Upgrade from 306?

[MY95]

So what have people replaced their 306 with?

[WiNgNuTz]

Another 306...

[Jimmy306uk]

Peugeot 309

[Stef205]

205 gti end thread

[1616six]

200 bhp cdti vectra, E90 BMW 320D then a ecobox diesel Astra J.

[MY95]

Something newer, pokey, as reliable as the HDI 90 and cheap aha, any ideas?

[chylledapps]

Nothing yet but considering 207 gt hdi or going retro with a g60 VW Corrado

All depends on the new job really

[306rhys]

I'd go for a VAG PD130 either an ibiza or A3

[MY95]

207 gt hdi agood shout but engines abit unreliable, PD130 good idea but quite expensive due to VAG badge

[chylledapps]

Heard the engines were dodgy but not seen any proof after lots of searching, what issues do they have?

[MY95]

Turbo pipes clogging up causing turbo failure. If they werent rated so unreliable I would probably have a 206 gti hdi very soon.

[Redordead89]

Nothing yet but considering 207 gt hdi or going retro with a g60 VW Corrado

All depends on the new job really

My mate from work is possibly about to sell his 89 corrado g60 and his year 2000 polo GTI !!!!
He's after a bam engined 20v Leon hmmm not an ideal swap if you ask me but not my cars so hey ho!

---

Turbo pipes clogging up causing turbo failure. If they werent rated so unreliable I would probably have a 206 gti hdi very soon.

Nothing yet but considering 207 gt hdi or going retro with a g60 VW Corrado

All depends on the new job really

My mate from work is possibly about to sell his 89 corrado g60 and his year 2000 polo GTI !!!!
He's after a bam engined 20v Leon hmmm not an ideal swap if you ask me but not my cars so hey ho!

MY95 the same mate mentioned above was also asking tonight if this northern run is happening?
any plans on being up this way?

[Orta]

When I was using my 306 diesel as a daily I found a natural replacement was a Fabia VRS for me. 5 doors, subtle looks, good community, lots of mods to do, I got 49mpg over the lifetime of the car and in standard 130bhp form they're very reliable. Loved mine and wished I'd never sold it.

[bashbarnard]

306-vitara
306-austin mini
306-106xsi
306-306
306-306


Every time ive had a 306 thats what ive replaced them with. At the moment though im looking at keeping mine as a daily and buying something like a supra or skyline as well. Because why not.

[MY95]

Cheers lads
Fabia VRS would be my choice, especially once remapped, but they are supposed to handle nowhere near as well as the 306 :/

[RetroPug]

I didn't replace my 306, I've still got it, but I bought this to replace it as a daily:
http://306oc.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=28935

It will do over 70mpg if driven carefully, and my current tank is averaging 63mpg while driving fairly normally.

They take very well to remaps, which I'm hoping to get done at some point. It's not particularly quick at all but it is very nice on country roads, compliant but predictable and smooth cornering.

They hold their value quite well though unfortunately.

[MY95]

Im also looking at them retropug, but want something that is both standard and remapped to be quicker than the 306 currently
I was looking at 206 gti hdi, fabia vrs, fiesta zetec s tdci, any other suggestions?

[bashbarnard]

Id take a look at a volvo s80. We have a taxi driver at ours whos car i also want. Fully specced out. Lovely to drive 5 cylinder derv. Not what i would call quick but for a big comfy motor thats lovely to drive still averages 45 round town. Its now on 180000 and the only major repair i done was a dual mass. Looked after since new at our place.

[Redordead89]

You'll miss the 306 so much bud that you will inevitably come full circle and get another ;-)

[Choppin]

It doesn't matter what you replace it with, the 306 will always be calling you back haha I replaced my first 1 with a Scooby and my second 1 with my current car a Seat Ibiza, do love it but miss the ride quality of my old 306, the Ibiza can be a nightmare on a really ruff road but then 220bhp can help you forget about that very quickly haha

[Matt-Rallye]

Replaced my HDi with a diesel RS megane but it wasn't exactly cheap

Can pick one up for sub 4k just about now i think. Epic to drive, gets 50mpg on average, when driven correctly possibly more.

Reasons i chose it over a (heap of shit IMO) Golf or Fabia:

Brembos
Keyless entry
Push button start
6 speed box
175bhp to start with
Smooth engine (twin balancer shafts)
Full leather



Only things i have planned are:

R26.r spoiler.
Cup spec anthracite mirror caps and wheels.
Cooksport springs
DPF delete
Stage 1 map (212bhp - 300lb/ft)

[Toms306]

Most newer cars grip better than a 306 in my experience, even ones without ESP (stupid budget-cut Vectra ), they do tend to roll a lot more though, but I'd take grip over loose rear ends and skippy lowered 306s any day!!

Reliability is down to the individual car, not the make, model, not even the driver or previous maintenance really, I've had lemons with huge lists of receipts.

I mostly replaced mine with other 306s.

But the other keepers were:

Mk4 Golfs - much easier and cheaper to mod than 306s, so much off the shelf stuff if you're not keen on fab like me and you'll find things like lowering springs are cheaper like for like. So quick for what they are and have a useable power band as well, map to around 180bhp/350Nm for £40 stage 1 so easily quicker than a S1 HDi lol. EGR tube and decat gives an awesome note (before MOT regs came in!). They come with reasonable spec for a hatch and are much better built than 306s. Do still have some daft faults though, and are stupidly easy to break into.

Next non-306 keeper was a Vectra CDTi - terrible ride, terrible MPG, made from cheap shite, laggy as hell, lots of common faults (springs, swirl flaps, EGR, 'stat, etc). Did stick like shit to a blanket though (so it should with 215 wide tyres lol) and was effortless at overtakes on the motorway - if you dared go that fast with the rough ride and dash shaking itself to bits.

Final 306 keeper was the Focus - I chose the wrong engine but otherwise it's a good all rounder and cheaper alternative to a Golf. Grips a bit less than the Vec but handles better, does use ESP as well if you're really going for it. Have to be careful with spec though, Ford are a bit stingy with them unless you go for a decent one like Ghia or Titanium, or Zetec S for sports model. The pov ones are horrible inside tbh! Not too many common faults with them, its more the engines (and particularly DPFs) that cause the most problems.

This is a pointless thread as you'll see we all want different things despite owning similar cars at one point - I really don't like Meganes, others really don't like Golfs... You need to ignore everything you read and test drive some, buying cars on reviews and book figures doesn't work out...I've tried it.

[Matt-Rallye]

Everyone here replaces their 306 with a megane mainly cos the megane is the closest thing to a modern day 306 you can get

[Toms306]

And they're comparatively cheap... But unfortunately that's reflected inside which I don't like.

When you're moving on from a 306, not everyone want's something the same as a 306, I certainly didn't, that was the whole point of moving on from them.

[Magenta Sunset]

gonna run my 306 to the death. wouldn't touch a keyless car, too easily nicked.

[bashbarnard]

gonna run my 306 to the death. wouldn't touch a keyless car, too easily nicked.

Keyless cars are actually almost impossible to nick. I can bypass most stuff with a key. Have tried at a few keyless entry ones and they are dam near impossible.

[Choppin]

But the driving position in any Renault is just awful!!

[Toms306]

You can break into old cars easily anyway, can be in a Mk4 Golf in seconds and a 306 in under a minute if you know what you're doing... As above you'd have to get past the immobiliser to nick anything modern, even if you can clone the remote key to break in... Of course you can get another tool that plugs into the OBD socket to bypass the immob on some cars, but most people disable the OBD port when they know this... End of the day if you leave anything valuable in a car its likely to get nicked, but unless you have a really nice car or a really old joyride shitter it's unlikely they'll bother trying to steal the whole car.

That said, I like a physical key ignition still, specifically chose a Focus without keyless lol - I like most other modern extras though.

---

But the driving position in any Renault is just awful!!

Another similarity to the 306 there...

[Matt-Rallye]

But the driving position in any Renault is just awful!!

Granted! seats too high up, i cant drive the car with shoes on cos im over 6ft and it puts my ankle on a funny angle unless i take my shoes off

[Magenta Sunset]

I like the fact I can 'deadlock' my doors
and I use a Stoplok Pro too