Why Have I Bought Another Unreliable French Car?? 

That’s lovely. I think the 306 has aged beautifully. I learned to drive in a 306 d turbo so I have a massive soft spot for them. It’s been a long time since I saw a 306 in the wild.

Unreliable?... Probably one of the most durable cars of the period. I've run 306's for nearly 15 years amongst many other brands. Yes they do suffer from age related issues and Peugeots factory spares support is rubbish - but properly looked after they'll go on and on.

I think the 306 was a lovely driving car, I have driven only a diesel but the way it held the road was quite amazing

Car Magazine interviewed the Peugeot suspension “genius” in charge at the time… They were all “magicians”! I’d choose the 306 all day long…

The Gti6 I owned was as reliable as any Toyota I have owned, never had a single problem

phenomenal taste in cars, I love this man… 🇮🇹🚗💨💨🇫🇷

You absolutely naild it! Nothing drives and feels better then a little Pug. So happy that my first car was a 205 XS. Ever since then brillant handling was a must have on any other vehicle. Guess why I had eight lions out of 10 cars (205 CTi, 206 2.0 HDi, 306 1.6 an 2.0 16V Cabriolet) In Germany ‚the Rival‘ has always been badmouthed by the press to lift up achingly boring competition on paper. But your smile proves that the 306 GTi (or S 16) reached sort of the maximum in driving pleasure. Even without hard suspension this chassis is a precition tool par excellence!Thanks for honoring this materpiece and envious congrats to that gem. (Have to go to the garage right now and pet my Cab and my 206 S 16 😆)

Still think these are one of the best hot hatches of all time, absolute hoot to drive. Don’t think there will be a day I don’t want one

You've made a excellent choice there. The 306 tends to be in the shadow of the brilliant 205/309/405 era but it was a stonking motor in its own right. I had both a D-Turbo and a GTI-6, and both in the same blue as yours. Can't say I had a problem with the steering wheel reach, though, probably me being a funny build!

Good choice, I had a Renault 19 16v mk1 and that was a joy to drive

Great choice, what a sound! I work at a Peugeot Dealership and 2 of our guys have recently bought these, one the same blue as yours and the other a silver ex demo we last sold back in the day!

Really love your channel! Really helped me out with some issues with my 328…In contrast to other car channels you’re a down to earth authentic enthousiast and you stick to your believes and roots! Just an example: Normal Guy which I used to love became a sort of cynical sales channel….keep it up! Looking forward to the next episode! (More influenzo please!)

I’ve owned an accord type R and GTI-6. Both amazing but I’d have the Accord again just for the driving position and seats. Less steering feel, but still way better than anything modern

Had a GTi6 and a hdi and a 1.6 version of the Peugeot 306. Great looking cars and the best handling, from the factory cars, I've ever driven. A close contender was my Primera GT. 😻

Congrats on the GTI-6, Jack, I owned a 2.0 306 XSI gen-1 from about 1998, sold it to a neighbour in 2003, then when he needed to sell it, bought it back in 2006/7 and had it for another couple of years, which I think speaks volumes for the performance versions of the 306 as I hardly ever keep a car more than about 2 years normally, anyhoo, my point is the 306 was one of my all-time favorite cars for the handling which was just sublime... you could steer it on/off the throttle which seems to be missing in most modern cars, I've driven.. I can highly recommend the B4's as a good fitment on these cars, you may not want to go as far as I did with mine, but I had Bilstein B4 OEM spec dampers all round and -30mm Apex front Springs, but left the rear torsion bars at standard ride height, the other thing I found helped the handling, I Polybushed the front lower arms and the rear beam void bushes, with Powerflex inserts to stop the passive rear wheel steer as I didn't much like the feel of it in corners, it was like a go-cart on the twisties, also fitted a Magnex (not available any more) cat back stainless system and a K&N panel filter, and for being only about 125-ish bhp it certainly surprised a few people around the country lanes where I use to live, not stupidly powerful or fast, but just a terrifically good fun car to cane about in back then.. how times change... I test drove a GTI-6, back then, but sadly never owned one, stupidly sold my 306 to buy an S2000, 🤨 enjoy your 306 they are amazingly good fun, and getting harder to find a nice unmolested one, it seems, especially the S16 or GTI-6. 👍

Very, very nice! These were the last of the true Hot Hatches that started in the 80s. Tiny, super light, good bhp per ton but also a tad fragile and certainly not the safest of things to have a crash in. That completes the package, a small car that is far too fast for its size and build. I used to have a 'F' reg (88/89) Astra GTE 16V, the very first of its type with the engine designed with help from Cosworth (mine was the earliest with Coscast heads) 156bhp 144lbft. The engine was awesome and used in Vauxhalls BTCC cars with 300bhp!

Did a track day/ teaching day in one of these (think it was a GTI6) in the late 90s at silverstone, they were bloody quick of their time and the instructor made it do things I didn’t think possible in a hot hatch

Great cars! I had a 309 Goodwood gti, still the most beautifully balanced front wheel drive car I’ve owned. Never managed to find a good gti6 though.

Replace the clutch cable. You might improve it for a while with lubrication, but it's likely the cable will break due to rust and leave you somewhere with no clutch. I had a 309GTI back in about '95 for several years. I had to drive that home with no clutch (luckily only a few miles). It had a metal lever on top of the gearbox that was actuated by the cable. The end snapped off the metal lever and cost maybe a tenner for a new one.

Fun car. Looking forward to the video series. Keep up the good work.

Congrats Jack! I will never forget mine, was the same colour as yours. Had so much fun with it, back then it blew the Golf 4 GTI away in many ways. It still happens from time to time me dreaming I would still have it in my garage

I used to hire 306s around 1993 when they were new. Nice drive. Good motorway car, and fun on the tight lanes in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Always booked a basic car, but they were always short of them, so I got a free upgrade every time. Call it Le Peuge

Peugeot have always had an excellent understanding of suspension. Going back into the dim and distant past, my 404 had excellent ride and handling. The 504 SW that was a pool car on a civil engineering project site I worked on was quite remarkable.

The ratio between the wheel base and track is spot on hence part of the driving experience. You need to find new old stock of OEM shocks for replacements to keep it happy. French cars are great, I have a C5 which my daughter-in-law borrowed and still has nearly a year on, I have her Honda which doesn't ride like the C5 but is good non-the-less.

I love these, especially the close-ratio gearing and the noise. Also watching Gilles Panizzi hammer the 306 Maxis around tiny French mountain roads on TV when I was a kid sealed the deal for me. Peugeot were on a totally different vibe compared to now. Love it.

I believe that the secret to the great handling of these cars was passive rear wheel steering. The Focus was another renowned car for handling that employed this a few years later.

My folks had a blue 306 with standard petrol engine. It drove beautifully and steered so well. They bought it 8 years old and had it for 15:years. Comfortable and reliable. A joy to drive!

congratulations on the new car. I had the rare 306 S16 which was basically the same as the GTI6 but with a 5 speed box and 155bhp, great car but fragile and this was back in 1999!

Love the new daily! I have loved the Koni Special Active shocks. Have them in my Mini Clubman and just finishing putting them in the family Mazda 3. They're 2-stage - gentle over bumps in regular driving, and then firm up nicely for more spirited stuff.

A while back a bestie had a 306, but not a GTi, just a cooking 2.0i 16V. She had it new since 1996 and its still in the family as a banger for the various nieces and nephews - currently in a very sad state During her ownership we minded it at our house quite a few times while she was overseas. I drove it many times in my usual enthusiastic manner. Without a shadow of a doubt it was the sweetest handing car I have ever driven - way better than my usual Italian stable. The way the steering/ride/roadholding comes together is just alchemy. Never understand why the handling of post 306 Pugs has gone from sublime to bog ordinary

Inspired choice Jack. I enjoyed mine hugely! I agree about avoiding dicking around with the suspension too much, as the ride/feel compromise is pretty much perfect - I did upgrade to group N PeugeotSport front bushes however. The gear linkage is a weak point - I upgraded to a stainless steel replacement when mine failed completely, unsure if these are still available. This was a few years ago! Being young and into these scene, I also upgraded with an induction kit and miltek SS exhaust (the last one on the shelf apparently). I miss that car so much - will be following your journey with this car closely and will pitch in with advice when required - enjoy 🙂

really good choice Jack! The 306 GTI is just so great.

Errrrr, you've got something to answer for! Last week I bought a 306 GTI6, to some extent spurred on by your previous video on the model. Also W reg, also china blue - so I'll be counter bidding you for spares. I had a 306 Rallye from new, so harboured fond memories. Which were reinforced when I drove the Pug home - as you say, suspension is magic, gearbox too, and going round roundabouts, it's just so planted. Like you, will be spending the next few spare days putting the jobs list together......

I’ve moved the original steering wheel closer to the driver in my 206 CC from 2001. I just bolted an aftermarket steering wheel hub on the backside of the original. It made it about 3cm closer which was perfect in my case.

Would love to see more videos of you working on your cars and fixing/upgrading all the bits you mention 👍👍.

I remember the first time I drove a 306 XRDT - pulled like a storm and handled incredibly well. I literally felt like NOTHING on earth would out-handle it !!! Sounds mad, I know- for a diesel hatch lol !!

My Citroën 1987 BX16V had the 1.9 l engine with very similar configuration technically (without the catalytic converter) To achieve the full potential - around 167 hp rolling road dyno - of that engine you should never fill more oil than halfway up on the dipstick. That was standard advice from people who raced them. Had something to do with crankcase compression frequencies. You could easily feel that extra power.. really fun. Perhaps worth trying..

Great to meet you at Scramle today Jack, nice to have a chat in the sunshine. Keep up the great content mate as you are a normal person we can all relate to!

Really looking forward to seeing what you do with this one Jack and I’m very envious!!I I drive a 2001 2 litre hdi every day which we has been family owned from new. More recently we found a 2001 Dturbo 2 door for our 18 year old son who absolutely loves it. Since buying the Dturbo, we have done lots of maintenance including a replacement refurbished rear axle beam from a firm in Nottinghamshire for not a lot of money. I’m biased, but brilliant cars that we get lots of positive comments on. I can’t ever remember anyone telling me how bad these were, just people happy to see another one still on the road.

Great choice, can see the logic for sure. Bland looks suit the daily well also!

The clutch cable filled with a graphite grease will help. I had a rusty one in Cleveland and that thing became butter smooth

Change the rear engine mount for a Vibra Technics one. My 306 TD had a kangaroo clutch until I had a complete set of engine mounts done, not to mention having had a propensity for the clutch pedal to stick to the floor !. Being petrol, rather than diesel, you'd only get a touch more vibration but the gearchange also improved massively for me. I since went the whole hog and got a full polybush suspension kit as well, which cured the 306 tendency for rear axle sag and made the steering even more pin sharp. Good luck with the car, seems like you found a pretty good one. Most GTi's have had 9 or more owners. I have H&R front coilovers and B8 Bilsteins on the rear, the front turned down by about 2 threads and the rear axle lowered by 40mm to match. The ride is stiffer but far from harsh. Also have 17 inch alloys with 205/40 profile tyres. Depends on how much you want to spend or compromise a bit on ride plushness really.

A friend of a friend had a 205 GTi back in my University days, I was always jealous of it and thought it gave him an air of sophistication, but he wasnt really a car guy and it was bought as an enrolment gift by his parents.. Last I saw it was about a decade ago he'd gone off and got married and it was still sitting outside his parent's place with a couple of flat tyres, peeling trim and encroaching surface rust where the problematic clear coat had flaked off the bonnet and rear quarter panels

Ya gotta love Peugeots.A pothole near my place makes my LS 430 shudder when I hit it -if traffic's coming the other way you can't avoid it -but my 505 GTI sails over the same piece of road and you can't even tell there's a hole there.Absolutely amazing for a car 37 years old.

Intermittent pulling to the left when braking combined with intermittent vibration at certain higher speeds - I've have a bet on a slightly sticking brake caliper. Suggest keeping an eye on the alloy wheels to see it one side is dusting-up more than the other, or if one wheel feels hotter/warmer after some vigorous braking.

Great car and an excellent choice! I almost bought a 306 GTi here in NL, but decided to get a Spider 916 with a leaky roof instead 😃 Looking forward to your next videos!

I had a Peugeot 106 Rally 1,5 Magnum special edition (it was a 1,3 that Peugeot bored to a 1,5 engine). It had 139 hp. It was by no comparison the most fun car I have ever had. I never had any problems with it. Loved that car.🥰😎

I would like to see you take this to a Dyno and see how much power it now has and a general look over by a mechanic so see what issues there might be underneath. Would be a good informative episode. looks like a lovely car. I have similar backroads so went for an EP3 type R, pre facelift because I like the original looks. I've been restoring it to as close as to new but within my tastes as possible. I love a hot hatch, never super fast but such a hoot to drive and fun to extract every last horsepower. Enjoy your new car my good man.

daily-ing a fast crisp packet over those roads, brave man... if that paintwork is original, a full respray will probably de-value it, yes to the roof repair, but are we sure about the full shoot... you need a new cable, + re-route/fasten it so that it curves gently specialist adapter to balance those wheels [no centre caps], so probably not done... keep it up young man

Love it! Great memories of the poverty spec 306XSi we had in London circa 1996.

To be honest my French cars have been the most reliable I have owned! It’s been the Japanese and Germans that broke around me, and the Ferrari but that’s another story.. The 306 is one of the best hatchbacks of all time, it handles great, parts are pretty cheap and they are going up ok value what’s not to like. I had a gti6 and a lovely white Rallye a few years ago and now the king of them all the Maxi although not really comparable with a road car. Enjoy your purchase and I look forward to seeing more updates. 👍

Just saw your 306 in the Rover review so looked up to see if you did one on this. Great little car. I had 3 Peugeots over the years in Argentina. A 505 sedan, then a 504 Rural (SW) and then a 505 Rural. Great road cars with good suspension, not too fast. A friend had a new106 that we took a trip in and was nice.

Pierre the Pug? Always good to see a video from you Jack, keep well

Jack. I just bought an RCZ Peogeot. Blinking brilliant little car, get one !! You won't be dissapointed and they are cheap as chips.

I reckon at 4:29 you hit 88mph, the sun suddenly set and it was early evening. My son bought at G Ti-6, and on the drive home I couldn't shake him off in a Stilo Abarth. Then we stopped for a chat and he told me he had a bad misfire 😂Great car.

Yes yes yes yes yes! So glad to see you being so enthusiastic. I really like your videos. I managed to devote a bit more of my time to your channel! Is this car “still” on “old” type of UK license plates? The system ever so gets me confused all the time. Greetings from Belgium!

Very good choice, one of the best GTI of its period. Superior chassis and the 167bhp engine is cool. In France it was called S16 and not GTI because French government was against the GTIs at that time. You can call it "Peejoe" which is "Peugeot" nickname phonetically. The color is maybe "bleu de Chanel" in French.

Congrats Jack!! I prefer the Peugeot any time over a Honda!! I will never forget my 406 Coupe. The 306 GTI is super cool. Cordon Blue 🙂

I had the xsara vts with this engine , I thought it was rapid back in the day I’d imagine it would feel rather pedestrian nowadays 😂

I knew you would choose the Peugeot! It fits guys like me and you more. The 306 was one of the Peugeots I always regarded it as very good looking. Probably the best looking one since the 404 and the 405 convertible. I always thought I would stumble upon a cheap and good example to buy. But it never happened. Maybe my older cars would last so long that they outlived most 306es.

Good choice. The right balance in as much as it's a car you can really enjoy from the get go and yet it has enough jobs that need doing to provide some interesting content.

I loved my HDi 306, the price of them now is mental. I paid £400 for mine.

Thank you for the vid! Good ones with mileages under 100000 mls have become very rare now - even in France. 😕

I think I would’ve gone with the accord as I love that generation but the 306’s are an absolutely fantastic car imo. They’re a dying breed aswell so it’s good to see them.

I had a sherwood green 1.8 16v meridian, Smashing car to drive, Fairly nippy and stuck to the road like glue👍👍👍

Glad I managed to own one of these years ago. If I remember these were quite an expensive car in the 90’s so they only sold around 5k of them I think.

Wonderful choice with just the right level of fettling needs. They do look fabulous - that era of Peugeots had such clean, unfussy lines. As for a name: Cyrano de Peugeotrac

Regarding the coming and going vibration, could it be a 'tripod' needle fail in one of the inner joints? That would cause the driveshaft to become unbalanced depending on how the remaining needles position themselve. Just a thought... good luck with this lovely car 😎

Should've bought a straight Ford Focus MK1 1.6 Zetec. Absolutely the best everyday Front Wheel Drive Hatchback. Lift off over steer for days. I loved all mine to bits..

You made the right choice. This is still my dream car. By the time I could afford one, I couldn't convince myself to daily drive something of that age since I don't have the facilities to work on it. Perhaps if I'm rich enough in a few years I'll still get one...

Do love a good ol' 306! Grew up with them as a kid. In my local town we've got one going around in the bright red!

I’ve always wanted a 306 rallye just couldn’t find a good one , I’ve had a few 306’s and 405’s (includimg a phase 2 405 mi16 have I absolutely loved ) the 306’s seem to rot in the engine bay / bulkhead badly , hope youres is ok , looks lovely

Absolutely love the time & effort you put into your clips & you are always having fun ;) The pulling to the left sounds to me that your inner or outer control arm bushes are worn. My Aussie Commodore wagon I had years back used to dive hard & want to put me into a tree when I pulled round a tight 3/4-hairpin left turn. Was frightening & it was a reasonably heavy car on the road. Ended up taking it to a front end/suspension specialist who replaced all bushes with neoprene ones & told me that a shop had only changed the outer bushes & not the inner, as these were harder to do requiring more time so, was a common bodgy fix workshops did. Fixed the problem. Btw, I simply love these 80's underpowered little hatches. You have to give them stick but boy, that's their inherent character that makes them so much fun. You enjoy them revving up slower than modern maniac 0-60 fire breathers. I miss my Mazda MX5 NA. 1.6L stock lightened flywheel twin cam. Bit unruly in the rear end in the wet if they had low profile tyres like mine did. I loved the tight gear changes :) On a totally different level is my current Audi S3 8p. Too easy to drive really as it has electric assisted steering & ESP traction control bla bla. I can disable it with push of a button but, really? I love it to death & prefer it than my previous E36 M3 that suspension was set up for track work & button clutch etc. I apologise for the long post but I'm just enthrawled by these old hot hatches & so glad I found your site :)

With your gear change, often there will be a little plastic donut shaped bush under the lever and sometimes one at the gearbox end as well. These wear and then disintegrate leaving you stuck with half your gears, or worse, no gears. Even automatics have them. Not hard to replace.

Such brilliant driving cars! Had a Honda Prelude afterwards actually and missed the handling of the Pug - recon you chose well!

Nice one Jack! I’ve had two GTi6’s. One road and one track. Amazing fun and they steer from the rear just the right amount when on the limit. Get it to Cadwell Park. Brilliant around there. Have fun!

Brilliant car, and great choice. I adore Honda (petrol) engines but the 306 is just a better all round package.

I have a 2019 Peugeot 3008 diesel, it’s perfectly reliable and extremely economical as well as being very well appointed - I have no hesitation in having another one.

China Blue is the best colour on a 306. There are companies that supply spacers for OEM steering wheels. Had a Diesel 306 and it was a brilliant car to drive.

Still a great looking car, and getting rarer so great time to pick one up before prices start to rise sharply .Great to see an engine with no silly pointless plastic cover .

Looking forward to another amazing vlog Jack 👍🙂

had lovely diablo red one for c 4 yrs and loved it - went thru a few gearboxes when new due to bearing seal failure Handling is so playful - wen doing sales demo i entered a deserted roundabout and exited by the exit of passengers choosing without using the s wheel, simply on and off throttle i had head heavily upgraded to kinda Touring car spec by LAD motorsport - removed an ashtray full of alloy from ports to increase flow rate, resulting in even deeper induction warble, 200+ BHP and loads more lowdown torque where the std 6 is hopeless would pull from idle in 6th and economy slightly improved when on normal throttle opening Cornering is deceptive....same hi speed curve can be taken faster in an old Omega V6 and without being bounced all over the place Loved ownership, strong engine and needs the headwork (cams also re set)

Neat looking car that has clearly captured your heart and ultimately that's what makes a car great and the right choice for you!! Alain would be suggestion in honour of the great French racing driver who was small and delivered more than the sum of his parts. Plus the Prost F1 Team ran Peugeot motors in a not too dissimilar shade of blue so there is a link there.

I had three 205 GTIs, i loved them, than i had a Peugeot 306 , oh my god i loved that car so much and in my "hood" i was the only guy driving a french car, all others had VW GTI, BMW... but most people liked my car. No im in my 40s and im dreaming every day of owning a 306 s16 again, but they went from 3000€ to around 10-12000€ the last two years and thats too much for me for a fun car, i hope i will get a chance again, im so in love with the 1990-2000 Peugeots , they where so great cars!!

Fantastic cars...I had mine for 3 years before a family came along and something more practical was needed. I'd have another tomorrow if I could!

Nice choice 👍 wouldn’t mind one of these myself if I could find one. Think you should call it Dave..

great choice, i had the xsara vts which also had the gti6 engine, but with a wider beam at the rear, later worked on by cituning in nottingham

They are great handling cars, i remember doing an experience day at silverstone and loved it

31 years later, a 306 3 door still looks magnificient. ❤

Looks like you've got yourself a straight, honest car there. Enjoy it!

I had a 1994 L reg DTurbo in white. It was a fantastic car but always drooled after the GTI's

Very, very nice! Looks like a good purchase!

Owned an S16 back in the day, when it ran properly it was great, always had niggly engine issues and ended up with water in the oil after 60k. Heater matrix gave up the ghost at one point and ignition coils also needed changing. Lost loads of money on it but glad to get shot of it in the end.

Excellent purchase Jack, a worthy replacement for the 106 and probably better to lie with day to day... are you bringing it to Bicester this coming weekend??

Jean Paul sounds like the perfect name - the French designer loved the colour Blue too.

Pulling to the left or right under braking and/or noises from the front: Rear bushings of the front control arms, sway-bar end-links. Lack of power: double check timing belt timing. Using the correct tools. Peugeot has used a variety of 'systems' where from fixed sprockets they went to adjustable cam sprockets or adjustable crank sprockets. Also see if maintenance was carried out properly. Juddery clutch/sticking pedal: the spring at the pedal is actually supposed to give the pedal a more decisive feel. 306's however were notorious for failing clutch diaphragms, giving zero feel to the pedal. And your notchy gear shifts might be the clutch not disengaging completely. Absolutely a very capable chassis, could've handled much more power. Yes, this car is from the era when Peugeot still made their own shock absorbers. If they don't leak, leave them on there. Up until 2008-ish Peugeot made the best handling cars, after that they became very generic and started using KYB as OEM supplier.

Lovely car Jack but that's quite a list of jobs you've got there mate!!!

I'm watching this, thinking of that 'W' reg 306 as a really old stunner of a car.... then I 'remembered' that my own pride and joy weekend car sitting on my drive is a 'S' reg Mercedes SLK230 Kompressor, older than this! ... there are still a lot of R170 SLKs around, so I don't think of my own car as old or rare... but the 306 GTis (in fact any 306s) are just so rare to see on the road in the UK now.

Good choice! Congrats! Do check L Aventure Peugeot for parts! Had a 306 Xsi back in the 90'ies really liked it, fantastic handling!

Bushes and linkages are key to this era Peugeot (steering, suspension and gear change)