! Some of those cars are 10s of thousands these days.

What!? No Lotus Talbot Sunbeam? Absolute beast of a road car, and a very very capable rallycar.

Vauxhall is just the name of OPEL in the UK. Anywhere else on the planet it's OPEL, except the UK.

The fun of a hot hatch is been able to use 100% of the performance available, especially on our narrower and tighter European roads. They are not very fast at all by today's standards, something like a new Golf R would absolutely blow them away. But modern hot hatches like the Golf R are now so quick you can't get close to the edge of their performance on public roads. The joy of these older ones is you could, and therein lies the fun.

We have 2 peugeot 205 T16 It is the road version of the rally legend originaly has 200 HP the rally version had about 400 and ours is tuned to 1000HP also won the GermanRaceWars twice

Pretty weird list. Not a single italian car (Fiat 127, Alfasud, Ritmo Abarth, the almighty Delta, etc.)? The Vauxhall is actually an Opel Kadett E. You might have seen those later on sold as Daewoo LeMans in the US. I don't think there was a hot version of that around though. The Renault 5 Turbo is a totally different story than the rest of the cars shown. It's been a homologation car for the Group B rally R5. Peugeot had a mid-engined 205 for the same reason. Both cars were produced in limited numbers and had been way more expensive than the other cars shown here.

I had the 1.9 GTi

I really miss my 205. It wasnt a GTi, but it had that nimble quickness to it that was just a joy to drive.

Hi Ian! Certainly the most valuable (because it wasn't exactly cheap, back then as a new car) is the R5 Turbo. It cost a lot of money when it came out. Plus, not many of them were actually built. Ultimately there were fewer than 5,000. This meant that more of the legendary (Renault) Alpine A 110 were built than the R5 Turbo. The R5 originally appeared on the scene in 1972 and originally included a model range of 36-64 hp and was advertised as "the little friend". We are talking about cars that had a curb weight of 850 kg. The first truly sporting improvement came in 1976, when the R5 Alpine appeared on the field. This 1400 cc engine (the same displacement as the turbo) produced 93 hp and was stated in the vehicle documents with a top speed of 173 km/h. I had 2 of these things in my 20s and they were extremely quick and perfectly designed for the French "Route National". These routes were designed with 3 lanes, with the 3rd lane being used to form a passing lane that was alternately available to traffic in both directions in order to overtake trucks. And they both drove significantly faster than 170km/h. They also had a very well-designed 5-speed manual transmission as standard, which only became standard on a large scale in the mid-80s. I never spared these cars! And no matter how much I gave them the spurs... They never needed more than 9 liters of fuel. Oh, the sweet youth... Finally, it should be noted that the great success of the R5 led Peugeot to come onto the market with the 205. The R5 was built from 1972 to 1996 and 9 million were sold... Greetings from Germany

4:05 - Opel Kadett GSI in Germany !

Very UK biased video it seems, that Vauxhall Astra G was ONLY in the UK, as in the rest of Europe that is an Opel Kadett E, as the Opel Astra G is an entirely different car.

Had a Peugeot 205 GTI many years ago. Well balanced extremely well driving car on narrow mountain roads. Only good memories of that beautiful car!

My pal drove an Alfa Romeo GTV6 with a 2.5l V6 engine (you should hear one of those on a race track, they sound absolutely fabulous!). It easily drove 240 km/h on the German Autobahn. But one of those pesky Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9's was damn hard to shake off! Renault 5 Turbo was made for rally, but they had to make X amount of road vehicles in order to be able to compete. Kinda like with the Subaru Impreza WRC. That Volvo 360 body was designed by DAF just before they sold off their fourwheeler business and factory in the Netherlands to Volvo.

You seen the Renault 5 in previous rally clips….you mentioned the big wide ass…you said at the time you didn’t know what it was 👍🏻

The smaller Volvo was developed by DAF before the car factory was sold to Volvo. The truck department continued as DAF. Most of these Volvo's had DAF Variomatic gearing, which made them extremely fast in taking off at traffic lights.

back in the day the fiesta xr2 was the car every boy racer wanted

I had a 1988 ford xr2, so much fun

Great content. I have driven the Astra GTE with the early digital dash display on a boys camping trip right round the small country roads of France 🇫🇷. Such great fun to drive. Peace and love from Australia ❤

the fun with the Volvo was that it was rear wheel driven.. so it was a blast to drive, because it was quite easy to actually drift!.. there was also an Automatic version, with a CVT transmission because the DAF Car manufacture was taken over by Volvo.

Peugeot 205 GTI was my dreamcar in my teens. Loved them in group B rally.

Haha love the West Aussie rego plate on the back wall.. Was originally on a white 1988 Ford Falcon according to department of transport 😂

Fun fact, those renault 5 turbo were known in my country as the widow makers, because chaces were that if you crashed in one of those, it would probably be a high speed collision againts a wall. Few cars remain today because they were that fast and accidents were common due to the sheer performance of those cars.

Owned a MK1 Opel Kadett GTE in the 80's loved it to bits and so reliable.

My uncle had a Renault 5 Turbo (white, with all the trimmings), my dad had a soft top Golf GTI sleeper. Maybe 5 years old: I remember my mum racing someone down the motorway in the GTI - we left them in the dust.

I spotted a Skoda Felicia Hatchback in the background. THAT was my first car for like 15 years! I love that thing so much! I was driving the 1.6l(75hp) that thing was surprisingly sporty and easy to maintain. Sadly those Felicas where rust buckets, that's why you barely get them in germany anymore. Great car!

The Volvo 300 range was very popular. Launched in 1976, new.nose.wings and interior in 1981 & then a final facelift in 85/86 with new bumpers. They were built in Holland in the old DAF factory after DAF was bought by Volvo. The 300 series originally started out as a new DAF design that was developed & put into production after Volvos take.over. the 340s had renault sourced 1.4 & laterly 1.7 litre engines and the 360 had the 2.0 engine from the 200 series. The GLT was more a trim level rather than a performance model as all 360s had the same engine. The GLT gaining GLT only alloys, boot spoiler and body decal. I did own a 340 1.4 & a 340 1.7, never.managed to get. 360 GLT, did own its replacement, the 440 in GLT trim though as well as a S40 T4 & V70. My folks owned 3 340s and a 360. Ford must have liked the design as the mk3 escort stole the basic shape from the 300 series.

My dad had 3 escort xr3i’s when he was younger, sadly wasn’t alive to see any of them. Was alive for his fiesta si and his golf gti 180 25th anniversary edition. Sadly he’s stopped getting cool cars now and just goes for normal ones.

I owned a vauxhall but here it was called Opel Kadett gsi. I had a 1989 2.0 liter 16valve engine and it was a beast. 156 hp and to most people it looked like any other slow hatchback. Had a lot of fun with it.

yeah looking at the uk for european hot hatches is like looking for a burger in a steak house . kinda similar but very different

My first car ever was a volvo 360Glt. I had two more since then for the road, and one lightened one for driving on the lakes at winter. Cool thing about it is how far back the gearbox is located, making it very well balanced which together with the rear wheel drive makes it so damn fun to drive! Also had a peugeot 205 gti. A golf 2 gti, a suzuki swift gti (funniest driving machine i ever had, popped and bsnged like crazy when shifting at high revs!) And later on a peugeot 206 Rc. (i love my hatchbacks!)😊

I know an owner of a renault 5 maxi, that thing looks insane in person. Love it to the bone

The Vauxhall Astra was sold as the 1989 to 1993 Pontiac LeMans in the US.

The Renault 5 Turbo was build because of Group B. The normal Renault Turbo is a front driven car, that is a hatchback. But you don't win races with that. So they created the Renault 5 Turbo. It looks similar, but is in good parts a different car. As the rules demanded, you had to make at least 250 cars. But the model was pretty succesful so they made a LOT more. A friend got one for his wife. The man had more money then brains. Back in the days the Renault 5 was still a common car and practical grocery getter. She wanted a pratical car, old enough nobody would care about some dings or scratches. And looking at parking and driving in paris, that is a damn good idea. He got her that 80ties monstrosity in a beautiful condition. She opened the trunk, saw an engine, looked under hood (no place to put a haul of groceries either) and gave him back the keys. She grabbed the one for his car and he had to drive this tiny pocket rocket. They were famous in france, but in germany? Not so much. That thing was a Porsche killer. The detuned engine had around 150 hp, but after loosing against a Carrera 4 a french tuner got a lot of more horses out of it.

The regular version of the Renault 5 was sold in the USA as Renault Le Car. I am a huge Renault fan ( my first memory of travelling in a car is in a Renault 5) and the Renault 5 Turbo 2 is my favorite car ever. Edit: In my country, Spain, between the most popular performance hatchbacks in the 80s was the Seat Ibiza SXI. It came with a 1.5 liter and 100hp engine designed by Porsche. The Opel Kadett 2.0 GSI ( Vauxhall in the video ) was one of the most desirable cause it was a beast.

I remember back in the 80s the R5 Turbo was a big deal but also mostly referred to as the "running coffin"...

My Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 was without doubt the best car in terms of smiles per mile I owned…, and I was an absolute hooligan in it!!! The one thing you learn very quickly is, never ever ever back off the throttle or the lift-off oversteer was snap you you into next week!

I was missing the Talbot Simca Sunbeam Lotus, a french car like Peugeot, Renault with a 150 HP 2 litre Lotus engine. It ouitperformed all of these cars except the R5 Turbo!

Fun fact: the 205 litteraly saved peugeot from going bankrupt at the last moment and is still considered as one of their biggest sucess.

I had two Ford Fiesta's XR2's...they were very quick off the line,and handled very well.

My first car was a -91 civic. Dang I loved that thing. Really fun to drive and actually a nice car to just cruise around in.

Cool vid and interesting to see the opinions from “across the pond” of a lot of cars I’ve grown up with. Some really cool cars featured and also definitely some missing. Over the years I’ve owned the 205’s big brother the 309 GTI, several Fiesta XR2’s, the Escort XR3i, RS1600i and RS Turbo versions and the Golf GTI. Of them all the Golf was the most user friendly but if I could only have one again it would be the RS1600i. That said a friend back in the day had an Astra GTE and it left the Escort and Golf for dead another had a R5 turbo and it was cool but always broken 😂! I currently still have a 91 Corrado G60 which despite being super fragile is great looking and great fun to drive (when it works but it is approaching 200k miles 😂) . Enjoyed the vid, new subscriber here 👍🏻

Vauxhall are actually German Opels, called Vauxhall in the UK. I had a red Ford Escort 1.6 with 79 hp for three years in the mid-80s. It was also quite nippy, even if it wasn't the Escort with the most powerful engine. In the late 80s, I had a black VW Golf II GTI, which was slightly modified and had around 120 hp at a weight of around 800 kg. According to the speedometer, it ran at over 230 km/h, so realistically probably 215-220 km/h. I was still relatively young back then and often drove that fast. It was still possible at that time because there were still few speed limits on the German autobahns and the traffic was nowhere near as heavy as it is today.

My 205 Gti 1.6 was very tricky at the limit - but great fun nonetheless.

The 1.9 PD diesel engine is famous in the UK and Europe for being very tunable and reliable, I have it in my estate (wagon) and I run it stock as a daily, incredible engine

My second car was a Peugeot 205... not a GTI unfortunately because being a student I couldn't afford much choice. It was simply a 205 with a 1.9 liter naturally aspirated diesel engine. It certainly wasn't a rocket because if I'm not mistaken it had 65 horsepower, yet it was the most fun car I ever had and I still miss it today twenty years later. It had a very particular ride because it had a particularly high stance but I had fitted the anti-roll bars of a sportier version. High, rigid, with a slight tendency to oversteer, with lots of torque and a decent amount of over-rev on top end for a diesel, with negligible fuel consumption (which for a student was a great thing) and even unstoppable off-road and on snow for a front-wheel drive. How many I put it through when I simulated rallies on country roads. The GTI was available in both 1.9 and 1.6, not to mention the rallies version. What a spectacular car! I don't even want to talk about the sacred monster... The 205 turbo 16 which was the basis of group B.(This monster here, just to be clear kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rp2Jp85ktbqZeps.htmlsi=BkK1I5kZP1dGKEYL)

I had an 1988 205 1.9 GTI. It had 130 bhp weighed less than 1000kg, it was fast and handled as if it was on rails.

205 was known as the Sacred Number in France, Saved the Company from Bankruptcy an absolute piece of design perfection which still looks modern 40 years on.

The mid engine layout on the R5 was used in many of the group B rally cars you have viewed in previous vids, Peugeot, lancia, Ford,and the MG Metro inluded. Though they were 4wd of course

The Volvo 360 (originally the 340) was only available with a variomatic auto transmission at launch, which wasn't very popular and harmed the sales. The 340 has a Renault derived 4cyl pushrod motor with an aluminium prop and rear mounted gearbox for 50/50 weight distribution. The 360 was the posher upmarket version fitted with the larger and almost indestructible 2ltr Volvo Redblock as found in the 2/7/900 cars. They also have a better, stronger drivetrain without an ally prop. The best bit, the Renault motors can be ripped out and replaced with the F7R/P 2ltr 16v engines found in the 16v and Williams Clio. I had a Williams converted 340, awesome car but would kill propshafts almost monthly, as the rubber bonded splines would rip out with almost 3x the original power output 😄

Great video, nice era the 80's. My childhood!

Opel Kadettilac E, 1985 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 1,3 Liter engine and „only“ 75 hp. That thing while it had no torque, revved up rpms like there’s no tomorrow. Toth gear was an overdrive to save gas, but the engine kept building up rpms until one day, at the end of a seven hour drive to Sonthofen, my speedometer showed 210 km/hand I got scared because my 155 SR 13 tires were limited to 180km/h and I figured, given that a car’s speedometer is always 10-15 km ahead, that I was over by 15-20 clicks still. The 1,3 Liter 75hp carburettor engine had a bad reputation for worn out camshafts because of a faulty surface hardening. Although Opel fixed that problem early on in the Kadett D series‘ production time, it was never able to shake that image off. I never had any problems whatsoever during the eleven years that I drove it. The 1,6 Liter fuel injection that followed was a stubborn, lazy pos that would make you angry.

The R5 turbo was also made for WRC. Rear engine as opposed to the street version with front engine. Jay Leno has one. He made a video on it.

Didn't have an 80s hot hatch but had a 90s Alfa Romeo 146ti. Looked great drove great and had a glorious engine