The Peugeot 306 2.0 XSi is a good warm hatch with handling that is truly gobsmacking. The amount of feel through the steering and the seat wouldn't disgrace a true sports car, and lovely, controllable oversteer is but a feather of the throttle away. Like most Peugeots it also rides beautifully, yet resists roll nicely in the corners. Lowering these cars improves grip but robs the delicacy and balance and destroys the ride quality - don't bother. Peugeot know chassis tuning better than you do.

The engine makes a good account of itself as well. It's 136 bhp worth of 2.0 16v in-line four which is smooth and sweet, if a little breathless when extended. The five speed gearbox is quite slick through and seems to get better with miles. Performance is good, but not stunning, and certainly with such a capable chassis, you often find yourself wanting more. The chassis is not stretched in the slightest by the power of the standard engine, which in some ways makes the car feel a bit slower than it is. There's none of the torque steer or grip related histrionics that some of its less polished rivals exhibit when accelerating hard.

So, a great drivers car the 306 XSi might be, but sadly it's not a good car to own. I bought the car as a 6 month old ex demonstrator with just 4,000 miles on it, and put 25,000 miles per annum on it over the next four years. I expected some problems, but at 100,000 miles this car was about finished. Despite a full main dealer history, it was leaking and burning about a litre of oil a week, the top end was clattering on cold starts, the idle was erratic and it had lost some performance.

The car was good up to about 50k, and then went downhill rapidly. At this point, the engine management system started playing up, the electrics went haywire, and at around 75,000 miles, the engine began to give cause for concern with its appetite for oil and clattering top end when cold. The dealers didn't help either, with one of the idling problems I had taking eight visits before they would even admit there was anything wrong. I decided enough was enough and part exchanged it for a nearly new Focus ST170 last year. I still think the Pug was a slightly better drive, but the Ford feels like it's built out of solid granite in comparison. The last French car I will ever own.