RE: Shed of the Week | Peugeot 306 XSi
Discussion
What a lovely thing.
The 306 "thing" for me started back in my teenage / Max Power days but a chap locally bought new 306 XSi in silver then went off to Peugeot Ecosse and it ended up lowered hugely with Antera 143 18" alloys, the Esquiss Auto splitter and tailgate spoiler and that was it but he crowned a God in the process. Matey also bought a 306 XS (with the 1.6 8v) engine way back in the day too and it was great, even sounded good too and ended up lowered, 17" Fox alloys and it also looked superb. Just such nice looking cars, even totally standard.
The whole 135bhp thing wouldn't bother me in the slightest these days. 300bhp+ hyper hatches are all well and good but in the real world of crappy road surfaces, poor weather, speed bumps and the ever crushing war on speeding... something like this on it's fairly low grip, narrow tyres and compliant suspension would probably be brilliant to drive as not only would it reward and excite at much lower speeds than say, a Focus RS but you could also drive it with enthusiasm without being utterly paranoid.
Great find!
The 306 "thing" for me started back in my teenage / Max Power days but a chap locally bought new 306 XSi in silver then went off to Peugeot Ecosse and it ended up lowered hugely with Antera 143 18" alloys, the Esquiss Auto splitter and tailgate spoiler and that was it but he crowned a God in the process. Matey also bought a 306 XS (with the 1.6 8v) engine way back in the day too and it was great, even sounded good too and ended up lowered, 17" Fox alloys and it also looked superb. Just such nice looking cars, even totally standard.
The whole 135bhp thing wouldn't bother me in the slightest these days. 300bhp+ hyper hatches are all well and good but in the real world of crappy road surfaces, poor weather, speed bumps and the ever crushing war on speeding... something like this on it's fairly low grip, narrow tyres and compliant suspension would probably be brilliant to drive as not only would it reward and excite at much lower speeds than say, a Focus RS but you could also drive it with enthusiasm without being utterly paranoid.
Great find!
Had a dabble with a friend in his XSi when fairly new.
I was in a very rough gen 1 N plate Mondeo 1.8 16v Zetec which had about 115psi and a 0-60 of 10.2 seconds. From standstill we were neck and neck and neither of us could move ahead although he swore he started edging forward as the speed climbed. I remember I was both smug and actually gutted at how slow the pug was.
I was in a very rough gen 1 N plate Mondeo 1.8 16v Zetec which had about 115psi and a 0-60 of 10.2 seconds. From standstill we were neck and neck and neither of us could move ahead although he swore he started edging forward as the speed climbed. I remember I was both smug and actually gutted at how slow the pug was.
CalvinYaris said:
Reading these comments takes me back to the day I picked up my then new Golf GTI Edition 35. I was giving it some stick on a very windy and bumpy B-road and was quite impressed. All of a sudden, a black 306 - presumably a GTI-6 - appeared in my rear-view mirror and caught up with me very quickly.
I pressed on a bit harder, but I still couldn't shake this thing. I started to press on as hard as I could, and for the the first time the Golf started to feel very unsettled and bouncy. The 306 was keeping up quite easily through the bends! There was very little - if any - difference in straight-line performance, and his higher exit speeds from the corners meant that he was on my bumper the whole time!
After realising I wasn't going to shake him, I pulled in and let him pass. The driver of the 306 gave me a friendly toot on the way past. It was then my turn to have a go at keeping up. By that, I mean I pushed as hard as I dare. No chance! The 306 just looked so composed and planted as it flew over gigantic potholes and broken tarmac like it was nothing.
He disappeared into the distance leaving me feeling very disappointed with my new purchase. I've never looked at a 306 the same way since, although I've never got round to driving one. Judging by the seemingly endless praise they're getting here, I must be missing out!
That's a great story - I remember a similar one in an Autocar issue many years ago. Chris Harris was recalling the time he was on an Autocar feature and following Steve Sutcliffe across Dartmoor. Harris was in a 996 Carrera 4 and Sutcliffe in a 306 Rallye. Basically, Harris ended up getting dropped. much to his surprise and embarrassment. The incident left such an impression that the following year he chose the 306 Rallye as his choice in an "best car under £10,000 story.I pressed on a bit harder, but I still couldn't shake this thing. I started to press on as hard as I could, and for the the first time the Golf started to feel very unsettled and bouncy. The 306 was keeping up quite easily through the bends! There was very little - if any - difference in straight-line performance, and his higher exit speeds from the corners meant that he was on my bumper the whole time!
After realising I wasn't going to shake him, I pulled in and let him pass. The driver of the 306 gave me a friendly toot on the way past. It was then my turn to have a go at keeping up. By that, I mean I pushed as hard as I dare. No chance! The 306 just looked so composed and planted as it flew over gigantic potholes and broken tarmac like it was nothing.
He disappeared into the distance leaving me feeling very disappointed with my new purchase. I've never looked at a 306 the same way since, although I've never got round to driving one. Judging by the seemingly endless praise they're getting here, I must be missing out!
Lovely thing. Number one son has a 55 plate 206 1.4 16v as his learner hack.
Driving it takes me back 30 years to when cars were light nimble and spannerable.
It may be a 15 year old French car but it has been 100% reliable and cost buttons to run over the last 3 years.
Sometimes I even let the lad drive it himself.
Driving it takes me back 30 years to when cars were light nimble and spannerable.
It may be a 15 year old French car but it has been 100% reliable and cost buttons to run over the last 3 years.
Sometimes I even let the lad drive it himself.
Such a beautiful timeless design. Someone near me has a white one that I'm a bit jealous of. Following on from the earlier comment about Ford executives driving it this is from the development story for the Rover R3/200:
"The six month pause in development meant that new rivals appeared (namely the Peugeot 306, in particular) which forced Rover to up its game.....Rear suspension was also to be carried over unchanged from the R8 but given the excellence of the new Peugeot 306, Rover decided that the adoption of an updated version of the torsion beam rear suspension with coil springs and anti-roll bar..."
"The six month pause in development meant that new rivals appeared (namely the Peugeot 306, in particular) which forced Rover to up its game.....Rear suspension was also to be carried over unchanged from the R8 but given the excellence of the new Peugeot 306, Rover decided that the adoption of an updated version of the torsion beam rear suspension with coil springs and anti-roll bar..."
Well guys it's still here. Price is negotiable but I've been inundated by total time wasters, I've sold allsorts of cars in the past and never come across a car that attracts dreamers like this one, you could understand a rare Porsche or similar attracting them, the initial excitement of enquiring then getting carried away convinced they can find the money somehow, then they wake up in their parents spare room and realise it's not going to happen only to disappear and irritate the hell out of the seller.
But an old Peugeot? Bizarre.
Anyway it's still here, still great and still needs to go to a good home. Mot does run out in December, I'll cheerfully sell it with or without a fresh mot as I'm confident it will go through the next test with nothing to do.
The cars just taken us up to Glasgow (that was a disaster but nothing to do with the Peugeot rather the replacement we went to collect being a total shed) and the nec classic car show without missing a beat.
But an old Peugeot? Bizarre.
Anyway it's still here, still great and still needs to go to a good home. Mot does run out in December, I'll cheerfully sell it with or without a fresh mot as I'm confident it will go through the next test with nothing to do.
The cars just taken us up to Glasgow (that was a disaster but nothing to do with the Peugeot rather the replacement we went to collect being a total shed) and the nec classic car show without missing a beat.
wildoliver said:
Well guys it's still here. Price is negotiable but I've been inundated by total time wasters, I've sold allsorts of cars in the past and never come across a car that attracts dreamers like this one, you could understand a rare Porsche or similar attracting them, the initial excitement of enquiring then getting carried away convinced they can find the money somehow, then they wake up in their parents spare room and realise it's not going to happen only to disappear and irritate the hell out of the seller.
But an old Peugeot? Bizarre.
Anyway it's still here, still great and still needs to go to a good home. Mot does run out in December, I'll cheerfully sell it with or without a fresh mot as I'm confident it will go through the next test with nothing to do.
Good luck with the sale But an old Peugeot? Bizarre.
Anyway it's still here, still great and still needs to go to a good home. Mot does run out in December, I'll cheerfully sell it with or without a fresh mot as I'm confident it will go through the next test with nothing to do.
You’ve got the secondhand fwd equivalent of a GT86 from the sounds of it
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