Guide: Peugeot 205 T16 Evolution 2
Background
Group B regulations permitted manufacturers in possession of homologated machinery to produce further uprated batches of 20 Evolution variants every twelve months.
The T16 Evolution 1 had been homologated at the same time as the standard T16 road car and, one year later, Peugeot produced the even wilder Evolution 2 iteration.
Homologated on May 1st 1985, the T16 Evolution 2 came with a host of aerodynamic and mechanical improvements designed to keep the model at the forefront of competition. As per the regulations, 20 were built, all of which were reserved for use by the works team.
The Evolution 1 had proven itself to be the most formidable machine on the World Rally circuit by winning six of the nine WRC events it had entered. When the Evo 1 missed out, it was generally the result of a crash or mechanical failure rather than a lack of performance. However, the Evolution 2 would need to hit the ground running as new machinery, most notably from Lancia (Delta S4) and Ford (RS200), was expected to arrive within a few months.
Chassis
Whereas the Evolution 1 used a reinforced and seam-welded version of the standard car’s pressed steel monocoque, the Evolution 2 had the rear section replaced with a custom tubular spaceframe that saved over 70kg and greatly improved mechanical access.
The roll cage was also now fully integrated which increased torsional rigidity by 30%.
The brake system was uprated with two four-piston calipers fitted at each corner.
Depending on the characteristics of any given event, one of two different fuel tank configurations could be selected: a pair of 54-litre cells or a solitary 54-litre tank plus a smaller 25-litre auxiliary unit.
For rallies that took place in extremely hot or cold conditions, a system to control damper temperature was introduced. The co-driver was given a dash-mounted read-out and, when required, the shocks could be sprayed either with engine coolant or cool water.
To make life easier for the driver, hydraulically-assisted power steering was added.
Engine & Gearbox
The Evolution 2’s water-cooled inline four cylinder engine normally produced between 440bhp and 550bhp although output was usually kept below 500bhp for reasons of longevity.
A new Garret T31 turbo replaced the outgoing KKK item and boost pressure generally ran at between 2.6 and 3 bar.
The cylinder head, water-to-air intercooler and electronic DPV anti-lag system were all new. The existing Bosch K-Jetronic multipoint mechanical fuel-injection was optimised for this latest application.
To comply with the regulations, displacement was unchanged at 1775cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 83mm and 82mm respectively.
Four-wheel drive transmission was initially via a five-speed gearbox and a ventilated twin-plate clutch. A six-speed gearbox subsequently came on stream for 1986.
Bodywork
One of the Evolution 1’s biggest problems had been its unpredictability while jumping. To address this, enormous new front and rear spoilers were added.
Kevlar was again used extensively throughout.
Weight / Performance
Whereas the Evolution 1 had typically weighed in at between 940kg and 980kg, Evolution 2s could be trimmed down to as little as 910kg thanks primarily to the new rear spaceframe.
This gave the car an F1-rivalling power-to-weight ratio. These truly were crazy times.
1985 Season
Peugeot Talbot Sport (PTS) had intensively developed the Evolution 2 alongside their hectic 1985 WRC programme. By the time the new variant was homologated, the Evolution 1s had already won three of the opening four events in 1985 to give Peugeot a healthy lead in both the Manufacturer and Driver standings.
1985 Tour de Corse
As a result, the team were in no rush to bring an unproven element into the mix. However, with much testing done on tarmac and the first post-homologation event having been the all-important Tour de Corse (the only event on French soil), Peugeot decided to enter an Evolution 2 for Bruno Saby who was a tarmac specialist and not in the running for championship honours.
Saby’s team-mates, Timo Salonen and Ari Vatanen, opted for Evolutions 1s on the Tour de Corse.
Salonen was excluded on the first day after an electrical fix in parc ferme went over the allotted time. Vatanen crashed out on day two and wrecked his car.
By this time, the event had already been overshadowed by a fatal accident that claimed the life of Lancia driver, Attilio Bettega. Bettega had crashed his 037 into a tree which ruptured the driver’s seat and killed him instantly. Bettega’s co-driver, Maurizio Perissinot, was uninjured. Lancia withdrew from the event.
Disappointingly, Saby took just two fastest stage times in the Evolution 2 (compared to Vatanen’s ten before he crashed). The other 17 were won by Jean Ragnotti in the new Renault 5 Maxi Turbo which was also making its competition debut.
Ragnotti and co-driver, Pierre Thimonier, led from start to finish and eventually finished nearly 13 minutes ahead of Saby / Fauchille who placed second.
Post Tour de Corse
After this steady if unspectacular debut, PTS returned to the Evolution 1 for the Acropolis, New Zealand and Argentine rallies. All three events were won by Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne to further extend Peugeot’s championship advantage.
Rally Argentina had been marred by another serious accident though.
The T16 driven by Ari Vatanen and Terry Harryman had crashed at 120mph on stage two which launched the car into a series of violent rolls. Both occupants sustained major injuries and, although Harryman was back navigating for Michele Mouton in PTS Deutschland’s T16 Evolution 1 for 1986, Vatanen never completed another full WRC campaign. However, he did later compete for PTS on the Paris-Dakar Grand Raid and at Pikes Peak.
1985 1000 Lakes Rally
After considerable success in the domestic PTS Deutschland Evolution 1 (which was maintained by PTS in Paris), Kalle Grundel and Peter Diekmann were drafted to replace the injured Vatanen and Harryman for the 1000 Lakes Rally in late August. Grundel had been testing for PTS in Finland during the summer and he seemed the obvious choice to deputise for Vatanen.
Rally Argentina had been the final event for the works Evolution 1s as PTS exclusively used the Evolution 2 from the ‘85 1000 Lakes through to the end of 1986.
Two new cars were taken to Finland, one for Salonen / Harjanne and the other for Grundel / Diekmann. Both cars were producing 440bhp and weighed around 950kg. Attention to the car since the Tour de Corse had seen a significant improvement in its torque curve.
The 1000 Lakes was the Evolution 2’s first gravel event. It would be up against Audi’s latest Quattro Sport which had been introduced in Argentina.
Continuing their excellent 1985 form, Salonen / Harjanne had a relatively trouble free run. They drove conservatively in the second half of the rally to maintain a healthy lead established early on. Salonen finished 48 seconds ahead of Blomqvist / Cederberg in the latest Quattro. Works Lancia 037s were third and fourth.
Grundel / Diekmann finished fifth after they incurred serious damage to the front of their Evolution 2 by hitting a telegraph pole early on. They carried on with a damaged chassis and admirably even managed to win a stage.
1985 Rallye Sanremo
Saby returned for the penultimate WRC round that PTS contested in 1985: the mixed gravel / tarmac Sanremo Rally.
PTS arrived with separate suspension set-ups that could be switched between stages. Two new T16s were entered, one for Salonen and the other for Saby. The cars weighed 960kg and produced between 460bhp and 480bhp depending on boost. This event marked the arrival of power steering for the T16.
After briefly leading, a series of niggling engine problems saw Saby drop down the order
before he eventually succumbed to a cylinder head problem on the penultimate day.
Salonen also experienced problems including a broken rear differential and then the loss of third gear with two stages to go. He held on to take second.
Walter Rohrl dominated in the latest Sport Quattro. He eventually won by six and a half minutes.
1985 RAC Rally
Another even more extreme Group B challenger made its debut in the 1985 season-ending RAC Rally as Lancia chose to introduce their turbocharged and supercharged Delta S4.
Grundel / Diekmann were back in the second T16 alongside Salonen / Harjanne, but neither of the works Peugeots made it to the finish. Grundel crashed out on stage 20 and Salonen retired on stage 21 with no oil pressure.
The new Lancias finished first and second. Henri Toivonen / Neil Wilson led Markku Alen / Ilkka Kivimaki in an ominous statement of intent for 1986.
1985 Season Points Standings
Peugeot finished the season as Manufacturer’s champions on 142 points, 16 ahead of Audi.
In the Driver’s championship, Salonen was well out in front on 127 points with Audi’s Stig Blomqvist second on 75 and his team-mate, Walter Rohrl, third on 59. Despite missing a large part of the season after his crash in Argentina, Vatanen placed fourth on 55.
1985 Bettega Memorial Rally
Although the season had officially ended, PTS took an Evolution 2 for Timo Salonen to drive in the non-championship Bettega Memorial Rally which was organised as part of the Bologna Motor Show.
Held on a 1.3km circuit in the car park of the Bologna exhibition centre, huge crowds were treated to a spectacular knockout competition.
Salonen beat Stig Blomqvist’s Audi in round one, the Metro 6R4 of Marc Duez in round two and then Markku Alen’s Delta S4 to win the final.
1986 Season
Although Peugeot had secured both the Manufacturer’s and Driver’s titles in 1985, the French squad went into 1986 with one of the older Group B models. Lancia’s Delta S4 had been victoriously introduced on the final round of 1985 and Ford would have the first of their RS200s on stream from the second round of 1986 (Rally Sweden).
Audi had also introduced the formidable Sport Quattro Evolution 2 on the 1985 Rally Argentina, one event prior to the T16 Evolution 2 taking over full time from its predecessor.
Timo Salonen was retained for the 1986 season and, to replace the injured Ari Vatanen, PTS recruited Juha Kankkunen from Toyota. Bruno Saby stayed on as a tarmac specialist and Shekhar Mehta did the Safari. Michele Mouton, Andrea Zanussi and Mikael Sundstrom also drove selected rounds for the works team as did Stig Blomqvist after Ford withdrew their WRC team mid-season.
1986 Monte Carlo Rally
As usual, Monte Carlo hosted the season opener for which PTS took a trio of T16 Evolution 2s for Salonen / Harjanne, Kankunnen / Piironen and Saby / Fauchille. All three cars were equipped with tarmac suspension, 450bhp engines and new underbody aerodynamics to increase downforce.
Rain before the event led to unpredictable conditions and the Michelin runners (such as Peugeot) couldn’t keep up with those on Pirelli’s latest compounds.
Tyre mix ups were the story of the event for most of the front runners but, as conditions improved, so did Peugeot’s fortunes and the T16s charged back up the leader board.
Salonen couldn’t match Henri Toivonen in the Delta S4, but he did take second (finishing just over four minutes behind). Kankkunen placed fifth after suffering engine and fuel feed problems. Saby was sixth; his car had required a new gearbox mid way through the event and also needed its back end rebuilt after a crash.
PTS then used the three week gap before the next event to try and address some of the niggling reliability issues that had so far afflicted the Evolution 2.
1986 Swedish Rally
Two cars were on hand for the Swedish Rally in mid February. Salonen and Kankunnen both ran 1000kg examples with 450bhp engines.
Salonen dominated the early proceedings and not even Toivonen’s Delta S4 could touch him for pace. However, after winning the first six stages, Salonen’s engine expired when the oil pressure dropped as a result of a loose oil filter bowl. A brief fire then occurred and the Finn was out.
Thereafter, fastest stage times were traded between Kankunnen in the sister T16, Lancia drivers Toivonen and Alen plus Grundel in the brand new Ford RS200.
Having overhauled Toivonen to take the lead, Kankunnen set about building a big gap and led the entire second half of the event to secure his first WRC win for Peugeot. Alen was second for Lancia and Grundel third for Ford.
1986 Rally Portugal
Rally Portugal in early March was a mix of gravel and tarmac. The Evolution 2s generally ran with 460bhp and weight was back down to 970kg. 16-inch wheels were used and PTS adopted the Tour de Corse spec. for the opening tarmac sections. They then raised the ride height for the gravel stages.
Crowd control in Portugal had often been worryingly slack with the organisers deaf to suggestions that may have improved safety. Trouble began early on when Salonen hit a cameraman on the second bend of stage one. However, worse was to come as the nightmare accident that had been predicted for so long finally occurred.
On stage three, the Ford RS200 of Portuguese privateer, Joaquim Santos, span off into the huge crowd killing three children and a woman and leaving a further 32 seriously injured. All the major manufacturers withdrew their cars from the event but some only did so as a result of their drivers walking out.
1986 Safari Rally
Despite the tragedy in Portugal, teams had to re-focus immediately on preparations for the gruelling 4200km Safari Rally three weeks later.
Two special Safari-spec. Evolution 2s were built up, one for 1985 winners Kankunnen / Piironen, the other for five-time winner Shekhar Mehta and his co-driver, Rob Combes.
Engines were de-tuned to 400bhp at a maximum boost of 2.5 bar and all the normal Safari extras were installed.
This event marked the debut for Peugeot’s remotely operated cooling system for the shock absorbers. Meanwhile, the second spare wheel was moved from roof to the front compartment. The auxiliary fuel tank that normally resided there was replaced by two long-range 60-litre cells underneath the seats.
Mehta’s debut for PTS was literally a baptism of fire. His pre-event test car caught ablaze and was completely burnt out, Mehta’s rally was then marred by persistent blown turbos and damage to the back end when Erwin Weber’s Audi wrecked the Peugeot’s oil cooler and exhaust. The Kenyan nevertheless managed to finish eighth albeit more than three hours behind the winning Toyota Celica of Bjorn Waldegard / Fred Gallagher.
Having himself won for Toyota in 1985, Kankunnen also had his fair share of trouble with various suspension and electrical problems hampering progress. He finished fifth, two hours and six minutes behind Waldegard.
1986 Tour de Corse
For the Tour de Corse, PTS had a raft of updates for the Evolution 2 including a six-speed gearbox (homologated April 1st). There were also new side skirts and hydraulic shock absorber attachments fitted to reduce understeer around slow corners. Carbon fibre brakes had been trialled in the weeks before but were not used.
Three Evolution 2s were entered: one for Salonen / Harjanne, another for Saby / Fauchille and a third for Michele Mouton / Fabrizia Pons. The Mouton / Pons entry was also reported to have a different head gasket design that enabled total boost of up to 3 bar plus special ceramic manifold materials to allow greater engine temperatures.
Salonen crashed out on stage eight while trying to overtake Markku Alen’s Delta S4. Mouton then retired on the very next leg after her car got stuck in gear and the starter broke.
In the only Evolution 2 still running, Saby initially lay second but he couldn’t match the Henri Toivonen / Sergio Cresto Delta S4.
On the second day, less than two months after the Rally Portugal disaster, tragedy struck again.
The leading Toivonen / Cresto S4 went off the side of a hill into trees below where it was consumed by an intense fire. Both men died and Lancia withdrew from the event.
Twelve months earlier, the team had lost Attilio Bettega on the same rally.
Saby went on to secure a hollow first WRC victory and, in the most sombre of circumstances, Peugeot took the lead from Lancia in the Manufacturer’s championship.
Toivonen had been a star on the rally circuit and his passing, along with that of Sergio Cresto, felt like the end of an era.
FIA Bans Group B Cars For 1987
Sure enough, the FIA announced a ban on any further Evolution variants, a ban on downforce-inducing skirts and, most significantly, the cancellation of Group B from 1987 when the WRC would cater exclusively for Group A cars.
It was the correct decision and, as if to reinforce the point, another fatal accident occurred later that month when Marc Surer had an enormous crash in a Ford RS200 which claimed the life of his co-driver, Michel Wyder.
Competing in the Hessen Rallye (a domestic German event), Surer’s RS200 slid wide on a 140mph corner, hit a small bush and then burst into flames mid flight before slamming into a tree and splitting in two. Surer survived but was severely injured having been thrown clear of the inferno.
1986 Acropolis Rally
The Acropolis Rally went ahead in early June with the sport under a dark cloud. The cars had become too powerful and the enormous crowds practically uncontrollable.
Nevertheless, there was still a championship to be decided and PTS took a full complement of three Evolution 2s to Greece: one for Kankunnen / Piironen, one for Salonen / Harjanne and another for Saby / Fauchille (the latter’s first gravel event in an Evolution 2).
Salonen traded the rally lead with Grundel’s RS200 early on but, after losing time with an electrical problem following a puncture, the Finn hit a ditch at 100mph that wasn’t marked on pace his notes. His car sustained heavy damage to the suspension and steering that eventually forced him to retire.
Saby put in a steady drive to finish third while Kankunnen (the points leader going into event) led from one third distance to win despite having to drive the last few stages without power steering. His car had actually been rolled while being tested locally 48 hours prior to start but PTS managed to carry out a complete rebuild and Kankunnen took his second win of year.
Ford Withdraws
Despite having shown an impressive turn of speed on the Acropolis, Ford announced afterwards they would withdraw from all the remaining WRC rounds bar the season finale in Britain.
1986 New Zealand Rally
PTS flew a pair of Evolution 2s out for the New Zealand Rally in early July, both cars getting a strengthened chassis and new fire extinguishing system that added 11kg. 2.6 bar turbo pressure yielded 450bhp but, as per the new rules, neither example was fitted with side skirts or the (still legal) liquid-cooled shock absorber system.
Aside from the tarmac opener, the New Zealand stages were mostly smooth gravel and very easy on the cars.
Fastest stage times were predominantly split between Kankunnen’s T16 and Alen in the Delta S4. After hitting the Yamaguchi / Coker Toyota Corolla and losing 26 minutes, Timo Salonen also began to demonstrate the kind of speed that won him the 1985 Driver’s title.
Salonen recovered to finish fifth while Kankkunen / Piironen took a second win on the bounce. The Delta S4s were second (Alen / Kivimaki), third (Biasion / Siviero) and fourth (Ericsson / Billstam).
1986 Rally Argentina
South America was the WRC’s next destination.
After a solid drive to third in the 1985 event, PTS offered Carlos Reutemann an Evolution 2 for the 1986 Argentine Rally but the ex-F1 driver declined on safety grounds. Instead, the position went to ex-Ford refugees Stig Blomqvist and Bruno Berglund.
Timo Salonen had decided to skip this event (hence the vacancy). The other T16 Evolution 2s were entered for Kankkunen / Piironen and Saby / Fauchille.
The cars were in gravel spec. but no major updates were introduced.
By contrast, Lancia suddenly found a considerable performance gain by matching their tyre sizes front to back. The Italian team produced a dominant one-two finish with Biasion / Siviero leading from start to finish and Alen / Kivimaki placing second.
Kankkunen was the only threat to the Lancias but retired on stage 15 after his rear wheel came loose and the car arrived back at parc ferme an hour after the permitted time.
By then, Saby had also gone out. PTS withdrew his car on stage eight after the engine ominously began to consume water before the block cracked.
Blomqvist / Berglund finished a creditable third on their debut for PTS despite the water injection failing early on.
1986 1000 Lakes Rally
For the 1000 Lakes Rally in early September, the large contingent of Finnish WRC drivers were all desperate to win on home soil.
After Saby’s cracked block last time out in Argentina, the trio of Evolution 2s in attendance came with new engine block castings. There was also a revised front axle housing (now aluminium alloy) and the cars weighed in at between 1020kg to 1040kg. Engines were typically running 455bhp at 2.6 bar but another 30bhp was available at 2.8 bar if required.
Having dominated in Argentina, Alen’s Delta S4 led for the first three days before it sustained accident damage. He recovered to finish third behind Salonen / Harjanne and Kankkunen / Piironen. Blomqvist / Berglund took fourth in the other Evolution 2 after they had lost control on a jump and damaged the back end.
1986 Sanremo Rally
Peugeot headed for the Sanremo Rally with a healthy lead in the Manufacturer’s standings, but that was all about to change. The only good news in Italy was that Ari Vatanen and Terry Harryman were back after their horrific accident on the 1985 Argentine Rally. They attended in an Evolution 2 recce car for PTS.
Four Evolution 2s were entered, all of which were in 1000 Lakes trim with up to 3 bar boost and 450bhp. In addition to cars for Kankkunen, Salonen and Saby, another was on hand for Andrea Zanussi and his co-driver, Paolo Amati, after their impressive domestic form in the PTS Italia T16 Evolution 1.
Salonen crashed out early on while Saby and Zanussi exchanged the lead several times. Along with Kankkunen, the works Peugeot’s initially dished out quite a hiding to Lancia on their home soil.
However, the three remaining PTS cars were excluded after 32 of the 41 stages. The partisan Italian scrutineers deemed intakes on the undersills to be generating ground effect which had been specifically outlawed since the Tour de Corse.
The local stewards felt compelled to serve notice of exclusion despite the same parts having been used on the Acropolis.
Peugeot vowed to fight the decision in court while the Lancia’s went on to finish first, second and third.
1986 RAC Rally
The teams headed to the RAC Rally in mid November not knowing what the outcome of the legal action would be.
The RAC was the last European appearance for the Group B supercars. PTS entered a trio of 450bhp examples in Sanremo gravel trim, albeit with revised exhaust systems to cope with strict British noise legislation.
There were cars for Kankkunen and Salonen while the third Evolution 2 was entered for Mikael Sundstrom / Voitto Silander who had been driving for PTS UK in their domestic campaign with an Evolution 1.
Kankkunen lost any chance of victory after he span, put his nose into a ditch and rolled at speed. He nevertheless recovered to finish third, one position ahead of Sundstrom / Silander.
At the sharp end, an epic battle between Salonen’s Peugeot and Alen’s Lancia saw them head into the final stage just a few seconds apart. It was the Peugeot that emerged victorious, Salonen taking his second win of the year.
1986 Olympus Rally
With the Manufacturer’s title set to be decided in a court room after the last points-scoring event of the year (the RAC), there was still one more event that counted towards the Driver’s championship: the Olympus Rally in Washington during early December.
The title was a straight fight between Peugeot’s Juha Kankunenn and Lancia’s Markku Alen.
PTS took just the one car in RAC trim and reverted to the normal exhaust system.
The tight and twisty gravel stages better suited Peugeot than Lancia but Kankkunen lost time, first for an alternator to be replaced, then with a leaking turbo pipe and finally a puncture. He eventually finished three minutes 26 seconds behind Alen’s winning Lancia.
1986 Season Points Standings
Alen left the US ahead on points, but PTS were soon in a Paris courtroom trying to overturn their exclusion on the Sanremo Rally.
After much deliberation, it was decided the result from the Sanremo Rally would be annulled which handed the Manufacturer’s title to Peugeot and the Driver’s crown to Kankkunen.
With the WRC switching to Group A from 1987, there were few places left for T16s to run. Some cars were sold off to collectors and others were used for rallycross.
PTS left the WRC to focus on Pikes Peak and a Grand Raid programme that included the Paris-Dakar Rally.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Peugeot - http://www.peugeot.com
