306 GTi-6 and previous drives
Discussion
A litte history, before gettin into the GTi-6. I'm a french hot hatch fan, through and through, having driven a Clio Williams, but couldn't afford insurance, I bought my first bit of fun in the form of an original Clio 1.4, which I loved so after a few years replaced with a mk1 Clio 172 at the age of 21. Great little car but turned out not to like track work, destroying 2 gearboxes in 12 months, both boxes dying a month after each trackday. I did love the car though, although found the handling to be a bit dull, not really giving much feedback. In my opinion, it was a bit slow after 60 as well.
Anyway, photos of the 172 below:
So after some more bad luck, such as a spark plug shooting out the head, taking threads with it, dampers leaking, inlet manifold bolts shearing, list goes on, I flogged the 172.
I was on the look out for a hot hatch I could use daily, that was still fun without being chavvy. Settled on a 306 GTi-6 but it had to be white, so spent a few months hunting and finally found one on the owners club, about 300 mile away. So off I trot, hand over my cash and drive home, but the bad luck continued!
First, photos of the GTi-6:
And a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwJVt7Skqe0
So during my journey home from buying the car, typical english weather with torrential rain, the oil light came on in the outside lane of motorway. By the time I could get to the hard shoulder, the engine had cut out. I feared the worse, rang the AA, who poured oil in which came straight back out, so I got the car towed home, eventually arrived home in the early hours. Next day, stripped off the under tray to inspect, only to find the sump plug had fell out! Rang the seller (private) who was shocked and to cut a long story short, agreed to split the cost of a recon engine.
Since then the car has been superb, doing various trackdays, various trips to the Ring and had no serious issues. Biggest job being the heater matrix, which still only cost £80 in parts and took me 2 days to strip the dash out and replace. Up until 2 year back, the car was my only transport so I welcomed the reliability, which is odd for french cars I know! Also had it rolling roaded at 149bhp ATW (take with salt I know), but on the same day it was the most powerful 2 litre there including 3 other GTI-6's and a load of 172's, one with a load of mods that still only put 146bhp atw.
So, 2 year back I got a new job with company car, so the GTi was used purely as weekend fun and track work, still performing faultlessly. Year back, due to funds I took it off the road and it was stood in a lock up, until a few months back when I offered the car to a good friend to use. After a new battery, the GTi-6 fired up and sailed through its MOT again and is currently being used daily by him.
So, my daily drive has gone from an old french fun box to the below, as far fetched from fun as you can get! A Passat... diesel, yawn!
But as my mrs is pregnant, running around in a big, safe, German car is much more sensible then a french tin foil car! Plus the company car comes with a fuel card for private and business use, bonus. Eagle eye readers will have spotted the 207 on the drive, which has now gone and been replaced with a Ford Focus. While its not quick, it handles much like the GTI-6 imo, so still get a bit of fun driving this.
Anyway, photos of the 172 below:
So after some more bad luck, such as a spark plug shooting out the head, taking threads with it, dampers leaking, inlet manifold bolts shearing, list goes on, I flogged the 172.
I was on the look out for a hot hatch I could use daily, that was still fun without being chavvy. Settled on a 306 GTi-6 but it had to be white, so spent a few months hunting and finally found one on the owners club, about 300 mile away. So off I trot, hand over my cash and drive home, but the bad luck continued!
First, photos of the GTi-6:
And a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwJVt7Skqe0
So during my journey home from buying the car, typical english weather with torrential rain, the oil light came on in the outside lane of motorway. By the time I could get to the hard shoulder, the engine had cut out. I feared the worse, rang the AA, who poured oil in which came straight back out, so I got the car towed home, eventually arrived home in the early hours. Next day, stripped off the under tray to inspect, only to find the sump plug had fell out! Rang the seller (private) who was shocked and to cut a long story short, agreed to split the cost of a recon engine.
Since then the car has been superb, doing various trackdays, various trips to the Ring and had no serious issues. Biggest job being the heater matrix, which still only cost £80 in parts and took me 2 days to strip the dash out and replace. Up until 2 year back, the car was my only transport so I welcomed the reliability, which is odd for french cars I know! Also had it rolling roaded at 149bhp ATW (take with salt I know), but on the same day it was the most powerful 2 litre there including 3 other GTI-6's and a load of 172's, one with a load of mods that still only put 146bhp atw.
So, 2 year back I got a new job with company car, so the GTi was used purely as weekend fun and track work, still performing faultlessly. Year back, due to funds I took it off the road and it was stood in a lock up, until a few months back when I offered the car to a good friend to use. After a new battery, the GTi-6 fired up and sailed through its MOT again and is currently being used daily by him.
So, my daily drive has gone from an old french fun box to the below, as far fetched from fun as you can get! A Passat... diesel, yawn!
But as my mrs is pregnant, running around in a big, safe, German car is much more sensible then a french tin foil car! Plus the company car comes with a fuel card for private and business use, bonus. Eagle eye readers will have spotted the 207 on the drive, which has now gone and been replaced with a Ford Focus. While its not quick, it handles much like the GTI-6 imo, so still get a bit of fun driving this.
As no-one replied, thought I'd reply to myself lol Passat broke down on 102k so been replaced with a mk4.5 Mondeo 2.0 TDCI which, quite frankly, is miles better then the Passat. Quieter, more refined diesel which actually moves and handling which is fun and involving! Its no hot hatch, but it actually involves the driver and I enjoy chucking it around, despite it being a huge heavy car.
Fellow French hot-hatcher here too. I was also interested by your comments on the 172...the handling is a bit point and squirt compared with the PSA cars, but the 172 I drove last week definitely wasn't shy above 60mph (pulled pretty well to ind. 135mph...AHEM!)
I do love the GTi-6 though, especially in white. The 149HP ATW isn't to be taken with a pinch of salt....that's probably accurate. It's the flywheel figures that need to be 'thought about' before quoting. Unless you're in a pub, of course. If you're ever down Hampshire way, swing by and I'll pop it on my dyno for you....I'd be interested to compare results with your original ones, but 149HP ATW does sound about right to me. I've got a BX 16v which uses the original alloy Mi16 1.9 lump, and my best result with that is 144HP ATW, which equated to 161bhp (est) so your numbers look good.
I do love the GTi-6 though, especially in white. The 149HP ATW isn't to be taken with a pinch of salt....that's probably accurate. It's the flywheel figures that need to be 'thought about' before quoting. Unless you're in a pub, of course. If you're ever down Hampshire way, swing by and I'll pop it on my dyno for you....I'd be interested to compare results with your original ones, but 149HP ATW does sound about right to me. I've got a BX 16v which uses the original alloy Mi16 1.9 lump, and my best result with that is 144HP ATW, which equated to 161bhp (est) so your numbers look good.
zedx19 said:
Eagle eye readers will have spotted the 207 on the drive, which has now gone and been replaced with a Ford Focus. While its not quick, it handles much like the GTI-6 imo, so still get a bit of fun driving this.
Yeah, in the 80s Fords were dull-as-dishwater, why-bother-tuning-the-chassis-they'll-buy-it-anyway rep fodder, while Peugeot really invested in good quality dampers and left e.g. the 405 with a high boot sill to keep the shell light and rigid.At some point around 1991 they switched places. Richard Parry-Jones turned up at Ford with a Welsh-bred understanding of what makes a car work on a tricky road, and launched fun-to-drive Ford with the '92 Mondeo, followed up by Focus, Fiesta, Puma and the rest.
Simultaneously Peugeot got the safety religion - they could get the French government to lobby down any EU proposals to protect occupants, but once EuroNCAP started advertising what their cars looked like after a relatively low-speed smash, they realised they had to respond. Which is fine, but sadly they simultaneously took their eye of the chassis ball, with the result that there is no such thing as a crash-worthy Peugeot that's worth driving.
I know your pain with the problems with the Clio. They're known as cheap track hacks for a reason because everything just falls apart. When I had an 182 everytime I searched the web about a problem it was littered with common fault this and common fault that; I honestly believe there isn't a part on the Clio's that doesn't have a common fault. Nonetheless still quite a fun drive for the money
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