The Joy of 306. 200k? Completed it m8

[MrGTI6]

5 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Still remember the sheer level of WTF that happened in my brain the first time I drove a DTurbo one we had in through the garage - first ever diesel proper hot hatch?  My main memory was that it just felt biblically quick, probably because of the way being a somewhat old school turbo diesel ALL of the torque arrived in one big lump once the turbo spooled up.

I bought an N-reg 306 D Turbo when I was 19 and put about 55k miles on it over the following couple of years. It was my first turbo-diesel and I remember it feeling unbelievably fast at the time, even though in reality it probably wasn't!

The power delivery was like nothing else I'd driven before. It also had an uncanny ability to remain utterly composed on even the most potholed, undulating roads. A far quicker point-to-point car than an old diesel had any right to be.

It was also the car that taught me what lift-off oversteer was!

[artdjones]

14 hours ago, MrGTI6 said:

and I remember it feeling unbelievably fast at the time, even though in reality it probably wasn't

The thing that makes a car feel fast in normal day to day use is acceleration from 30-75 in top gear, and older turbo diesels are fantastic at that.

[RobT]

On 12/03/2025 at 17:32, Zelandeth said:

Being a facelift car the fit and finish was impeccable as well, I don't remember there being a single squeak or rattle in the cabin.

Pretty much the same goes for the facelift 406 I've got.  On certain surfaces there's one rattle that I've yet to trace.  But that's one rattle after 188k miles.  My old Xedos, dependable old thing that it was, had a whole suite of rattles after 70k or so.  Most of those were from the poxy sunroof blind.  Despite that it was another car from the peak era that I'd have again if it wasn't for ULEZ.  Not that there's many left of course.