With a characteristic bad temper at the time, very few had the courage and the necessary “nail kit” to give them the right treatment to reach the limits…
And with this in mind, I am writing today to remind you of a mythical model from the nineties that they called the Mi16. It was no more than a simple Peugeot, but nevertheless, it had something that made it special and also quite coveted. In the same style as the Peugeot 205, the 405 model had features quite identical to its cousin, such as the front grille, the tailgate lining and rear lights that looked more like those of the 205 in a big way.
But let's get down to business, because Peugeots 405 there are many, Mi16 is that there aren't that many anymore… To fight the competition that was proving very fierce, with the Renault 21 Turbo as one of the main rivals, Peugeot was forced to pull of the gals and building this super sports car. With an atmospheric engine of 2 liters and already with a brilliant 16 valves, this little boy delivered nothing more, nothing less than a powerful 160 horsepower. Thus was launched the Mi16 (16-valve multi-injection).
The most enthusiasts often mounted these Mi16 engines in the mythical 205 GTi, thus making them gain wings and go from 8 to 16 valves, also conquering the powerful 160 horsepower and the 2.0 engine.
However, Peugeot felt that their boy had the capacity to compete and be successful in the 4×4 segment. And so it was… The Mi16 4×4 version was born shortly after! So Peugeot could compete directly with the Audi 90 Quattro 20V, BMW 325iX, Opel Vectra 2000 16V 4×4, Volkswagen Passat G60 Syncro and especially with the Renault 21 Turbo Quadra.
The turbos were giving cards and Peugeot, in order not to lose the race, decided to equip the Mi16 with a turbo, thus giving rise to the stupendous final version: the turbocharged 4×4 Mi16, which it called itself the 405 T16 ! With a 4-cylinder in-line transverse engine, dual overhead camshaft 4 valves per cylinder, 1,998 cm3 of displacement, an 8:1 compression ratio, a devilish 240 horsepower at 6500 rpm, multi-point electronic injection power and a demonic turbocharger , this machine was capable of reaching a top speed of 260 km/h and a furious acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds. How wonderful…
Such numbers allowed Peugeot to struggle with other types of cars, such as the Audi 80 S2, BMW 325i, Ford Sierra Cosworth, Mercedes 190E 2.5-16, Opel Vectra 4×4 Turbo and Alfa Romeu 155 Q4. All of them, super sports no less imposing and of great category, of such great category that one day I will be happy to call one of them up.
These cars are quite rare these days and those who have them don't sell them, especially the T16 version which was produced in low numbers. So you already know if you have the opportunity to acquire a boy like this, don't hesitate… It's a real infernal machine!!