THE PEUGEOT 306 GTi-6

For many years the 306 GTi-6 has been described as the "King of Hot Hatches". Although the 306 range was introduced in April 1993, the GTi-6 was only introduced in July 1996, featuring the redesigned XU10J4R engine and an all-new Peugeot Sport 6-speed gearbox.

The 306 range was given a facelift in April 1997 including new headlights, foglights, grille, instrument panel, parcel shelf, doors, bigger bumpers, and side-impact protection.

The GTi-6 saw the introduction of leather/alcantara trim in February 1998, and November saw the launch of the 306 Rallye, a limited edition of 500 stripped-out GTi-6, 52kg lighter than the original.

In June 1999 the GTi-6 was revised again, including crystal lights, round foglights, clear repeaters, silver dash and aluminium gearstick, and another parcel shelf redesign. Informally labelled as "phase 3", the GTi-6 retained the crown until the discontinuation of the 306 range in Spring 2001.

The GTi-6 has been awarded 'Best GTi' by Autocar and ranked highly in every test report in automotive journalism, and for many years Brands Hatch maintained a fleet for use in racing driver training.

First-year sales were slow - only 98 GTi-6's were sold in the UK in 1996, and 15 Rallye's in 1998. Since then, both cars quickly gained a reputation as a serious driver's car, which in turn led to the accidental destruction of more than necessary. The following graph shows the numbers of both cars in the UK, and a shocking reminder that at the current rate of decline, there will be no 306 GTi-6 or Rallye left by 2017.

The 306 GTi-6 will remain with us for many years yet and is still the dream car of many. As it becomes more affordable the GTi-6 and Rallye will increasingly fall into the hands of real motoring enthusiasts ... people who appreciate the handling, balance, power and poise of these truly great cars.

The original idea of the Peugeot 306 GTi-6 & Rallye Owners Club was to set up a central source of GTi-6 information, free to join and accessible to everyone, but primarily for the use of 306 GTi-6 and Rallye owners.

There are several other Peugeot owners clubs, and a great deal of tuning and styling companies, but none dedicated just to the GTi-6, the Rallye and it's owners. Please make good use of this website, and help to make it a central source for GTi-6 enthusiasts. If you have suggestions, ideas or just want to introduce yourself, please make use of the "contact us" section and I'll try to help out where I can.

All contributions, reports and reviews will be gratefully received.

Enjoy,

Ashley "captainash" Johnson
Owner, developer and GTi-6 enthusiast.