tarting up my 1.8

[mrjgd81]

Hello bought my first 406 v reg in silver love it had a mondeo and thought id never get a different car till i got this.
BUT i was thinking of getting a second car but i want to concentrate on tarting this up engine and body.but im a bit clueless help and suggestion please

[teamster1975]

Welcome mate!
What were you thinking of doing then?

[mrjgd81]

i wanna make it a bit sporty will be putting on a suttle spoiler
but engine needs the hell revved out of it if i wanna take off fast service book reckons it was serviced but i think it needs doing
i wanna make it that little bit more responsive taking it to the nurberg next year want it to act as good as it looks
oh and does the pollen filter make it fog up like a bitch

[Welly]

If it's foging up then either the re-circ flap is stuck closed or there's water getting in somewhere. Check the recirc flap first by pulling the black cover on the right hand side bulkhead and whip out the pollen filter covering the fan unit - if there's a flap in the way then the recirc motor has stuck - gently move the flap open and pull the connector for the motor.

Unfortunately the 1.8 is a bit sluggish - I think you can inprove things with inlet manifolds/cams/downpipes etc but we don't really get into all this on here, the 306 forum would be best bet really. You definately can't just stick on a huge exhaust and expect another 50bhp

Certainly a service and check through James's FAQ thread about the idle/running roughness, change the plugs, run it on Super Plus etc etc.

[mjb]

The only way to get a noticeable performance increase out of a 1.8 is to either strip all the weight out of the car, or get yourself a turbocharger fitted to it

[mjcook1984]

the 306 gti 6 inlet manifold, exhaust manifold, cams and cat. will give you a performance gain but i cant quote how much ud also benafit from a remap ater these mods but ul have to change the ecu as the 1.8 ecus arent mappable from what i have heard

[steve_earwig]

Wouldn't it be easier to flog it and buy a 2 litre?

[Welly]

Wouldn't it be easier to flog it and buy a 2 litre?

That's probably the best, and cheaper once you've declared all the mods of the 1.8 to the insurers....oh wait

The 2.0 punts along quite nicely by all accounts with it's 136bhp.

[mrjgd81]

2.0 litre not an option insurance on this is high enougth want to keep it semi sensible doing pollen filter tomorrow was some water in spare wheel compartment when i pressure washed it but not when it rains ?.
maybe ill just make it look pretty and when i can get a 2 litre transfer all my goodies really want the leather auto armchair seats

[teamster1975]

was some water in spare wheel compartment

Have a look beneath the well; there's a circular plug in the middle that breaks away & leaks; it's happened on both of my 406's. Dry it all off and run a bead of clear silicone around the edge of it inside & out. The other favourite leaking point is around the edges of the rear light clusters; again clear silicone.
You might also want to check for damp around the aerial mount; this can leak and silicone is the fix!