Peugeot 306

Peugeot 306 at a glance

All Peugeot models are listed in our Peugeot catalogue, and the company's long history is told in the history of Peugeot.

Development and design

Peugeot developed the 306 between 1990 and 1992 and launched it in February 1993. Mechanically it was almost identical to the Citroën ZX, which had appeared two years earlier: both cars share the floorpan and core structure. The same base later carried the Citroën Xsara and the Berlingo and Partner vans. The 306's body, however, was its own, styled by Pininfarina.

In Germany the 306 was positioned as a direct rival to the VW Golf III, which you can follow in our overview of all Golf generations, but it sold better in France than in Germany. In Britain it was among the ten best-selling cars every year from 1994 to 1998.

Body styles: from hatchback to cabriolet

The three- and five-door hatchbacks came first. A four-door saloon and the cabriolet followed in 1994, and the estate arrived with the 1997 facelift.

The cabriolet, available from April 1994, was a two-door four-seater designed by Pietro Camardella at Pininfarina and built in Italy. Its fabric roof folded into its own well under a separate cover, so boot space did not change with the roof down. The rear window was plastic on all versions. The roof was manual or electro-hydraulic depending on the model at first, and electro-hydraulic on all cars from 1999. Special editions included the Roland Garros, St. Tropez and Platinum. Cabriolet production ended in April 2002.

All bodies share a 2,580 mm wheelbase and a width of 1,680 mm. The estate is 308 mm longer than the hatchback, by our calculation.

Phase 1, 2 and 3

• Phase 1 (1993): the original car.
• Phase 2 (May 1997): new lights, grille and bumpers with round fog lamps, a revised interior and the new estate.
• Phase 3 (mid-1999): clear-lens headlamps, colour-coded trim and the common-rail HDi diesel instead of the older XUD. Side airbags were added in 1999.

Engines and performance

The smaller petrol engines came from the TU family (1.1, 1.4 and 1.6 litres; the 1.1 was dropped early). Larger XU-derived 1.8 and 2.0-litre units with eight or sixteen valves powered the XSi and S16. At launch petrol outputs ranged from 40 to 89 kW (55–121 PS) and diesel outputs from 44 to 68 kW (60–92 PS).

The XUD diesel started at 1,769 cc and was later enlarged to 1,905 cc, both with and without a turbocharger. In Australia the XSi and XT were rated at 99 kW (132 bhp).

Gearboxes were five-speed manuals, a six-speed manual for the GTI-6 and four-speed automatics (ZF 4HP14 and later the AL4).

GTI-6, S16 and Rallye

From June 1996 the top model was upgraded: the GTI-6, still called S16 in some markets, used a new manifold and intake that raised output to 120 kW (163 PS), and its six-speed gearbox was unusual in this class at the time. Like the Citroën ZX, Xantia and Xsara, the 306 used a self-steering rear axle, which improved stability at speed but could make the car oversteer when the driver lifted off suddenly. In 1997 the French Gendarmerie's rapid-intervention brigade put 80 Phase 2 S16s into service.

The UK-market 306 Rallye of 1998 was 65 kg lighter than the GTI-6 and priced at £15,995 in 1998. Roughly 500 were built. Our power-to-weight calculator shows how such weight savings change performance.

Key specifications: 306 GTI-6

Safety

Euro NCAP tested the 306 in 1998 and gave it three of five stars for adult occupants. In the same period the 1999 Ford Escort scored two stars, while the Ford Focus and Opel/Vauxhall Astra scored four. Australia's Used Car Safety Ratings judged its occupant protection significantly better than average, with four stars for driver protection.

Motorsport

As the 306 Maxi, the car competed in Group A in the French and World Rally Championships. The Maxi Evo 1 of 1995 had 205 kW (280 PS) at 8,700 rpm, the Evo 2 of 1997 217 kW (308 PS) at 11,000 rpm. On the circuits the 306 GTi won the Spa 24 Hours in 1999 and 2000, the Danish Touring Car Championship from 1999 to 2001 and the Asian Touring Car Series from 2000 to 2002. It raced in the British Touring Car Championship from 2000 to 2003, and in 2001 Simon Harrison won the championship with 227 points.

Successors

The 307 replaced the 306 hatchback and saloon in 2001; the estate and cabriolet stayed in production until 2002. The current generation of that line is covered in our Peugeot 308 article, and the larger sister model of the 306 era in our Peugeot 406 guide.

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