RE: Shed of the Week | Peugeot 306 XSi
Discussion
What a fantastic little car, 3 door in black too 
I had a 3 door, black D turbo and it went like stink, with the bosch fuel filter it was tweaked mercilessly. 60 miles to the gallon of chip grease.
The ride, handling and overall sharp feel of the 306 makes it, imho, one of the best cars ever. That's not enough, what tips the balance is how utterly bombproof they were. Got a black 206 D turbo at the moment and it's almost as good. Almost.
In a sad way, this was the undoing of the 306. Once the prices started dropping, they became affordable for the boy racer, and cheap to insure, cheap to run and ability to keep going wih no servicing, they ended their lives at the hands of some grunt with a baseball cap on backwards and a footwell stuffed with Mcdonalds wrappers, losing it on a roundabout late on a friday night.
There's been a few threads here on the 'best car ever' and it's obvious that posters fall in to two categories; those who nominate one of a plethora of cars they've had over the years, and those who have owned a 306.
I had a 3 door, black D turbo and it went like stink, with the bosch fuel filter it was tweaked mercilessly. 60 miles to the gallon of chip grease.
The ride, handling and overall sharp feel of the 306 makes it, imho, one of the best cars ever. That's not enough, what tips the balance is how utterly bombproof they were. Got a black 206 D turbo at the moment and it's almost as good. Almost.
In a sad way, this was the undoing of the 306. Once the prices started dropping, they became affordable for the boy racer, and cheap to insure, cheap to run and ability to keep going wih no servicing, they ended their lives at the hands of some grunt with a baseball cap on backwards and a footwell stuffed with Mcdonalds wrappers, losing it on a roundabout late on a friday night.
There's been a few threads here on the 'best car ever' and it's obvious that posters fall in to two categories; those who nominate one of a plethora of cars they've had over the years, and those who have owned a 306.
My partner had two 306's, a 1.6 petrol and a 1.9 Td. Both utterly reliable cars that met untimely demises through no fault of their own.
I'm always a sucker for a car that has given good service, and hence why I bought a 1999 306 2.0 Convertible with MOT till August next year for £350 earlier today.
I'm always a sucker for a car that has given good service, and hence why I bought a 1999 306 2.0 Convertible with MOT till August next year for £350 earlier today.
80quattro said:
My partner had two 306's, a 1.6 petrol and a 1.9 Td. Both utterly reliable cars that met untimely demises through no fault of their own.
I'm always a sucker for a car that has given good service, and hence why I bought a 1999 306 2.0 Convertible with MOT till August next year for £350 earlier today.
I'm always a sucker for a car that has given good service, and hence why I bought a 1999 306 2.0 Convertible with MOT till August next year for £350 earlier today.
Article - "The GTI-6 wins on power, too: 163hp gave it a 0-62 of around 8.5sec, versus the 10-sec time dished up by the XSi’s 135hp or thereabouts."
Peugeot's 0-60 times back then seemed very pessimistic - I always thought to do with insurance categorisation as they were pretty cheap compared to other comparable 'hot hatches'. I reckon you can take at least a second off those times, possibly a touch more.
I had a lowly 1.6 XS - the engine was a bit unrefined and thrashy but otherwise a good car to drive. The easiest lift off oversteer of any car I've driven, but it might have been tyre related in my case! I have driven an XSi too and it had noticeably more poke.
The electrics were a little flaky back then so I do wonder what a 20 year old example is like now!
Still one of the best looking 90s hatches though.
Peugeot's 0-60 times back then seemed very pessimistic - I always thought to do with insurance categorisation as they were pretty cheap compared to other comparable 'hot hatches'. I reckon you can take at least a second off those times, possibly a touch more.
I had a lowly 1.6 XS - the engine was a bit unrefined and thrashy but otherwise a good car to drive. The easiest lift off oversteer of any car I've driven, but it might have been tyre related in my case! I have driven an XSi too and it had noticeably more poke.
The electrics were a little flaky back then so I do wonder what a 20 year old example is like now!
Still one of the best looking 90s hatches though.
I know as the seller I would say this but I don't remember original Peugeot's having bad electrics? The 307 and 406 onwards were a nightmare granted but I had a 205 back in the day and that certainly wasn't prone to electrical issues, Sarah's got a Saxo (so a 106) again spot on, I had an old 405 for a few months that was fine and my dad had a slew of 306 and 405s as company cars and while I remember some jobs on them they seemed pretty reliable despite startship mileage but definitely no electrical issues.
Anyway while I've probably cursed myself and it will ignite in a ball of flame next time I turn the key this one has no electrical issues...... Yet
Anyway while I've probably cursed myself and it will ignite in a ball of flame next time I turn the key this one has no electrical issues...... Yet
fernando the frog said:
aaron_2000 said:
Peugeot had some of the best cars on the roads, the 205, 309, 405, 106, 306 and the 505. Dunno how they let it slip so badly and so quickly
they still made and are still making cracking carsIn general I'm not a fan of French cars but I do like a 306, the styling is spot on, if there's a car that proves you don't need stupidly big wheels, lots of tatty chrome bits and silly vents and stuff the 306 is it, and then there's the handling and how well they drive, as said, these are cars you have to drive, not just stick in 'D', plant your foot and let the car do it all for you.
I've only driven a couple of 306's, a non turbo 1.9D, and even that was more fun to chuck around than much more serious machinery I've driven and 1.6 XS that a mate had years ago. I nearly bought that car, it was a phase 1 in a lovely blue with XSi wheels and some of the nicest seats in a car I've seen or sat in, it loved to rev too.
I think we may have found the one car that is loved by all on here judging by the comments (well, all but one but I don't think they've driven a 306.....).
I've only driven a couple of 306's, a non turbo 1.9D, and even that was more fun to chuck around than much more serious machinery I've driven and 1.6 XS that a mate had years ago. I nearly bought that car, it was a phase 1 in a lovely blue with XSi wheels and some of the nicest seats in a car I've seen or sat in, it loved to rev too.
I think we may have found the one car that is loved by all on here judging by the comments (well, all but one but I don't think they've driven a 306.....).
I bought an N-reg D Turbo a few years ago as I urgently needed a cheap diesel. I wasn't seeking out any particular car, but this just happened to come up locally for £50! What was supposed to be a cheap stopgap car to run into the ground turned out to be a revelation. As everyone else has already said, the ride/handling was phenomenal, and the car put up with endless abuse!
I ended up keeping it for just shy of three years and put 54k on it. In that time, it was never serviced, and I sold it on with a fresh ticket for ten times what I'd paid for it. Years later, the car is still showing on the DVLA website as being taxed and tested!
Since then, I have never been without a 306. I currently own an S-reg GTI-6. I've had this one for two-and-a-bit years and it's one of the lowest mileage 306s I've had at just 159k. I've had newer, more expensive, more powerful cars, and I can honestly say that nothing comes close as an ownership proposition.
Just to add, not one of my many 306s have had even a single spot of rust on them.
I ended up keeping it for just shy of three years and put 54k on it. In that time, it was never serviced, and I sold it on with a fresh ticket for ten times what I'd paid for it. Years later, the car is still showing on the DVLA website as being taxed and tested!
Since then, I have never been without a 306. I currently own an S-reg GTI-6. I've had this one for two-and-a-bit years and it's one of the lowest mileage 306s I've had at just 159k. I've had newer, more expensive, more powerful cars, and I can honestly say that nothing comes close as an ownership proposition.
Just to add, not one of my many 306s have had even a single spot of rust on them.
As others have stated, the quoted 0-60 figures for these and the GTi6 were way off the mark. XSi is more like mid 8s. And having timed both my GTi6 and Rallye with proper timing gear, they're in the low 7s at worst.
Fairly light weight and close ratios once into second gear from the 6 speed box made sure of some pretty rapid acceleration. My GTi6 still feels quick even today.
The level of excitement offered by a light car with decent amount of power simply cannot be matched by modern hyper hatches. Driving fast in straight lines soon gets rather boring.
Fairly light weight and close ratios once into second gear from the 6 speed box made sure of some pretty rapid acceleration. My GTi6 still feels quick even today.
The level of excitement offered by a light car with decent amount of power simply cannot be matched by modern hyper hatches. Driving fast in straight lines soon gets rather boring.
soad said:
80quattro said:
My partner had two 306's, a 1.6 petrol and a 1.9 Td. Both utterly reliable cars that met untimely demises through no fault of their own.
I'm always a sucker for a car that has given good service, and hence why I bought a 1999 306 2.0 Convertible with MOT till August next year for £350 earlier today.
Happy to oblige I'm always a sucker for a car that has given good service, and hence why I bought a 1999 306 2.0 Convertible with MOT till August next year for £350 earlier today.
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