Best way to speed up my Pug?

[Caolan]

Hi Everyone!

I bought my first car a 306 Meridian 4 1.4 Petrol at the start of the year and I love it! The car has had some issues but I still love it.

Anyway, all my friends have Civics (Ep1 1.4 Petrol @90bhp) and I'm usually a bit behind

So I'm seeking your advice on what's the best way to speed up my little Pug?

All ideas and input are appreciated

[Mighty306]

Welcome to the club. Am not particularly familiar with the TU3 engines but as far as I know there won't be a cheap n easy route to more power. Anyway, if you're young n declare any tuning for your insurance it would likely make it prohibitively expensive n you might as well buy something else with a few more ponies under the bonnet.

Failing that, making sure the engine still has decent compression & is well serviced is worthwhile. After that shedding weight from the car, particularly rotating mass of the wheels is an easy win. I expect the 1.4 came with reasonably skinny steel rims so not sure how much weight you can reasonably save from them.

Sorry can't be more help.

[Caolan]

Welcome to the club. Am not particularly familiar with the TU3 engines but as far as I know there won't be a cheap n easy route to more power. Anyway, if you're young n declare any tuning for your insurance it would likely make it prohibitively expensive n you might as well buy something else with a few more ponies under the bonnet.

Failing that, making sure the engine still has decent compression & is well serviced is worthwhile. After that shedding weight from the car, particularly rotating mass of the wheels is an easy win. I expect the 1.4 came with reasonably skinny steel rims so not sure how much weight you can reasonably save from them.

Sorry can't be more help.

 
Thank you for the honest info! Another thought was to swap the engine for another TU or something fancier (keeping to the Peugeot range) but that's for another day. 

How would I know the engine is keeping good compression?
Also I know you said you don't know much about the TU3 but any recommendations on how often to service it? I redid the Spark Plugs, Oil, Oil filter and air filter about 5K Miles ago. Timing belt I think was done a little while before I bought the car. 

Thanks!

[Martin306]

Hi Everyone!

I bought my first car a 306 Meridian 4 1.4 Petrol at the start of the year and I love it! The car has had some issues but I still love it.

Anyway, all my friends have Civics (Ep1 1.4 Petrol @90bhp) and I'm usually a bit behind

So I'm seeking your advice on what's the best way to speed up my little Pug?

All ideas and input are appreciated

Hey mate

The TU3 engine has a "cool" camshaft, designed for economy. a fast road cam will get that to about 90-95hp without a remap. maybe with a slightly better exhaust as well, do not de-cat it. You'll rob too much bottom end torque.

Also, keep the standard intake on. Fitting a cone filter slows the air flow heading into the throttle body and it's warmer air. If it's got a restrictor pipe, remove that and fit a straight through piece of pipe.

Another problem you've got, is the gear ratios. They're really really long. Cant' remember specifically what gearbox it has though it's been ages since I've looked at one.

[welshpug]

really just buy another car, much much faster standard cars are cheap.

[Caolan]

Hi Everyone!

I bought my first car a 306 Meridian 4 1.4 Petrol at the start of the year and I love it! The car has had some issues but I still love it.

Anyway, all my friends have Civics (Ep1 1.4 Petrol @90bhp) and I'm usually a bit behind

So I'm seeking your advice on what's the best way to speed up my little Pug?

All ideas and input are appreciated

Hey mate

The TU3 engine has a "cool" camshaft, designed for economy. a fast road cam will get that to about 90-95hp without a remap. maybe with a slightly better exhaust as well, do not de-cat it. You'll rob too much bottom end torque.

Also, keep the standard intake on. Fitting a cone filter slows the air flow heading into the throttle body and it's warmer air. If it's got a restrictor pipe, remove that and fit a straight through piece of pipe.

Another problem you've got, is the gear ratios. They're really really long. Cant' remember specifically what gearbox it has though it's been ages since I've looked at one.

Thanks for the reply!

This seems like a very pricey upgrade! Would you think a bigger better engine would be the best way forward?

[Martin306]

Hi Everyone!

I bought my first car a 306 Meridian 4 1.4 Petrol at the start of the year and I love it! The car has had some issues but I still love it.

Anyway, all my friends have Civics (Ep1 1.4 Petrol @90bhp) and I'm usually a bit behind

So I'm seeking your advice on what's the best way to speed up my little Pug?

All ideas and input are appreciated

Hey mate

The TU3 engine has a "cool" camshaft, designed for economy. a fast road cam will get that to about 90-95hp without a remap. maybe with a slightly better exhaust as well, do not de-cat it. You'll rob too much bottom end torque.

Also, keep the standard intake on. Fitting a cone filter slows the air flow heading into the throttle body and it's warmer air. If it's got a restrictor pipe, remove that and fit a straight through piece of pipe.

Another problem you've got, is the gear ratios. They're really really long. Cant' remember specifically what gearbox it has though it's been ages since I've looked at one.

Thanks for the reply!

This seems like a very pricey upgrade! Would you think a bigger better engine would be the best way forward?

You could, since it's a TU engine you could fit a J4 engine from an early (pre 1999) Saxo VTS/106 GTi, it should simply bolt to your current gearbox, the sensor plugs for the TU3 should plug into all the 16v ones. Then you need a remap. Would take you to at least 120hp - most of them produce about 130-135hp.

Or you can get a GTi-6 engine (or a 2.0 XSi 16v engine from a ph3 306 with the plastic manifold). XU engines aren't brilliant though, compared to a TU. They're bigger capacity, but that's the only advantage.

Or an XUD turbo unit... since it's turbo at least you've some scope for tuning it yourself.

Trying to chase your mates in terms of cars is generally a waste of time and will lead to you spending money   a few of my mates learned this the hard way, one of them being £18k in debt, upside down in a field.

Adding power to a car is never cheap, however you could lose weight from it...

[Eeyore]

Its always easier to get a car that is more performance orientated. Ultimately financially one of the sought after models will hold its values if not increase. Depends if you can afford it and the insurance.

Focus on handling mods before power. GTI6 brakes and decent tyres will be a good upgrade.

[Caolan]

Hi Everyone!

I bought my first car a 306 Meridian 4 1.4 Petrol at the start of the year and I love it! The car has had some issues but I still love it.

Anyway, all my friends have Civics (Ep1 1.4 Petrol @90bhp) and I'm usually a bit behind

So I'm seeking your advice on what's the best way to speed up my little Pug?

All ideas and input are appreciated

Hey mate

The TU3 engine has a "cool" camshaft, designed for economy. a fast road cam will get that to about 90-95hp without a remap. maybe with a slightly better exhaust as well, do not de-cat it. You'll rob too much bottom end torque.

Also, keep the standard intake on. Fitting a cone filter slows the air flow heading into the throttle body and it's warmer air. If it's got a restrictor pipe, remove that and fit a straight through piece of pipe.

Another problem you've got, is the gear ratios. They're really really long. Cant' remember specifically what gearbox it has though it's been ages since I've looked at one.

Thanks for the reply!

This seems like a very pricey upgrade! Would you think a bigger better engine would be the best way forward?

You could, since it's a TU engine you could fit a J4 engine from an early (pre 1999) Saxo VTS/106 GTi, it should simply bolt to your current gearbox, the sensor plugs for the TU3 should plug into all the 16v ones. Then you need a remap. Would take you to at least 120hp - most of them produce about 130-135hp.

Or you can get a GTi-6 engine (or a 2.0 XSi 16v engine from a ph3 306 with the plastic manifold). XU engines aren't brilliant though, compared to a TU. They're bigger capacity, but that's the only advantage.

Or an XUD turbo unit... since it's turbo at least you've some scope for tuning it yourself.

Trying to chase your mates in terms of cars is generally a waste of time and will lead to you spending money   a few of my mates learned this the hard way, one of them being £18k in debt, upside down in a field.

Adding power to a car is never cheap, however you could lose weight from it...

I do love the thought of an Engine swap because I love my car and the only thing it's missing is more power. 
Would something like a TU5JP be a straightforward enough swap for my TU3? Things like Engine Mounts, fuel lines, gearbox , etc

Thanks,C

---

Its always easier to get a car that is more performance orientated. Ultimately financially one of the sought after models will hold its values if not increase. Depends if you can afford it and the insurance.

Focus on handling mods before power. GTI6 brakes and decent tyres will be a good upgrade.

It's a damn shame most 306's in Ireland are D-Turbos (I love them still) but you'll rarely see/find any petrol's and especially parts like GTI6 breaks. Would I need to get bigger discs? And is it a common conversation? I'm still a rookie when it comes to car work. 

Thanks,
Caolán

[Mighty306]

Upgrading the brakes could be a big job too tbh. The The GTi-6 & other models with discs all round also had ABS and sportier wheels for more grip. Personally I wouldn't put GTi-6 brakes on the front & leave everything else the same on a 1.4. You'll have relatively skinny wheels & not even sure you'll have ABS.

These are the things that would differ on a GTi-6 from your car: ABS, brake master cylinder (bigger to push more fluid for the bigger brakes), brake calipers, carriers, front discs (283 rather than 247 ....doesn't seem like a big difference but it really is). That's before we even start talking about upgrading the rear to match. It's a project that requires some skill and knowledge. If you really want to go down the upgrade route then make sure you properly understand what you need to do before you start. There is heaps of info on here & on the web.

https://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=9
https://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=2444
https://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=16509
https://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=14524

Tbh, as has been said many times, it's much easier to buy a car that already has more power & better brakes ....or just go on a mission to shed weight from the car ...but that will likely lead to a loss of comfort!