Brief history.
The Peugeot 306 is a small family car built by the French car manufacturer from 1993 to 2002. With its attractive Peugeot 205 derived Pininfarina styling, it was a huge sales success. It took only 33 months after its launch to reach the one million figure, thus beating the 205 which took 34 months to reach that magic figure. Not only was the 306 pretty to look at, but it was also regarded as the best handling small family car of its time, until the arrival of the Ford Focus.
The Peugeot 306 shared its underpinnings with Citroen ZX and ZX's replacement, the Citroën Xsara. Front-engined, front wheel drive chassis was a seemingly conventional design. At the front was a standard McPherson strut layout with anti-roll bar, while the rear used a semi-independent trailing arm/torsion bar set up. However, Peugeot's chassis engineers employed some unusual features, including passive rear wheel steering (by means of specially designed compliance bushes in the rear suspension), and in-house developed and constructed shock absorbers. The diesel and larger capacity petrol engines are canted as far back as possible in the engine bay in an effort to put as much weight as possible behind the front axle line, improving weight distribution, and minimising understeer.
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.
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 the models with automatic transmission; while two versions of the 2.0 litre engine in 8- and 16-valve guises powered the XSi and S16 models respectively.
Peugeot had an excellent reputation for its diesel engines, and the 306 was originally offered with the XUD series diesel engine in both normally-aspirated and turbocharged forms. This engine was initially a 1.8 litre unit, but its capacity was soon enlarged to 1.9 litres. The turbocharged version quickly gained a reputation for being a good match for the exceptional handling of the 306. Not only did its outright performance match many similarly-sized petrol cars – almost certainly a first for an affordable mainstream diesel – but the carefully-designed installation ensured its considerable extra weight did not upset the car's handling.
The 306 underwent the only major revamp of its life in May 1997, with the launch of the "Phase 2" version. The basic shape remained the same, but lights, grille and bumpers were redesigned in an effort to bring the styling into line with the new, more rounded, Peugeot family look established with the Peugeot 406. New engines were also offered, with both 1.8 and 2.0 petrol engines gaining 16-valve cylinder heads together with modest power increases. In 1998 the popular but ageing XUD series diesel engines were phased out and replaced with Peugeot's first generation 2.0 HDi common rail diesel in a turbocharged form only. Although power output remained unchanged, and outright performance remained similar, the new unit brought significant benefits in terms of economy, emissions and refinement.
Pininfarina and Peugeot have produced some very stylish creations in the past, but arguably none as stunning as the 306 Cabriolet. 306 cabriolet was assembled in Pininfarina's plant in Turin from 1993-2002 with 77824 units produced. The shape has aged very well, offering an elegant second-hand alternative to cars like Peugeot's own 307CC or Renault Megane CC.
Sources: wikipedia.org, pininfarina.it
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Originally Posted by Duell
