Maxi Car

The Peugeot 306 is a small family car built by the French car manufacturer Peugeot from 1993 to 2001. more...

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Background

The 306 was the replacement for the Peugeot 309 (which had broken with Peugeot's normal ascending numbering system partly due to its being released before the older Peugeot 305 was axed).

Mechanically, the 306 is virtually identical to the Citroën ZX, which was launched two years before the 306: both cars use the same floorpan and core structure. The 306, with its attractive Peugeot 205 derived Pininfarina styling, was a more successful car than its twin. The Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot Partner were also built on the same platform. The chassis used by the 306 and ZX was also used in the ZX's replacement, the Citroën Xsara. The sharing of platforms between Peugeot and Citroën has been parent company PSA Peugeot Citroën policy since the late 1970s, after the Peugeot takeover of the then bankrupt Citroen in the wake of the 1974 oil crisis. The first car being the Peugeot 104 based Citroen Visa and Citroën LNA. The policy continues today with the Peugeot 107, Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo.

306 Phase 1

The 306 arrived in March 1993 as a 3- and 5-door hatchback, with saloon, cabriolet and estate models being introduced later. The estate version was branded as the sw, for "station wagon". The Phase 1 model was known as the N3 in Australia, and introduced in 1994.

A bewildering array of different model types were offered during the life of the Phase 1 model, including Genoa, XSS, X, XT, XRdt and Xd. Later were added various 'performance' models, such as the S16, XSi and GTI-6 (petrol) and the D-Turbo S (diesel).

All variants of the 306, with the exception of the GTI-6 and cabriolet models, were priced very competitively.

Petrol engines

The initial petrol engines used were proven four-cylinder units, which had gained a solid reputation in Peugeot models such as the 205, 309 and 405. At first, all mainstream models were powered by derivatives of the TU series 8-valve engine, in 1.1, 1.4 and 1.6 litre guises. The 1.1 was dropped quickly, but the 1.4 and particularly the 1.6 variants sold well; the latter offering a good balance between performance and economy.

Three larger-capacity units were available, but restricted to automatic and performance models. These engines were developments of the larger XU series units which had been used in the 205 GTi 1.9, and larger 405 models. A 1.8 litre version powered cars with both manual (not many 1.8 manuals were produced) and automatic transmission; while two versions of the 2.0 litre engine in 8- and 16-valve guises powered the XSi and S16 models respectively. Although both versions were praised by the motoring press, the "peaky" nature of the 16-valve unit and its relatively small performance advantage over the 8-valve damaged the reputation of the S16 model. In Australia, the only engines available were the 1.8 and 2.0L engines.

Read more at Wikipedia.org