307 Breaknck

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 14:23

Finally, I start a little story about my new car.

After 7 years of owning my lovely white 1993 405 T16, I've had to make a big change and sell it to fund something
more reliable, newer and with more boot space for my bicycles. The T16 went to the UK and I was on a lookout
for a 307, firstly an SW, but then i decided to get an ordinary Estate. I'd gone off of an idea of getting a diesel
powered car and wanted a relaxed drive, so I narrowed my choice to a 2.0 16v with Automatic transmission
and full optional equipment.

The trouble was, when I entered that info in mobile.de, I found only six cars with those properties, out of more than
1500 307 Estates for sale :wacko:, so when I got a call from someone local who offered me exactly what I'd been after,
freshly imported from SUI and registered (and for a very good price), I've had to take it, eventhough it was the only
"colour" that I didn't want to get, doh.

So there you go, a nice, 5-year old at the time of purchase (a year and a half ago) 307, which is above my average
owned car age by far :lol:

.

The same colour scheme as the T16, but 10 years, 85 bhp and 2 driven wheels less

. It's packed with equipment,
starting with a sequental automatic (4-speed) gearbox, ABS, ESP, GPS, GSM, MP3, board computer, automatic aircon,
all 4 automatic windows, electric folding mirrors etc etc, just lacking half-leather seats I've had in all my cars so far

.

After a mandatory checkup, oil and filter change and tracing the horrible knocking sound to one of the ARB bushes,
the car was ready for the road and I was ready to start customising it accoring to my vision of what a 307 Estate was
supposed to look like to begin with

.

Photos here: http://photos.cybernck.com/307breaknck

To be continued...

munne · Post by **munne** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 18:15

Good luck, keep us posted.

Morbidio · Post by **Morbidio** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 23:17

I wanna se a twin engined 307!! :twisted:

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:30

Hahaha, a twin-V6 307 would be nice indeed!

Ah well, an idea for the future

.

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 21:25

I suspect someone from Peugeot management comes along when the car design is finished
and orders the engineers to raise the car by 10 cm's or something, as the height of new cars
in general, especially Peugeots, looks really artificial, compared to the car shape. At least from
my designer's point of view.

And not just that but the body roll and suspension travel made for a boat-like driving "pleasure".
Maybe it's down to me, as I'm used to sporty cars (205 GTI and 405 T16) but driving the 307
made me sick, quite literally, and I was scared to take corners. Luckily, the cure for the sickness
and the design error came from the UK in a form of a Jamex coilover kit:

Mounting it was a straight-forward job for Brkic Servis guys and here's the result:

This has completely transformed the way the car handles - excessive body roll pretty much
eliminated, sharper turn-in, faster shock absorbing etc - and was definitely worth the money,
but it has also shown that the "balloon" tyres will have to be replaced with something that will
work better in conjunction with the coilovers.

Photos here: http://photos.cybernck.com/307breaknck

And the story continues...

Rx37 · Post by **Rx37** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 21:35

Yea that does look a lot better. And better handling is always good. Beautiful car :wink:

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 23:19

After I fitted the coilovers - the wheels and tyres were next on the list. I tried out my 307 CC
Challenger wheels (6.5x17" ET31) that I bought a few years ago with the intention of fitting
them on my "future" 307

. I couldn't get hold of the 205/50/17 tyres (OE size), so I tried them
on with 205/45/17, but they were skinny for the 307's arches thus I decided to take them off.

My 205 GTI needed a new battery, so I nicked it from the 307, which I replaced with a new
Varta Silver Dynamic 63Ah battery. That was a perfect timing as I was just about to start
fitting some audio equipment - a mixture of what I've already had and what I was able to
get in exchange for some work

. The original 307's 6-speaker audio system is horrible,
much worse than some other manufacturers' I'd say - and with an equally crappy preparation
for a better system (front woofers mounted on a rattly door card and with next to no volume
to work from).

For the front speakers I got Ground Zero Titanium mk2 16.5 cm / 6.5" component speakers,
while for the rears I got 13 cm / 5" coaxials, from the same GZ range. The amplifier for the
front speakers (and a fututre sub-woofer) is an old but nice Magnat Rave 440, while the
headunit is an old trusty Kenwood cassette player with a 10 CD changer - this is my third
car I've installed it in

.

The 307 is now a much nicer place to be in

.

Photos here: http://photos.cybernck.com/307breaknck?page=3

Next update soon...

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:00

[ pug is my religion, 205 is my god ]

Jaaacob · Post by **Jaaacob** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 15:25

very nice! more of this!

SNILLET · Post by **SNILLET** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 15:30

If the 307 makes you sick, you should try an original 106XR :mrgreen:

, the handling of those are stunningly well behaved considering how soft they are though.

Any mechanical (powerwise) mods in plan ?

Peter Igelhammar · Post by **Peter Igelhammar** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 17:19

Nice!

Did u try the sound after just replaced the speakers?

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 0:24

Alex>

Snillet> Well, you wouldn't believe (or you would?) but I nearly bought a V6 210bhp engine
with automatic gearbox last year, but no-one was able to guarantee to complete the swap
(due complex electrics / BSI) and I wouldn't be sattisfied with anything less than perfect
integration (everything working correctly). But we'll see...

Peter> Yes, much much better, ofcourse

. But many upgrades planned still.

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:37

While searching high and low for a subwoofer to suit my taste, I tried out several different
10" and 12" subwoofers but none of them was what I'd been looking for. What they've all
had it common was a vented (bassreflex) enclosure. I figured out I need a sealed box
setup and then this puppy came along:

Focal 33A 13-inch subwoofer in a compact sealed box. It worked like a dream and I've always
had a dream of having Focal speakers, so that was it! I also got a Kenwood 10 CD MP3 changer
and a 2-changer switcher with an additional AUX in. One of the small but important things I had
done was getting rid of the horrible licence plate holders and rivetting the plates on the car.

And then the BIG news, in every way - I got my new wheels! They are a replica of one of
my favourite wheels of all time - Arospeed RSGT. I went for graphite grey with polished rim
in 7.5x18" ET15 and with 225/40/18 tyres - they look great both off and on the car and fill
the arches perfectly.

Together with the coilovers, the car now feels and handles exactly as I wanted - very tight.
I later lowered the front of the car by further 10-15 mm to get a near-perfect stance.
And like the coilovers, the wheels came from the UK as well

.

Photos here: http://photos.cybernck.com/307breaknck?page=4

Next update soon!

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 19:15

I decided to keep going with the Focal theme throughout the car, so I purchased nearly new Focal 130CA (5"/13cm coaxials) speakers for the rear doors. Not that I will hear them much but rear passengers may do.

Entry-level Focals versus entry-level Ground Zeros. Focals are more sensitive, go a touch deeper have clearer mid-range and have a much more detailed tweeter. Focals also have bigger magnet, wider and softer rubber suspension and swivel tweeter.

I also purchased and retrofitted a cruise control stalk, as I hate keeping my foot steady for hours on highways. It's almost a plug & play affair, at least on my car, with throttle-by-wire and automatic gearbox, only actions required are a small mod to a lower steering column cover and setup in BSI.

I've shown a step-by-step installation guide in the gallery, so take a look, if you're interested.

And finally, you can check the new ride height (after recent lowering) and see some interesting photos too:

Photos here: http://photos.cybernck.com/307breaknck?page=5

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 16:35

Focal 165 K2P component speaker set - pretty expensive, but once I heard them in action,
I simply couldn't listen to my Ground Zeros anymore and had to get them. I found a brand new
set in the UK. Very lucky find, as they're not in production anymore and used sets fetch high prices.

Midrange speaker with kevlar membrane, very detailed tweeters and adjustable crossovers.
Can't believe I actually have them now, as I've been dreaming about their predecessors (165K),
many years ago!

I managed to fit them onto the door cards, only just. They sound brilliant but will require proper
installation to make most out of them. I won't waste words trying to describe the difference
between them and my previous speakers.

Next, I fitted some frameless "aero" wiper blades but the other big news in this update is
a set of TSW Pace 7x18" ET18 wheels, that I got in exchange for my 17" Challengers:

They suit the car nicely and completely change the appearance, but they're up for sale,
as I prefer my RS-GTs

.

And finally, a photo of modified vs standard:

Modified wins

.

Photos here: http://photos.cybernck.com/307breaknck?page=6

Fnatte · Post by **Fnatte** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:03

It can be soo easy transforming a car, from standard to something much more.

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:43

Yes, easy (if you're doing the right things) but definitely not as cheap

.

Jaaacob · Post by **Jaaacob** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 6:46

Very nice!

cybernck · Post by **cybernck** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 15:15

Hehe, yeah

.

But can you please edit that to link, so that it doesn't load up the image always?

Thanks.

Peter Igelhammar · Post by **Peter Igelhammar** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 1:14

2 bad, it isn´t phase 2 of the 307 :wink: