11th Jul 2009, 10:20

I agree to an extent. For all out performance get a turbo petrol.

However for somebody wanting reasonable performance and economy, a tuned derv makes a lot of sense. I have a modified diesel, which only cost £300 to take from 100bhp upto 150bhp and 0-60 has gone from 9.7 seconds (book time) down to an estimated 8 seconds dead; possibly less given the cars that mine is now faster than. All this and I still get well over 45mpg (last fill up 48mpg mixed driving). The car is a Rover 25 diesel BTW.

12th Jul 2009, 08:11

£300? Thought it would cost more than that.

12th Jul 2009, 21:35

Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm a student, for a petrol equivalent car to the spec and power of my diesel would crush me in both fuel and funny enough insurance. (Petrol hot hatches are more expensive to insure than my tuned HDi)

I will eventually move on to a petrol turbo'd car, probably a Japanese RWD, but for now I like my Derv!

Getting a Turbo Diesel to increase its power up to about 50BHP, all that's needed is a turbo and fuel pump tune, which can be done D.I.Y or cheap by the right garage, and also a stage 1 re-map. Hey presto, £300!

17th Nov 2009, 05:42

I have a 2.0L HDi XS d-turbo... I was thinking of getting an induction kit on and was wondering if any one has one on their HDi? How does it sound...? Does it add much power and it is harder on fuel...???

17th Nov 2009, 13:00

You probably won't hear much over the clatter of a diesel engine, especially as a turbo is whistling anyway most the time.

Performance wise I would expect very little gain without more fuel for the air to burn. If it is an open cone, you might get a bit more performance higher in the revs where the quantity of air will outweigh the increased temperature from the engine bay, but low down I would have thought heat soak would reduce power and cause a bit more bog down. A sports panel filter in the OE airbox perhaps with better cold air feed is normally best for more power, but again it won't do much without more fuel to make use of.

22nd Nov 2009, 08:05

Can some one explain the passive rear wheel steering... on a 306 HDi D turbo... Think most 306s have it.

23rd Nov 2009, 02:27

The compliance bushes in the rear suspension are specially designed to allow the rear wheel alignment to change slightly under cornering loads. This gives a rear wheel steering effect.

It is a design feature of the 306's rear suspension, and applies to all models.

Still one of the best FWD chassis ever produced.

27th Nov 2010, 14:50

Hello, I am looking at buying a 306 HDI, but it is on steelies and hubs. Firstly, what size wheels would these be? I am thinking 15? And also, could you suggest some tasteful alloys for her? Thanks lg.

8th Apr 2011, 11:04

Yes, it has a turbo. It is located down the back of the engine. Also unplug the EGR pipe and plug it with a bolt; this will stop the gases recirculating round the engine, which improves performance. The engine is one of the cleanest around, so won't fail its MOT.

Also with the 2.0 HDI, have your injection pump stop valve checked. It's worth changing the rubber seals, as eventually they fail, and you lose power and eventually stop. It takes 400 bar to start an HDI engine, and at full boost it's pumping fuel in at 4000 bar, which is about 60,000 psi.

I have remapped my 206 2.0 HDI to 125bhp, and had a decat, stainless exhaust, and unplugged the EGR. It goes like stink, 50-70 mph in 3 seconds, which beats a lot of Porsche Boxster 3.2 litre models.

Brilliant car. Done 130,000 miles. I owned it from 10,000, and it still goes like it's new, never fails to start, doesn't smoke, and it does get revved hard daily.

8th Apr 2011, 11:07

Yep, noisy turbo, and it's also the fuel being pumped in at 60000 psi, which is making a similar noise. I have 130000 miles on mine of hard driving; the turbo has no signs of failing yet.

8th Apr 2011, 11:10

Pull out the stop valve on the injection pump. In there should be 3 seals. They corrode and fail over time. I had a similar problem; about 7 quid from Peugeot. I carry a spare set in the car just in case it does it again, as the car will eventually stop.

18th Aug 2011, 18:37

Hi, I have a 306 HDI (dTurbo model), and I've been looking for a few bits to maybe improve it. Obviously the first thing I found was induction kits (K&N pops up a lot), and also I found this Peugeot 306 HDi Diesel Tuning Chip by Pro-Bitz (Bosch and Siemens made).

1. Are they both easy to self fit?

2. Will they make any (no matter how little) difference?

3. Are they still classed as a modification?

The chip claims to increase BHP from 90 to 106. Torque from 205 to 242 and fuel economy by +15%

I must admit if the chip stats are right, I'd very much like to have it. I'm not huge on speed, but a little more poke won't hurt.

8th Sep 2011, 15:06

To the person that ask about Pro Bitz chip on the 18 Aug. I bought one (£105 inc P+P); they are OK, but I found when I revved the engine above 3600 RPM, e.g. overtaking someone, when I came to a stop, I noticed the engine was running lumpy, and returned to normal when it had a rest for a few hours. So I bought a KWP2000 and visited hdi-tuning.co.uk

Hope this helps.

p.s. My car has done 220k miles.

19th Nov 2011, 06:30

To the guy on Aug 18. If you want to tune your HDI, a diesel tuning box is OK, but I have heard they wreck turbos. The only benefit in my opinion is you can unplug it if you crash, and the insurance will never know, but your best option is a remap it. It will cost around £200 quid, but will give you 120bhp and a print out to prove it.

Also decat it; it's not needed for the MoT, as it's earlier than 2002. I personally would lose the silencer in the centre section as well. You will be touching near 130bhp, and the torque will be near 300 ft lb, which is enough to give a 130 Golf TDI a good run for its money.

I have a 2000 HDI D Turbo myself, and they're the mods I am going to go for. I have also lowered mine on 60mm springs and 2 nicks at the back, but it's not a comfortable ride anymore. I would suggest upgrading the brakes first though ready for it. I have GTi6 on mine with drilled and grooved discs. The backs are the same as the HDI, but the fronts are 283mm. It certainly stops well.

11th Feb 2012, 20:29

The difference is the suspension and a few refinements inside the car. Also the outside body work. There both the same BHP, the HDI and HDI D Turbo.

11th Feb 2012, 20:32

Its very easy to get the HDI to 150bhp. Standard they're 90bhp. Just a remap alone will get it up to 125bhp.

Then adding an intercooler and a few bits, and you're looking at 150bhp.

11th Feb 2012, 20:33

Remap means the software in the ECU is adjusted to get extra performance from the engine. Changing sensors to make the car better on fuel and extra BHP.

31st Mar 2012, 16:58

What mods have you got? Very interested. My HDI is running about 180 bhp at the moment. Needs another remap. It's got bigger turbo, BMW fuel pump, BMW injector rail, fast road clutch, front mount intercooler, manual boost control, straight exhaust system, turbo back.

Pics on my Facebook: Gareth Bloodworth.

Wanna take it to 200bhp before I stop.

22nd Feb 2017, 19:35

I would say dTurbo was the better one as the HDI would cost a bomb to map etc, unlike the dTurbo spanner and allen key. And it's really quick and would eat the petrol GTi-6 by far. Really easy to tune, takes 30 minutes.