RE: Shed of the Week: Peugeot 306 GTI-6

RE: Shed of the Week: Peugeot 306 GTI-6

Author
Discussion

Rickyy

6,618 posts

218 months

Monday 2nd October 2017
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sgtBerbatov said:
My first car was a 306 1.9 XLdt in green. A P reg car. I remember trying to get on to a motorway on every journey just to feel the sensation of the turbo kicking in as you sped up, pushing you back in to the seat.

I would say though that the wiring loom between the doors and the chassis are a common area of issues. My 306 had a broken loom on the drivers door which meant the central locking never worked. I'd have to get everyone out, manually lock every door, get out and lock the drivers door. But I could open all the doors with the remote. It also had a wicked immobiliser on there which needed a keypad.

Greatest regret was getting rid of it. I loved that car. But I wouldn't say it had the best handling in the world. It rolled like a tanker full of water.
My first car was an N-reg, silver XLDT. I loved it, it was the fastest car out of all my mates by a long way!

I drove it through a deep puddle and bent a con rod 3 months into ownership, my uncle rebuilt it and it went on for another 20k in my ownership and kept seeing it on the road for years after.

I don't miss having to wait for the glow plugs to do their job before starting it though!

aaron_2000

5,407 posts

82 months

Monday 2nd October 2017
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PTF said:
They knew how to make an ad that's for sure. Like the old 405 advert

LeftAtOrion

4 posts

78 months

Monday 2nd October 2017
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I have a vivid memory of being late for the transport to rehearse trooping the colour and being picked up by a pissed off lance-sergeant in his gti-6 (I think he was secretly pleased to show it off). That journey from Windsor to Pirbright was an eye opener, I’ve had a soft spot for them ever since.

Pebbles167

3,417 posts

151 months

Monday 2nd October 2017
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dme123 said:
Pebbles167 said:
Its annoying that Peugeot went through such a rubbish point in the 2000's, as they've made some cracking cars.

I've owned:

306 Rallye X 2
306 Gti 6 X 2
306 Hdi X 2
306 Xs
106 Xsi
106 Gti
206 Gti 180
406 Coupe V6

They've all been great, they really knew how to make a hatch handle well. Even the 406 isn't a complete pudding in the corners.
All of those are brilliant cars, and it just makes it even more sad that they've produced nothing but total st for nearly twenty years now.
sgtBerbatov said:
Could not agree more. After my 306 I bought a 107 and a 3008. The 107 isn't too bad. Drives like a go kart and is reliable.

The 3008? Christ it's a dog. Reliability is poor. Build quality is poor. The only thing nice about it is the engine which does pull well. But the electrics and the power steering pump are fragile. So it ends up being a money pit.
The gripes I had were mainly to do with styling, reliability and handling. They just were not desirable at all really, were they? I could see they were slipping a bit when I had my 206 which had several faults. Luckily the drive was decent. The 207 was a step back in the right direction but I've heard pretty mediocre stuff about them.

It seems to me they are climbing back up though. The 208 gti, while not the best looker, was supposed to be pretty good. And the 308 gti with its 270bhp, and nicer rounded looks, gives me some hope!



Pothole

34,367 posts

281 months

Monday 2nd October 2017
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Loved mine. 3 inch Peco and Green Cotton induction kit made a lovely noise!

nct001

733 posts

132 months

Monday 2nd October 2017
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tim-jxv5n said:
Anything's worth a look, you never know what you might find. Photos look tidy i think you'll agree.

10 years ago you could pick up a 205gti for this type of money and in pretty reasonable condition, look at the values of those now.

Fortunately I've owned enough cars and made a plenty of mistakes to know when it feels right to buy. This wasn't for me but there's no reason you can't pick up a tidy one for less than £2k, it's just finding one!!
No you couldn't get the right model 205 ten years ago in mint condition for £1295... end of.

I bought my phase 2 non cat non sunroof 1.9 Miami blue original 205 gti 101k ex just GTIs for £1700 SEVEN Years ago and it was up for £2995 at the time.... and that was an absolute touch at the time for the right spec, miles and totally uptogether order. A decent 1.9 was £2500 minimum and they needed work.

It needed all alloys refurbing, bottom half below trims painting, replacing front seats as stitching poor, paint tail gate, ran lumpy, plastic trim falling off and needed flat and polish paint along with deep valeting etc etc

It's now worth £8k minimum... but I've spent £3000 on it easy... I could never have found a mint one six years ago.. you just buy the best you can find and spend / maintain


From the pics

The steering wheel is worn
The front seats are tired as he states
There are dents and damage on drivers door as stated
There are imperfections on front bumper as stated
The paint looks faded so needs detailing
All alloys need refurb as per advert
Common sense says it's littered with PDR dents on body as they are known for dents on body and design


You are not going to find a mint one for under £2k... these weren't mint five years ago let alone now.


MissChief

7,095 posts

167 months

Tuesday 3rd October 2017
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Awesome cars but as said, can be a bit of a money pit. Every six months my old one needed something replaced and every bill seemed to be three figures and always started with a 3 or a 4. Not particularly frugal due to the low ratio box but oh so supple and the sublime damping meant it felt like it just wafted over bumps and potholes.

People say they have a loose back end (ooo-er!) but in three and a half years of ownership and most of the time giving it some beans without speeding the back end only came round on me twice and once was, I suspect, diesel assisted as it was right outside one of the local park and rides on a slightly off camber roundabout. The steering is so quick though it's easily catchable.

Clutches get very heavy as the cable runs alongside the exhaust and the lube dries out. Cambelt every 36k an absolute necessity and it was this car that taught me the oft-quoted 'French cars have dodgy electrics' is completely true.

Also reckon on low 7's on the 0-60 sprint. The most often quoted is 7.2 but some journos said it would do it in 6.9 if you push it right up to the limiter in second.

zedx19

2,704 posts

139 months

Tuesday 3rd October 2017
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Fond memories of these, having owned one for 8+ years, longer than I've kept any other car. I bought one on 40k took it nearly 100k and it's still on the road today, a friend of mine is currently trying to buy it from it's current owner. Amazing fun, such a close ratio box, great to chuck around and mine was very reliable. I did numerous trackdays and ring trips in it and it never let me down. The only annoying thing was the heater matrix developed a hole and which a replacement genuine Peugeot one cost me £80, replacing of it was a nightmare, requiring entire dash removal. Took me an entire weekend to replace. Apart from that, nothing major ever went wrong, needed a starter motor, droplinks didn't last long and erm that's about it. It would take a full day abused on track, then potter to work the next day without worry. This is polar opposite to the previous car I had, a ph1 Clio 172 which liked to eat gearboxes, shear inlet bolts and shoot spark plugs out the head.

I did loose the back end on mine on a greasy track day at Bedford though (video's on Youtube). Went in too hot just as it started raining, lifted and back went, punting me into a barrier. Car survived without major issue, dented a wing and that was it. Had some great times in that car.

rallycross

12,744 posts

236 months

Tuesday 3rd October 2017
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S100HP said:
don't forget the criminally underrated and almost identical Xsara VTS.
That's a good point, I've owned 306 Rallye and a few Gti-6 (years ago now) and I picked up a Xsara VTS this year for some track day fun and was immediately impressed by how much better it felt to drive than I remember the 306's being - mainly just a much stiffer suspension set up and it feels like a lower driving position.

The 306 is a far better looking car than the Xsara of course but if all you are interested in is how they drive on track the Xsara VTS is better in standard form. My one is now for sale and in the PH classified for cheaper than this SOTW, its a bit scruffy but mechanically its fine and all ready to jump in and drive to the next track day. Its about time prices on these 306 Gti/Rallye went up as they are a brilliant hot hatch.

Years ago I had things like 309 Gti and 205 Gti's 1.6/1.9 models and the 306 Gti is a far better thing to drive but prices are not reflecting this (yet!)


tim-jxv5n

238 posts

95 months

Tuesday 3rd October 2017
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nct001 said:
tim-jxv5n said:
Anything's worth a look, you never know what you might find. Photos look tidy i think you'll agree.

10 years ago you could pick up a 205gti for this type of money and in pretty reasonable condition, look at the values of those now.

Fortunately I've owned enough cars and made a plenty of mistakes to know when it feels right to buy. This wasn't for me but there's no reason you can't pick up a tidy one for less than £2k, it's just finding one!!
No you couldn't get the right model 205 ten years ago in mint condition for £1295... end of.

I bought my phase 2 non cat non sunroof 1.9 Miami blue original 205 gti 101k ex just GTIs for £1700 SEVEN Years ago and it was up for £2995 at the time.... and that was an absolute touch at the time for the right spec, miles and totally uptogether order. A decent 1.9 was £2500 minimum and they needed work.

It needed all alloys refurbing, bottom half below trims painting, replacing front seats as stitching poor, paint tail gate, ran lumpy, plastic trim falling off and needed flat and polish paint along with deep valeting etc etc

It's now worth £8k minimum... but I've spent £3000 on it easy... I could never have found a mint one six years ago.. you just buy the best you can find and spend / maintain


From the pics

The steering wheel is worn
The front seats are tired as he states
There are dents and damage on drivers door as stated
There are imperfections on front bumper as stated
The paint looks faded so needs detailing
All alloys need refurb as per advert
Common sense says it's littered with PDR dents on body as they are known for dents on body and design


You are not going to find a mint one for under £2k... these weren't mint five years ago let alone now.
If you're going to be anal, I said reasonable, not mint. I never said £1295, i said this type of money and then later referred to finding a decent 306 for less than £2k.

You didn't view the car and didn't drive it, I did and there was more to it than the faults listed on the advert...end of!!

sgtBerbatov

2,597 posts

80 months

Tuesday 3rd October 2017
quotequote all
Rickyy said:
My first car was an N-reg, silver XLDT. I loved it, it was the fastest car out of all my mates by a long way!

I drove it through a deep puddle and bent a con rod 3 months into ownership, my uncle rebuilt it and it went on for another 20k in my ownership and kept seeing it on the road for years after.

I don't miss having to wait for the glow plugs to do their job before starting it though!
Completely forgot about the glow plugs! Having to turn the ignition on and waiting for the light to go off, then start the engine. Hmm. Won't start, I wonder why?

Ah! Forgot to enter my keycode in to the keypad by the gear stick!

RaineyDays

239 posts

99 months

Wednesday 4th October 2017
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Lusted after one of these when I was upgrading my first car. Couldn’t afford it unfortunately so had to settle with the TurboD.

Loved it but have never bought French since. The reliability was awful.

A footwell full of water was an often occurrence

dhutch

14,198 posts

196 months

Wednesday 4th October 2017
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I did a starter on my 1.8 as well as a rocker cover on the 1.6 and a rear wiper, one temp sensor, and once the stop light came on after a deep puddle in Stoke.

However otherwise five years trouble free motoring, including soaking up me as a learner, and much royal thrapsing with a 1500kg box trailer towing the kitcar to events all over the country. Cheap fun.

Daniel

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Wednesday 4th October 2017
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MissChief said:
Awesome cars but as said, can be a bit of a money pit. Every six months my old one needed something replaced and every bill seemed to be three figures and always started with a 3 or a 4. Not particularly frugal due to the low ratio box but oh so supple and the sublime damping meant it felt like it just wafted over bumps and potholes.

People say they have a loose back end (ooo-er!) but in three and a half years of ownership and most of the time giving it some beans without speeding the back end only came round on me twice and once was, I suspect, diesel assisted as it was right outside one of the local park and rides on a slightly off camber roundabout. The steering is so quick though it's easily catchable.

Clutches get very heavy as the cable runs alongside the exhaust and the lube dries out. Cambelt every 36k an absolute necessity and it was this car that taught me the oft-quoted 'French cars have dodgy electrics' is completely true.

Also reckon on low 7's on the 0-60 sprint. The most often quoted is 7.2 but some journos said it would do it in 6.9 if you push it right up to the limiter in second.
I wouldn't have said the box was particularly low ratio, they did over around 43 mph in 1st and getting on for the motorway limit in 2nd gear, 67mph, but the ratios did suit the engine. Autocar tested the 306Gti-6 in damp conditions and achieved 7.9 seconds.



They lucked out with the Rallye too as it was properly wet for that test where they recorded 7.8 seconds.



They did use it in their 0-100-0 challenge that year against the bright Civic Jordan in the hot hatch section and managed to trim the time down to under 20seconds to 100, for some the mark of a fast car last century

Performance Car had dry weather for their test of the 306Gti-6 so it's probably more representative of the car. It got top honours for their big hot hatch test in the twilight years of the magazine. Managed to squeeze low 7s out the car - 7.2



Plus it also put in a good showing in the 0-100-0 times





Then, when Performance Car was reborn as EVO, the Rallye was tested and faster times recorded





The fun is more in the driving than the raw stats and like in many other tests the Rallye managed to clean up even as Peugeot killed it off



zedx19

2,704 posts

139 months

Thursday 5th October 2017
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I always took figures with a pinch of salt for this car, some seemed rapid, some seemed sluggish. The one I had certainly seemed particularly quick and whilst slow off the mark, once rolling would surprise a lot of things. It'd pull away from 172s and CTR's past 60/70mph. Looking at my video below today, still looks quick to me and I'm currently driving a 5 pot ST running 280bhp, it always sounds good to my ears and you can see how willing it is to rev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwJVt7Skqe0&in...

Jonny_gti

285 posts

79 months

Thursday 5th October 2017
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maybe not a GTI-6 but seen this was very clean well kept at a recent tartan tarmac meet.


Edited by Jonny_gti on Thursday 5th October 12:01

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Thursday 5th October 2017
quotequote all
Jonny_gti said:
maybe not a GTI-6 but seen this was very clean well kept at a recent tartan tarmac meet.


Edited by Jonny_gti on Thursday 5th October 12:01
I like the colour but I much prefer the standard Cyclones

daytona111r

762 posts

203 months

Friday 27th October 2017
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Anyone agree with me that these are better to drive than a 205 1.9 GTI? Not Elamite as electric sharp, but more forgiving handling on the limit and thus more fun to play around with

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Friday 27th October 2017
quotequote all
daytona111r said:
Anyone agree with me that these are better to drive than a 205 1.9 GTI? Not Elamite as electric sharp, but more forgiving handling on the limit and thus more fun to play around with
Be a good article for them to run on here at least

angels95

3,157 posts

129 months

Friday 27th October 2017
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daytona111r said:
Anyone agree with me that these are better to drive than a 205 1.9 GTI? Not Elamite as electric sharp, but more forgiving handling on the limit and thus more fun to play around with
Sadly I can't comment as the only 205 I've driven was a 1.1, but as a GTI-6 owner I would love to see how a 205 GTI compares.