Video: Absolutely sending a Peugeot 205 GTi around the Nürburgring

04th May 2022

Ethan Jupp

There’s nothing like showing the young timers what’s what when it comes to cars, especially in a battlefield as competitive as hot hatches. Where better too to duff up the youngsters than on their own turf, the Nürburgring, where thick tyre profiles and adaptive damping (normally) reign supreme.

Ride on board, as a Peugeot 205 GTi, a first-generation hot hatch, takes on a seventh-generation hot hatch in a facelift Mercedes-AMG A45. Okay, it’d be foolish to think that this rev-happy little critter would be able to dispatch the Merc. In fact, the first shot we see is the AMG overtaking the Pug, but the old girl makes a good go of hanging onto the all-wheel-drive 380PS (279kW) weapon. It quite obviously starts to pull ahead on the straights, just as the Peugeot’s 16 valves begin rattling up against the bonnet, but in the corners, the little Pug’s weight advantage is plain and evident. It even gains some ground back in some, when presumably the driver of the Mercedes who isn’t quite as involved in the process of driving as the Pug driver, loses the confidence to put its monster arsenal of performance addenda to its best work. We love to see it.

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