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This car was the European bargain of '89 and '91. I remember people picking Mi16s up for $12K right after Peugeot pulled out of the US market.
First of all, it only 2650 lbs, and you notice the lightness in the doors and the overall lack of "tank" like feel you get in the Saab. The interior build quality is appalling. I spent many a weekend resticking plastic, screwing trim down, putting felt and Dynamat behind certain surfaces, etc. Now, it's much improved. I also have access to numerous parts cars, which I've used to replace some older cracked trim.
The 1.9 liter 16V engine is has a sweet spot around 4500rpm, when it starts coming on cam, and you feel the torque kick in...makes the 7000 rpm upshift feel awesome. 150hp may not seem like much, but it's a light car, and the engine is incredibly free revving. It won't win many drag races these days, but I get an amazing exhilaration from revving it. Peugeot made a 405 T16 version in Europe with 4wd and 210hp...that would have been amazing.
The engine has a very racing engine sound to it, and sounds great when it revs. The gearbox throws now are smooth and easy, thanks to new shift linkages I had put in the car. The clutch is weighted nicely, and it is a great car to teach people how to drive a standard tranmission on. Very forgiving. My car has 86K on it, and 2nd gear needs a bit of a warm up to be smooth. I swapped tranny fluid to synthetic Redline MTF and it made a HUGE difference, particularly in cold weather.
It's a bit buzzy on the highway since it's 20mph per 1000rpm in 5th. But that's not where it thrives. This car is meant for twisty roads, 2nd,3rd and 4th gears. 195/55/VR15 Dunlop SP Sport W-10 tires make this car stick to the road like no other front drive sedan I've ever driven. I've taken it on several NH/VT twisty road trips, and it is unreal. People are shocked at how well it handles (it DOES have new shocks and bushings, mind you!) and I still neeed to try it in an autocross. I know a guy who autocrossed his, and did almost as well as several Miatas, the autocross car of choice. I can take certain Boston area off-ramps at close to 70mph and there is no tire squeal at all...
I spent way too much money restoring it, but I think it puts even a bigger smile on my face than my yellow '91 900TC. I'll never sell it...'cause then I lose the smiles and I lose a s^&tload of investment!!
You can check out what I did to it at:
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/425748
Cheers,
Paul H.
posted by 209.6.2...
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