Suspension height on a non-GTI

[zeWaardt 0]

Good evening!

I've recently picked up a nice 1993 1.1. Body is very straight, little to no rust at all.
However, the car is full of surprises. I haven't even verified what engine is currently actually in the car. The only thing I can see for sure is that someone (poorly) installed a carb in place of the original fuel injection. All of the original wiring loom is still dangling around and the (modified) exhaust still has the cat on it.

I am suspicious of the suspension though. Compared to other 205's I've seen, mine seems to sit unusually high. The car also has virtually no body roll, but it isn't overly stiff.
Both on the front and the back, I can put my entire hand between the tire and the wheel arch with room to spare!... Now I have small hands, but that seems excessive?

I'm trying to find info on stock measurements, but almost any web search only returns info about the GTI model. Mine's just a base spec 1.1L.

I've made the following measurements:

Front suspension:
- Center of the wheel to the bottom of the arch: 390mm
- Gap between top of wheel and bottom of arch: 100mm
- Ground to sill (measured to the jacking point): 230mm

Rear suspension:

- Center of the wheel to the bottom of the arch: 395mm
- Gap between top of wheel and bottom of arch: 110mm
- Ground to sill (measured to the jacking point): 270mm

Does that seem about right, is the car supposed to sit this high or has someone fumbled with it? I've attached an image of the car. It's not a very good one, haven't had much time to photograph the car yet, but it may give an idea.

Thanks in advance!

[Gohn 68]

don't have a 1.1 so cant send some measurements to compare with

 

but would say that all the non-GTi's do tend to sit up a bit and have reasonable clearance , especially compared with the GTi

it looks normal from here 

 

to rule out any modifications by earlier owners

 

do your check on what engine first, if that's original its good indication everything else is

VIN plate number indicates engine spec

 

for shocks:

have a good look underneath, aftermarket springs and shocks will be obvious

originals shocks are black (no fancy colours) both front and rear, very good

 

for springs:

front springs and they will likely still have the OE colour code stripes on them

they were painted on with a brush !! over the base black and will be somewhere under the dirt if the surface rust hasn't got to them

attached the peugeot part list for base model TU, 1991 or later which I think yours is

 

and for the rear torsion bars they will be original 

the only possible difference from original at the rear would be the rear beam was rebuilt and not put back together correctly

but again, unlikely

 

go Femke

 

 

 

 

 

[PhilNW 44]

There is some information on Haynes manual re front spring lengths and rear ride height for gti and not gti models.

[Davetouch 3]

I have a 1.1, and yours looks pretty standard to me. They do sit very high and look a bit silly with the tiny wheels and no plastic wheelarch trims. I guess double check the tyre sizes also in case its had some undersized ones put on in the past (my profile pic is mine with standard suspension but some 1.9 GTI wheels - and a load of luggage to weigh it down). It is possible yours has had some replacement springs and the wrong ones added, the suspension is all lego mix and match parts with many other things so easy to get the wrong ones (I have 405 springs).

 

I have a photo here of after I'd lifted mine to 'stage 1' - it has gone up more since as I got the 309 wider track arms and also lowered the subframe which all relieved some tension from the system so it settled higher up.

Sadly I can't find the measurements I took before I made the adjustments, since I did those mods in 2019...

 

Id say put some chunkier tyres on it (with the GTI wheels it was sucha  gokart with unlimited grip :D) and enjoy the peppiness! I may be biased but I do think the TU with carb is one of the best engines out there. I also had a 1.6 309 GTI and that didn't actually feel that much faster to drive. The extra nippiness of the 205 plus revviness of the TU is something very special.

Edited August 11 by Davetouch

[jord294 92]

I'd say you are about 25mm too high at back compared to front.

 

I know dummy shock setting for base 205 is around 334mm

[zeWaardt 0]

Thanks for the info!

When the heat wave passes, I’ll give the suspension a close look. I’m definitely gonna look for some nice wheels as well. It does look a bit funny with the small wheels and the tall ride height.


As for the engine, I do have plans for it…. I have a very big shelf of parts from various cars that I’ve had over the years, somewhere this week I’m gonna see if I can make a GM TBI that I have lying around fit, and install standalone engine management on it. I have a complete Speeduino kit collecting dust right now. It worked great in my Mercedes R170 SLK230 before it was scrapped, I’m putting it into this 205 now. The TBI is from a 1.6L engine so I think it should be able to provide enough fuel for Peugeot’s engine with the plans I have in mind.

Most of the original wiring loom seems to be there, so I can use that. The only thing that seems to be missing is the loom for the original TBI unit.

I guess I’ll make a topic about it when the time comes, but I plan to install a supercharger to the engine and turn the car into a fun little nugget. I’m a big fan of whiny blowers and fit one to most project cars I acquire haha.

I’m also gonna respray the car as the paint on the hood and the roof is gone, and the trunk lid has accident damage which caused the paint to flake off, so I’ll have to repair that.


One question I have, I haven’t looked at the block yet but the part number on the cylinder head returns a TU3 cylinder head. Is the TU1 and TU3 head the same, or might someone have installed a TU3 engine into this car? It does feel quite peppy, certainly wants to get up and go.

It has a modified exhaust, which while looking hideous does actually sound quite nice. The car is still quiet but has a nice throaty roar to it.

[zeWaardt 0]

I’ve looked over the suspension.

I can’t find the factory marks but it looks mostly stock. That said, the car has nearly zero body roll and handles like a kart.
I think I will adjust the rear ride height to look good and leave the rest as is.

It seems good and the car handles great. Nice cornering machine!
I do feel like someone has messed with it before, but I guess in my favour.

I’m now in the process of fitting the Speeduino engine management for it.