by Gordon on Fri Feb 06, 2009 4:41 pm
quik5i1ver, three words; cheap and bulletproof.
You'd want an unmolested one though, which can be tricky these days, as around 2003/4 they began to fall into the wrong hands if you know what I mean. Quite a lot got badly 'tuned' with exhausts, air filters and dodgy conversions, like changing the rear beam to carry disc brakes; yes they still had drums! Trophy people seem to know how to develop properly, the MaxPower kids just messed about, generally doing more harm than good.
The only times I have had reliability issues is with the rally car and they were impact related, nothing that a road car would be subjected to. Cracked the gearbox casing, punched a Peugeot Sport gravel damper through the top mount and bonnet etc.
Enginewise the Group A and N cars that were blueprinted, had high lift cams etc revved to 10k! Although those engines were rebuild fairly often. What I'm saying is as long as good oil has been used and 5k intervals have been adhered to, cam belt change etc and they've been kept standard with no silly HT leads and flash spark plugs you should be fine. They redline at 7200rpm so there is plenty of safety zone to provide the engine longevity compared to running to 10k. The head gasket did go on my road car at about 45k, but it was spotted well before the engine overheated and could have potentially done damage. The engine is pretty special in that car and was only made for it. It's an evolution of the TU unit from the 205 Rallye and before that the Talbot Samba and Sunbeams. The 205 TU was also a 1294cc unit but has twin Webbers, the Rallye has Magneti Marinelli controlled direct injection and an aluminium block. All the pistons and con-rods are perfectly balanced etc.
The body work has held up pretty well, no real rust issues, again as long as they have been cared for. Some people did have problems with rear wheel bearings going, then as they had collapsed the rear beam bent. This usually occurred to people that ran 6" width wheels rather than the standard 5.5". With 6" people put 185 tyres on them too. I did have a top hose go as well, but that was purely a crack from the age of the rubber! There is nothing in them to really go wrong to be honest. No electric windows, little in the way of comfort apart some very good OEM no branded Recaro's. They have a really expensive alternator though. Never had a problem with mine, but as they were designed to run a full lamp-pod, normal lights, interior lights for poti, map lights and de-mister at full load, they are pretty punchy.
Go on, you know you want one...happy to help and try to answer any questions you have if you decide to look for one.
Nick, I totally agree with your comments re the "master of all trades, but jack of none", great misquote. It can be a sheep or wolf in sheep’s clothing depending on your mood. To a certain extent the Rallye is the same, but far from a soothing thing on the way home after a long day. You really have to drive it at 55mph in 5th for that. I used to enjoy that though, trying to remain at a constant 55mph even though the bends! The Rallye is not a motorway car. It's not very passenger friendly either, one of the main reasons I got the Trophy. Not to mention I felt it is the nearest thing to the Rallye in spirit and ethos.
Living in Geneva must have been a great place to drive one. All those mountain passes to hoon about on. Particularly with Peugeot Sport asphalt inserts. I think the connectedness is one reason for the snow driving capability, but also no ESP or ABS and a good old throttle cable. I think you should try some angles on the wife. How about "your new shopping car darling, a sporty future classic, cheap to run etc"...worth a try. Good luck!
by Nik on Sat Oct 10, 2009 12:52 am
