R53 Cooper S vs 306 GTi-6

[J_Beaman00]

Almost decided on an R53 Cooper S as the next car until a work colleague suggested a 306 GTi.
Don't know much about the Peugeots of this era and if they're any good
I know they're a different car altogether to the R53 but what comparisons, similarities and differences are there?
Car will be used for 15 mile round trip commute and at weekends
What would you guys recommend?

[Jonny_gti]

Both great fun hot hatches in their own way, Out the two I would be looking for the 306 Gti6 or even a Rallye but prices for Rallyes have started to climb. Good engine, great handling and a rare sight on todays roads.

[pushthebutton]

I've owned a hot hatch from that period and the biggest issue for me was the availability of parts. I didn't mind spending the cash to keep the car on the road, but when you couldn't find parts for love nor money - and there was almost zero chance of them ever being recommissioned - I found it a bit deflating.

[J_Beaman00]

pushthebutton said:

I've owned a hot hatch from that period and the biggest issue for me was the availability of parts. I didn't mind spending the cash to keep the car on the road, but when you couldn't find parts for love nor money - and there was almost zero chance of them ever being recommissioned - I found it a bit deflating.

Does anyone know common problems with the 306/ what parts that are no longer available?

[nunpuncher]

As far as I'm aware (205 owner and member of loads of the owners groups where people are using GTi6 engines) there are no shortage of parts on the 306GTi6. With Peugeot it seems that engine parts stay in production for ages.

Regarding the R53 Cooper S. I bought one as a daily driver last week. Good fun wee car, feels like a grown up 205 in a lot of ways but I would think despite being an older car the 306 may be a bit more reliable. The upside of the R53 is that there are literally millions of them still driving around and the scrap yards Eem to be full of them so getting cheap parts is dead easy.

[Lollypops]

Quite a few friends of mine have had 306 GTi-6's and one had a Rallye. Two friends even supercharged theirs. Good handling cars.

Biggest thing I remember was you had to change the cambelt regularly, perhaps more so than what Peugeot suggested. You can sometimes tell when one has had its cambelt snap previously as the engine can sound "ticky".

If you like fiddling with your cars, they sound amazing with a K&N induction kit on. I don't recall any of my friends having problems getting parts.

I have wondered myself if the value of them will go up like the 205 GTi, although I can't say I have checked recently.

[zedx19]

I had a GTI-6 for about 8 years, my mate then bought it off me, ran it for a few years before selling it and it's still being MOT'd today. One of the best cars I've ever had, a lot of fun, very comfortable and mine was reliable. As someone else has said, cambelt needs doing every 40k max and any engine that taps from the top end has had the cambelt snap and been rebuilt. I did trackdays and Ring trips in mine and had a lot of fun in it. I even crashed it into a barrier on a trackday, bruised off my ego and carried on, car suffering minimal damage.

Get a GTi-6, they've already started creeping up in value though so be quick.