29-08-2015, 09:18 AM
Most newer cars grip better than a 306 in my experience, even ones without ESP (stupid budget-cut Vectra 
), they do tend to roll a lot more though, but I'd take grip over loose rear ends and skippy lowered 306s any day!!
Reliability is down to the individual car, not the make, model, not even the driver or previous maintenance really, I've had lemons with huge lists of receipts.
I mostly replaced mine with other 306s.
But the other keepers were:
Mk4 Golfs - much easier and cheaper to mod than 306s, so much off the shelf stuff if you're not keen on fab like me and you'll find things like lowering springs are cheaper like for like. So quick for what they are and have a useable power band as well, map to around 180bhp/350Nm for £40 stage 1 so easily quicker than a S1 HDi lol. EGR tube and decat gives an awesome note (before MOT regs came in!). They come with reasonable spec for a hatch and are much better built than 306s. Do still have some daft faults though, and are stupidly easy to break into.
Next non-306 keeper was a Vectra CDTi - terrible ride, terrible MPG, made from cheap shite, laggy as hell, lots of common faults (springs, swirl flaps, EGR, 'stat, etc). Did stick like shit to a blanket though (so it should with 215 wide tyres lol) and was effortless at overtakes on the motorway - if you dared go that fast with the rough ride and dash shaking itself to bits.
Final 306 keeper was the Focus - I chose the wrong engine but otherwise it's a good all rounder and cheaper alternative to a Golf. Grips a bit less than the Vec but handles better, does use ESP as well if you're really going for it. Have to be careful with spec though, Ford are a bit stingy with them unless you go for a decent one like Ghia or Titanium, or Zetec S for sports model. The pov ones are horrible inside tbh! Not too many common faults with them, its more the engines (and particularly DPFs) that cause the most problems.
This is a pointless thread as you'll see we all want different things despite owning similar cars at one point - I really don't like Meganes, others really don't like Golfs... You need to ignore everything you read and test drive some, buying cars on reviews and book figures doesn't work out...I've tried it.
), they do tend to roll a lot more though, but I'd take grip over loose rear ends and skippy lowered 306s any day!!Reliability is down to the individual car, not the make, model, not even the driver or previous maintenance really, I've had lemons with huge lists of receipts.
I mostly replaced mine with other 306s.
But the other keepers were:
Mk4 Golfs - much easier and cheaper to mod than 306s, so much off the shelf stuff if you're not keen on fab like me and you'll find things like lowering springs are cheaper like for like. So quick for what they are and have a useable power band as well, map to around 180bhp/350Nm for £40 stage 1 so easily quicker than a S1 HDi lol. EGR tube and decat gives an awesome note (before MOT regs came in!). They come with reasonable spec for a hatch and are much better built than 306s. Do still have some daft faults though, and are stupidly easy to break into.
Next non-306 keeper was a Vectra CDTi - terrible ride, terrible MPG, made from cheap shite, laggy as hell, lots of common faults (springs, swirl flaps, EGR, 'stat, etc). Did stick like shit to a blanket though (so it should with 215 wide tyres lol) and was effortless at overtakes on the motorway - if you dared go that fast with the rough ride and dash shaking itself to bits.
Final 306 keeper was the Focus - I chose the wrong engine but otherwise it's a good all rounder and cheaper alternative to a Golf. Grips a bit less than the Vec but handles better, does use ESP as well if you're really going for it. Have to be careful with spec though, Ford are a bit stingy with them unless you go for a decent one like Ghia or Titanium, or Zetec S for sports model. The pov ones are horrible inside tbh! Not too many common faults with them, its more the engines (and particularly DPFs) that cause the most problems.
This is a pointless thread as you'll see we all want different things despite owning similar cars at one point - I really don't like Meganes, others really don't like Golfs... You need to ignore everything you read and test drive some, buying cars on reviews and book figures doesn't work out...I've tried it.