64 MODERNCLASSICS
ENDANGERED SPECIES
wonderwhetheryoushouldbe wearingknuckleguards
andkneepads.It'scammyinitsdelivery,withpower
cominginat 3500-4000rpmandpeakingsoon
afterwards,butthere'sa tingeof disappointmentinthe
upperreaches.Thetonebecomesa tinnymetalliccry,and
onlyhavinga singlecamit tailsoffwithoutstrainingat
the limiter.Betweenlow-downgrumblesandredline
disinterestyou'reencouragedto workwithinthe
midrange,wherethefuel-injectedengineis happiest.
Asa resultyou'llbe rowingthroughthegearboxlikean
Oxbridgeboatman(a specialeditiontrickmissedperhaps),
but that'sno badthing.Whilea littlelongof throwby
today'sstandards,the 309 GTI'sgearchangeis oneof the
bestnotonlyof theera,butinthebusiness.Theclosely
spacedratiosarespot-on,andarehelpfullycalibratedso
Thisbadge
extendsa 309's
lif e expectancy.
Nomorehorsepower
th ana 309GTI,but
pl entymorecow.
Notonlydual
-h eritage,but
multilingualtoo.
Thisthingcan
setB-roads
ablaze.
Thefuel-injected
fo ur-potis shared
wi ththe1.9 205GTI.
You'll be a bit
busy to worry
about the time.
areforAmericans;thisis Britain,andwe specialisein
B-roads.Ona twistierstretch,the309'sdynamic
repertoirebecomesa concert.Its950kggivesa respectable
startingpointof 137bhppertonne,butthemagicis inthe
honedchassisbalanceandsuspensionwizardry.
Gripis prodigious,andif youcanfinda 205GTIowner
who canstopbangingonaboutthevalueof theircarfora
fewminutes,theymightletyouintothelittlesecretthat
manyof themhavebeenupgradedwith 309 lowerfront
wishbones.Thewidertrackcoupledwiththelonger
wheelbaseandbetterweightdistributionmeansthe 309 is
equallyagilebutmoremalleableonthelimit;intheright
hands,bigbrothercouldtakea 205backto school.There
was a reasonwhytheMetropolitanPoliceFlyingSquad
put100,000milesona 309GTIinthe1990s,andwe doubt
the speedonudges62mph
atthetopendof second
gearratherthanthelower
reachesof third,allowingit
toclawbackprecious
fractionsof a secondwhen
pittedagainstmore
powerfulrivalsinperiod.
Peugeotclaimedeight
secondsdead;periodtests
showedthatto be a
tadoptimistic.
Buttrafficlightgrands
prixandthegriddedstreet
layoutsthatspawnthem
itwasBritishsolidity.
Yes,it'smorethan
willingto tuckitsnosein
andsplayitstruncatedtail
ifyou'rea bittooabrupt
witha mid-cornerthrottle
li ft,butnotto thealarming
extentthatgavelittle
brotherthewidowmaking
reputationto rivala
Porsche930.The309's
more directsteering,and
the layerof feelingstripped
outby hydraulically
assistingit,givesthe
