Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
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Rick Site Admin
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22477 Location: UK
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alastairq
Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 1958 Location: East Yorkshire
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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FAr better, IMHO.
Especially the later models....
The R4 GTL was geared for better, more long-legged cruising.
Plus, if really wanting to, many of the earlier Renault 5 engines and drive trains could be slotted in....
I had a R4 [as explained on Faceboook].....and thought it marvelous.
I really liked the gear change....so very much more convenient to use than a conventional gear stick....yet so marvelously simple in execution.
Mine had an 850 engine [Ventoux, I think?].....which could achieve almost 70 mph [on the M62....even more going down the other side!].....and could be driven almost flat out everywhere....
Being a bus driver at the time, working 'inter-urban' routes [ EYMS service 121, Hull-Scarborough, for those who may know?]....with Gardner-engined Leylands & Bristols.....overtaking cyclists and tractors was an enormously difficult exercise, requiring forward planning of the diary type, and thorough knowledge of not just the route, but every dip and rise in the roads ahead. [Everything was pretty much all in, in top gear, by about 31 mph......so dropping gears and accelerating was something other vehicles did, not double deck Olympians and VRs...and certainly not Fleetlines!!!]....
The skills acquired so that the timetable could be met, were equally applicable to driving a R4 with anything approaching gusto..[our other family cars were of the Alfa Romeo sort..proper Alfas, not FIAT Alfas, but these were wife #2's domain, not mine]....older members of our community will be familiar with the overtaking procedure known as 'charging the tailgate', perhaps?
Of course, in today's driving world, such antics would be viewed askance by most of today's drivers out there.......''shouldn't be allowed!''....said with a proper Dandy Nicholls accent, of course! _________________ Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces. |
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badhuis
Joined: 20 Aug 2008 Posts: 1394 Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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Not much experience with them, although I did drive a couple of them during the time I worked for a garage during weekends (early eighties). Very comfortable and likable. In those years rust was still a big item and you could be sure if an R4 was over 6 years old it would rust dramatically. A friend of my brother had a R4 before the annual test was started here (83 or 84 I think). He had two wooden beams across the floor where he had bolted the front seats to because the floor was too rotten to keep the seats in.
Looking at the picture of the R4 I noticed the exhaust ended before the rear wheel. It was a feature of the R4 I had forgotten all about it. Were there more cars with the exhaust ending before the rear wheel? _________________ a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment |
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alastairq
Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 1958 Location: East Yorkshire
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:53 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | Looking at the picture of the R4 I noticed the exhaust ended before the rear wheel. It was a feature of the R4 I had forgotten all about it. |
It was an 'option' on the R4.....
Some also had the rear side window blanked off....
On later ones, main rust point was around where the rear torsion bars mounted.
[Body can be removed from chassis, however]
My main 'expense', was having to replace the rear shocks every year...[long travel suspension would wear them out] _________________ Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces. |
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peter scott
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7126 Location: Edinburgh
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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alastairq wrote: | older members of our community will be familiar with the overtaking procedure known as 'charging the tailgate', perhaps?
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That was the only way to drive my Reliant Rebel Estate at any speed and a very sensible way too for gaining enough speed for safe overtaking.
Peter _________________ http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon |
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BigJohn
Joined: 01 Jan 2011 Posts: 954 Location: Wem, Shropshire
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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I loved mine, crazy lean angles in bends, flat out 70mph, and it seemed to get 40mpg driven gently or beaten with a big stick. Lovely French weirdness, and the wheelbase is longer on one side than the other. _________________ 1974 Mk1 Escort. |
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poodge
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 687
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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I believe the type with the blanked 3rd side windows were called R3,as a cut-price,very basic machine.They appeared well after the initial launch of the R4L. |
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Penman
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4766 Location: Swindon, Wilts.
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MVPeters
Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 822 Location: Northern MA, USA
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 2:05 am Post subject: |
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Suspension set up for Indianapolis Speedway? _________________ Mike - MVPeters at comcast.net
2002 MINI Cooper 'S' |
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badhuis
Joined: 20 Aug 2008 Posts: 1394 Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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Penman wrote: | The RH side rear appears to be 4.8cm (48mm) further back than the LH side. |
That difference should be felt when you go over a ridge or something. LH rear tyre first going over the bump, raising the suspension, then the RH wheel. I suppose the rear of the car would shudder a bit? Was this not something magazine road testers at the time would pick up? I cannot remember anything about it so it probably was not very noticeable. _________________ a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment |
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alastairq
Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 1958 Location: East Yorkshire
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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It's doubtful any difference would be noted. We're talking less than 2 inches!
Squidge of the tyres would take that up nicely....It would be a bit like crossing a rope at a very slight angle?
I certainly had to be 'told' about it, before I started worrying...... _________________ Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces. |
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norustplease
Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 782 Location: Lancashire
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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A more practical car than a 2Cv, by means of having a proper tailgate. Like the 2Cv, most parts are easily available, including new chassis. Liquid cooled engine is fairly quiet, but you need to be careful when 'upgrading' to a later engine because some Renault engines run anti clockwise and others clockwise, so you would not be the first to end up with 4 speeds in reverse and one in forwards!
They tend to rot like all cars of the era particularly around the rear suspension mounts , but most of the car superstructure bolts together rather like a 2Cv and all panels can be bought.
I think that the 2CV engine has the advantage in being air cooled. The 4 has a wet liner engine that can leak though its bottom seals and of course has all of the apparel of liquid cooled engines that require maintenance, ie: hoses, water pump, radiator, heater core, etc, etc. 2Cv just has a piece of plastic that you clip over the grille in cold weather. _________________ 1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV |
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alastairq
Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 1958 Location: East Yorkshire
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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Don't forget the 4's heater? _________________ Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces. |
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alanb
Joined: 10 Sep 2012 Posts: 516 Location: Berkshire.
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 12:41 am Post subject: |
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As a photocopier engineer in the late 70's I had a P reg Renault 4 as a service vehicle, the big advantage over the Ford escort estates (which replaced the Renault) was the lack of intruding wheel arches and 4 doors which meant you could get 2 copiers in the back with the seat down against only 1 in the escort . It was great fun to drive and you could hold off mini's and escourt's on twisting lanes if you kept your nerve and left leg against the passenger door , the body roll was alarming but it would corner at alarming speed and angles, the engine would rev like crazy and the gear change when you got used to it was quick. _________________ old tourer
Morris 8 two seater |
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