Best make a cup of tea, this is a long one..

Where to begin...

I bought my GTI6 in 2004. Pretty much from my first go behind the wheel, I could see why these cars are as highly regarded as they are. I still remember taking mine home for the first time and enjoying the drive so much, I just had to turn around and do it again! It wasn't long before I was persuaded into doing my first trackday (thanks Ash!) and discovered how much fun it was having the space and conditions to really learn how to drive the car to the limits.

Over time, I gradually worked on improving areas that I felt needed attention (first and foremost the nut behind the wheel ). Brakes were uprated, suspension was tweaked, pretty soon I ended up with a "fast road/track" setup I was very happy with.



I don't need to tell you how, in the right conditions, you can easily pester more expensive and supposedly "superior" machinery in a GTI6. But if anything was holding it back, it was a (comparative) lack of poke in the straights against newer stuff. These days even the most numb-chassised hot hatch still packs a good 200+ bhp out of the box. Of course, it takes minimal skill to go fast in a straight line, but when you're dealing with an annoying punter on a trackday who you're all over in the bends but you can't get past on the straights... well, wouldn't it be nice if you could "stick it to 'em" in all areas...?

So I started wondering, what would the GTI6 have become if Peugeot had carried on developing it? What would the spec be these days? Of course, we all know the actual Peugeot of today would have given it fugly styling, a mediocre chassis and 175hp to go with its 1500kg but you know what I mean!

I had been keeping an eager eye on Rich W's supercharger conversion. There were some things I'd want to change - keeping my aircon, for example, but overall it seemed like the ideal solution: adding enough power to bring it "up do date", while retaining driveability and the basic characteristics of the car that I liked so much. With that in mind, the 230-250bhp achievable from the low boost conversions would be perfect, especially given the starting point of ~1250kg (which is Corsa VXR/Clio 197 weight these days).

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch..
..Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

Project é - my 306 project thread.

Do things a little different..

Now, let me start off by saying: I totally understand why Rich W/Lynx made some of the decisions they did with the basic kit in terms of cost, complexity and practicality

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch..
..Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

Project é - my 306 project thread.

So the water was all there, the wiring too.. it was time to plumb in the air. Now you can try and use silicone but due to the location of the throttle, the intercooler pipework etc. is all in vacuum at idle (as the throttle is closed but the engine still needs air to run, so it's sucking it through).


But I needed to get it all connected up, even temporarily, just so I could fire it up. I thought I'd get some of the solid plastic hosing that Farmer used (clicky)... as I figured it would do the job just to run the engine and check everything works.. Unfortunately the bend radius on it is frankly appalling, even warming it through to bend it just made it kink. So we ended up with something we called...

The Boost Pretzel


Yeah, I know! Still, it was good enough so that we could start the car. I was nervous as it had spent quite so long stripped and sat. Reattached the battery, turned the key, let the fuel pump prime, turn the key on more click and... half a turn of the engine and it fires straight up and settles to a smooth idle. No nasty sounds while the oil lifters were filling.. nothing. The cooling system was also functioning perfectly, was very happy to see the water was circulating as it was supposed to, no leaks, no issues.

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch..
..Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

Project é - my 306 project thread.

Finally!

Booked it in for MOT, I could tell the guy wanted to pass it... as it's not often you see the tester coming out from the back room mid-MOT with a hammer and a can of WD40 (even though I'd already given the rear compensator valve a can of WD40 and some love taps myself)

Clean as a whistle!


So, with papers stamped, I ran to the post office to get my tax disc and I was back on the road!


(I have since sprayed the brackets holding the IC in black as well, so there really is nothing to see... )

On the inside, I've got some bits and bobs yet to finish (new seats, bolt-in cage...) One thing I have done however is to fit some gauges. I've had the oil pressure one for a while and I bought a boost one to keep it company. I like these ones (SPA Design) they're the stepper motor type and you get a tell-tale function as well as being able to program various thresholds and warnings. Decided to install the gauges in the central console above the ashtray (and remove the ashtray interior to leave a lit cubby for mobile phone etc.). With the big red warning light if there's anything important to see it soon catches your attention!

I got a spare centre console and used the plastic to make a matching cutout for the gauges.

Gauges slotted in, looks nice and not too "aftermarket" imho.

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch..
..Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

Project é - my 306 project thread.

Big thanks go to all the people who have helped me so much behind the scenes. First and foremost my chief greasemonkey gazzerdaman. If you've got an impossible task, and you've got enough Haribo to cover it, he'll get it done..
Thanks to all the people who helped me with parts, advice, inspiration, shoulders to cry on, cups of tea, you name it... fletch, farmer, rallyestyle, rich e, smighall, denis, ash, dave, steve (and anyone else I've forgotten)

And, of course, to Rich W - without whom the massive smile on my face when I take my newly evolved 306 GTI-6 for a spin, would surely not have been possible..

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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch..
..Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

Project é - my 306 project thread.

Working on a supercharged six with a minty 928 in the background.

c*nt

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You didn't see anything. Right?

That is a cracking project.

Is powder coating a rad and intercooler ok?

I want to paint mine and was just going to order the black radiator paint from frosts.

Fantastic write up Mike

Need to all get together at a circuit somewhere soon!

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GTI-6 & Rallye

Rallye gets sideways in the wet at Snetterton

Good work Mike

I must detail Project Rallyestyle st some point

Whats with the

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Just Drive It

At last, lovely write up and a pleasure to read Mike.

Although all that extra weight...

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Black X Reg PIII.VGTi 6 A4212 pt 1 A4212 pt 2 Searching the streets of Bristol for 1.36p/day.

Joint Kent Leader

This is not so far from the truth

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Just Drive It

Effort

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Team 375 BHP Duratec™

Awesome work mate and has to be one of the best thought out installs as the s/c route goes