With this egroup setup, even a technologically challenged chap such as myself can cut and paste articles to the mailing list. Here's an article on the 306 HDi; some of you may have read this already:
Hugo
Smooth torquing woos Peugeot fans
The opportunity to scamper the 1400m up the Coronne Pass near Geneva is to be savoured.
The road snakes through 17km of classic switchback hairpins which would test the on-the-edge ability of any car chassis.
Surely Peugeot country, eh? Absolutely -- but a diesel? To be honest, I didn't think Peugeot France had got it quite right. Surely this part of their world launch should have been left to the switch-quick 206 GTi, whose power, torque, and nimbleness could dispatch the terrain in short order?
Wrong. Even equipped with the entry-level 66kW version of its new HDi diesel engine, the trusty 306 is a mountain goat of a car.
It's all down to torque, which even in the basic HDi is a lusty 205Nm. With the 306 chassis and extra grip thanks to GTi-6 wheels and tyres, the Coronne is dispatched with uncommon ease.
Meaty steering and implacable behaviour over tarmacadam and shingle-mix conspire to give the trusty 306 chassis a distinct advantage over lesser underpinnings. The HDi hatch was even able to hold station with a spiritedly-driven 206GTi, which certainly looked less calm from my grandstand seat.
The key to driving the HDi-powered 306 is to forget about revving it and enjoy "surfing" on the broad belly of torque, which delivers all the grunt you need as long as you keep the tachometer between 2000 and 3000rpm.
Peugeot France appears to have sussed the HDi 306's real raison d'etre from the start.
The cabin is almost an exact replica of the GTi-6, S-16, and XSi models. There are cloth-covered seats, leather side bolsters, an aluminium-topped gear lever, a hide steering wheel, and a tachometer red-lined at an implausible, yet achievable, 5000rpm.
The HDi eliminates the drawbacks of the old XUD, while adding new talents of its own.
These include bags of low-down torque, which eliminates the need for fancy clutchwork when making a fast start. There's also more ability to hold high revolutions, so you won't be bouncing embarrassingly on the rev-limiter in the middle of overtaking.
The new HDi scores well in the fuel economy stakes, with the 306 able to return urban/commuter consumption figures of around the 5.2 to 5.4 litres per 100km mark.
Exactly which 306 models will reach New Zealand has not yet been confirmed, but the idea of a hot-hatch version would appeal.
HDi will find itself under the nose of the sedan and the station wagon -- the latter being particularly smart and capacious, probably closer to the spirit of the old 405 wagon than the 406 currently is.
Further development is needed on the shift protocols before the HDi is available with automatic transmission in either the 306 or 406, but Peugeot France is expecting to announce this before the Frankfurt Motor Show in the northern hemisphere autumn.
The HDi will also be under the bonnet of the 206 once the demand for HDi-powered 306 and 406 models has been filled.
For the 306, expect a replacement in the next couple of years. However, we are assured that the striking 306 study shown at Geneva -- labelled something of a hunting wagon by its creators -- will not be the style of the 306 for the new millennium. Expect a model more like an enlarged 206.
The elegant and ever-popular 306 in its present form will soldier on with sales little abated since its halcyon 1993/1994 season.
More power to its elbow is all I say. Once you've tried its HDi engine, you'll know what I mean! --Dave Moore