jjones

anyone had one?

did it cause you much grief?

like the idea of £1000 - 120bhp (mod to 140bhp) and 860kg, don't like the idea of head gaskets(overheating)/turbo problems!

had a daihatsu charde turbo many moons ago but good ones are going for silly money :/

chiark

Drove one a few times on a test drive, that's all. Definitely nutty cars. Some problems with hot starting due to fuel sitting above hot bits of the engine hence later models had fuel percolation pumps to avoid it. Turbos should be good providing the previous owners haven't upped boost in insane ways or messed with actuators etc. Unfortunately identifying those which have isn't easy IMHO.

Head gasket is a relatively easy job isn't it? What are your DIY skills like?

Again, I'd steer clear of cheap ones as they'll be nails. Buy a bad one and it'll cost you surprising amounts to get right - on a R19 I had to buy a new 'box and have the callipers fully overhauled. Renaults that are going wrong are not cheap.

Electrics might be "fun" too.

If you're up for a lot of DIY then it could be a great fun car, but it could be a potential money pit.

Cheers,
Nick.

jjones

diy repairs are not a problem, time off the road regular big expense could be a pain tho.

have a fireblade but that is hibernating

really after someone who has owned one for a year or two recently (so they have experience of a 10 year old car!)

prodriva

I owned one for 4 years and sold it about 5 years ago.

The experience was nothing but enjoyable and the only things that let me down was the turbo at 68,000 miles, a new anti-percolation fan and associated wiring with temp gauge which is located on the turbo heat shroud.

I loved my car to bits and still is the best car I have ever owned. it was an absolute hoot to drive but it did need the service intervals to be adheared to stringently. It felt so much better every time it had new oil and filters on it.

Mine was a 1990 'H' in Glacier White and was by far my favourite colour at the time. it was standard apart from a GT Tuning exhaust system and a Ramair replacement filter.

If you get one, make sure its been looked after. When I sold mine it had a huge file of history with all receipts for every penny spent on it. I was the second owner so I just continued the first owners good work really.

Clutches are a nightmare to fit. Dont touch one that has had the boost tinkered with unless its been done properly. GT Tuning parts are a good sign as they are the renowned tuners of these little french terrors.

Hot starting problems usually indicate the anti-perc fan is not working correctly. I recall mine costing around £70 for parts and labour. Mine whent via the temp sensor working loosed from heat shield around the turbo and shorting the circuit on some metal. Lots of smoke as the temp sensor wiring began to melt and burn. This is a known fault and some cars have had to have the whole wiring loom replaced due to this occuring!!!

When you see a good one you will know pretty much straight away. However, they are getting old now and good ones must be pretty rare now. I know, it took me 6 months to find mind and wish I'd never sold it to this day. It was mint inside and outside, had 92,000 on the clock and still had the original stereo in it!!!

jjones

thanks for that,

can you recall approximate MPG, reading the renault turbo owners clucb anything between 20-30 mpg is "normal"! i was hoping for a little more from a 1.4.

prodriva

If memory serves correctly, for a full £30 tank of 4star, I got between 260-280 miles between fill-ups. To be honest I didnt notice any difference between the 5 and the Clio 1.8 16V I have now apart from it feeling woefully slower both in performance and in handling but its so much easier to live with!!!

Regarding fuel I'm not sure if these can run unleaded/Ultimate/Optimax and this was the main reason I sold mine albeit after a year in dry storage!!! Check the R5GTTOC web site to clarify this.

Where for art though H*** VUS

Jolley

Had two of them, and no problems with either.

Would recommend the addition of a manual overide switch for the radiator fan (sometimes sat in traffic the thermostat doesn't seem to cut in early enough, and I think the switch definitely prevented a lot of the overheating problems a lot of them seem to have).... though do not leave it on when you park (esp. if de-locked), or you will not be able to get in when you return to the car!!

Anti-percolation fan also went on mine. I think I paid £30 from a Renault breakers (there is a really good one near Tring that sells genuine new parts on the cheap as well as salvage stuff).

Taff107

Used to have one of these too. Damn good fun, crap build quality and decided to get rid of it when the clutch started to slip and I was told how much the replacement would be!

jonny gav

iTrader: (1)

great fun, had 2 of em myself.
radiator seemed to be the root of all problems though, get a new/re-cored one on to avoid the old head gasket problem, fan on switch is a good idea too.

here is a pic of my old one-

chiark

Was that a raider Jonny? Dimma kit too? Looks superb

philz

I had one for 7 years. In that time I replaced a starter motor, alternator, clutch and radiator which isn't too bad for 7 years of motoring.

Rich D

iTrader: (12)

Had 2 of them now and they're great fun!

As long as you look after them and mod them properly they will go on & on & on...

R1916v

Getting shot of the 'lude?

Nice little cars, mpg is that crap though lol, must be the same for all renaults as I get approx 26-28mpg in my 19, and it doesn't even have the blower

Easily tuned though, just depends on how deep your wallet is.

Or you could get a clio with a knackered engine and put a GTT lump in it

Billgtt

I've had mine for 4 years now and can't think of anything i'd want to replace it with. I use it every day and since i've owned it it's let me down once (snapped clutch cable). They are great fun, cheap as chips to run/tune (oh and you get cheap roadtax ). You can take the power up to around the 160 mark reliably for next to nothing. The only thing that costs a bit to replace is the clutch, which has been mentioned before. Also the clutch cables have a habit of snapping, but only cost £12 odd from Renualt.

The weak head gasket is all a myth that came about by kids buying them, fitting a bleed valve and seeing how high they could turn up the boost without sorting the fuelling/cooling. As long as you make sure you service it every 3k and keep your fuelling spot on then they'll go forever

I must say though, the fuel consumption is crap . I get about 18/20 to the gallon (25 very max on the motorway), but there again mine's not standard. They run fine on Optimax/Super/Ultimate, and they can be ok on normal unleaded if you're running standard boost.

Oh and btw, fitting a manual over ride switch on the rad fan is not needed. As long as your cooling system is in good working order, then that's fine.

If you buy one, make sure you join www.rtoc.org it'll be the best £10 you've ever spent on it

def

1K is more than enough for a s13 nissan 200sx with 179bhp!!!
Rwd,faster,better looking.
def

jonny gav

iTrader: (1)

chiark- yeah it was a raider, got it up to 224bhp!
it was a little rocket up to a ton and handled well too

Midmotorsteve

I've always liked 5gtt's my mate had one a few years ago, he wanted to buy my old mans celica Gt (normally aspirated) off him saying that it was a faster better car, i kept telling him his 5gtt was way quicker (certainly felt it) but as someone else said 'fast up to 100' he also said the same, why do they drop off so badly over 100 is it gearing? just interested is his always felt silly quick, was modded and upped boost.

Rich D

iTrader: (12)

Nah, they're good for 130mph but then they run outta revs...

If the cars modded (doesn't need a lot), it's all in good order & setup properly and the boost's not dropping of at higher revs, then it should pull round to the redline in 5th without a problem!

dogboy1

I had a raider for 3 years. Stil say its the best car i ever owned. Like people have said you have to look after it and they can be tempremental (bit like my woman really) But in the end just have fun in it!!

redeye

iv had 2 myself.great littke cars,just like a go-cart.if i didnt have my scoob i would prabably have another gtturbo.


redeye

Matt P

I had a R11 turbo for a couple of years which is the same running gear in a different (or some would say less desirable) bodyshell. I put about 40000 miles on in 2 1/2 years, sold it to a mate of mine and it's now done the other side of 130000 but terminally failed it's MoT on rust A good little car which teaches all you need to know about lift-off oversteer...

Hot starting was a problem, I had override switches for rad and anti perc fan and made absolutely no difference whatsoever. Never did get to the bottom of that. Also make sure the cooling system is in good nick, on mine the turbo water cooling supply pipe had clogged, reckon the turbo was only saved by the frequent oil changes I did. And clutch cables. When oh when will Renault learn how to make these things properly. I became far too practised at gearchanging without the clutch!!

Other than that, I'd echo the comments above that say well maintained Renaults should cause no bother but once neglected they take a lot of saving.

R1916v

The hot start is due to the fuel line sittong aboe something hot (one of the manifolds I think). What happens is this evapourates the fuel in the line leaving you with a car that won't start properly!

Matt P

Had an override switch for the fuel pump too so I could prime it when it was hot. Still wouldn't go!

Hol

iTrader: (1)

I had a Black one that I bought part modified which was a reliable as anything UNTIL I started uprating it. I had big brakes, a £750.00 MD84r turbo, huge intercooler, cams, head work, carb work, low comp pistons and over 200bhp – But unreliability.

I got a 13.6sec run at the pod and the guy I sold it too got it into the 12 sec bracket.
Before modding it I won a non-hybrid class at a lowly 15.3sec (although everyone’s times were down that day), which shows what difference can be achieved.

During my ownership I did find out things like - many tuning parts are OE parts rebranded and you can get things like the uprated head gaskets £20 cheaper than the tuners prices. Other things like the fabled GPN clutch is really a 440 Volvo turbo clutch (£70) which can handle the 200+ torque, as the car is lighter.

Beware though, you can spend lots of money on styling, or you can use things like the AXGT boot spoiler which costs a lot less and looks good on the 5.

I suppose the best advice, as backed up by some of the comments here is to buy a good car as standard and don’t go over the top with mods. Make sure your cooling system is in good order and replace the rad it looks old. Alternative here is a Clio diesel rad and separate oil cooler, both of which help.

You will have fun, but don’t expect too much more than short bursts at full power.

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

My mate in a 20v Fiat Coupe turbo just tried accelerating away @30mph from a Renault 5. He said it caught him up and passed him with so much ease...it just blew him away totally.

He said the way that I pass him in my car is nothing compared to that Renault5!

Will try and find the guy that owns it and see what mods hes done.

Blimey...makes me wana get one!

Bob

TelBoy

Also owned one for many years. Had great fun in it. Recommended, but spend as much as you can afford on the best one you can find - bad ones can be *very* bad.