RE: Spotted: Renault 5 Turbo 2
Discussion
I owned a Renault 5 Turbo2 for 5 years in the late 80s in Northern Ireland. Mine was a 1985 model in dark metallic brown with beige velour interior (yes, I know). I used it as my everyday car for most of that time, only taking some of the pressure off it in its later years by buying a Renault 4 GTL off Eddie Irvine's dad.
A lot has already been said by you guys, but I'll try to add some further info from an owner's perspective. I can also compare it with the Clio V6 255 as I also owned one of these in metallic Mars Red from new in 2004 and also used it as my everyday car for a few years.
Notes:
When I sold my Renault 5 Turbo2, it still had the protective plastic on top of the carpeted engine cover.
I used to transport my bass guitar amplifier on top of the engine cover, securing it with the 3 seat-belt style straps provided. Rear view was non-existent then.
I found my Renault 5 Turbo2 (and Clio V6) to be extremely reliable - perhaps due to being built at the Dieppe factory.
The only big jobs mine ever required were a replacement clutch at 20,000kms and a replacement brake hydraulic cylinder (can't remember master or slave).
The servicing work on mine was carried out by a bloke who worked at the local Renault dealership, but who had extensive experience working on the Alpine A110 of rally driver Adrian Boyd, whose co-driver Frank Main lived in my street.
I occasionally had a current world champion co-driver travel with me. Terry Harryman was a friend of my girlfriend's father and Ari Vatanen's co-driver. Ari used to post signed photos to me during his championship campaigns.
I stopped using the Renault 5 Turbo2 as my transport on the weekends of the Circuit of Ireland Rally. The reason for this was that my car was starting to attract more attention than the competitors, due to the demise of the Group B cars.
The main issue with using the Turbo2 as a daily driver is that it was very 'lumpy' from a standstill and didn't take kindly to being driven slowly around town.
That didn't stop me and the bangs, howls crackles echoing up narrow streets in my town were always appreciated. As were the occasional exhaust flash.
The other little 'bother' if I can call it that, was that the plugs needed a bit of a clean and gap set every couple of weeks - just to keep the car really sharp.
It was a bit of a pain getting at the engine as you needed to open the tailgate, undo the straps and use the little allen key with plastic handle which clipped up under the little stunted parcel shelf on the right hand side - I wonder how many of these are lost! On the plus side, however, was the fact that on the Turbo2 the pins could be removed from the rear side window catches, meaning that rather than opening just a couple of inches, both windows could be folded fully forward, giving 360 degree access to the engine if you folded the front seats forward as well.
I used to buy my spare parts at Radbourne Racing on the main street running through Wimbledon.
I found out accidentally one day that my Krook-Lok key happened to open the driver's door!
Oddly most of my documentation and handbooks etc. were in German. The little yellow plastic owner's folder sat in a tiny elasticated netted alcove between and behind the seats in the carpeted bulkhead in front of the engine.
When I stopped the car, there was an air intake fan which always went about its business quite noisily for a period of time.
When I arrived home of an evening one of my neighbours who used CB a lot had to turn his equipment off and go to bed as my car interfered so much with it.
With regard to the handling, in the dry when accelerating hard on the sharp corners exiting a roundabout, the grip was so good that as you flicked the car round the corner, you could easily jar your back. The seats were not sports seats. They were very comfy, but lacked any real lateral support.
In the wet, it was a different beast entirely. If you planted the accelerator in third on a straight road, you'd be snaking wildly when the turbo kicked in, if the road was greasy. I used my Renault 4 when I needed to cover distance quickly in the wet.
The standard fitment radio cassette (from memory) was a Philips unit.
The Clio V6 255 was much smoother and a lot easier to control. In the wet I never had any dramas. It sounded like a 911 when pushed hard. It lacked the explosive excitement of the Turbo2. And as well as the bite it lacked the bark!
I did once drive the original Clio V6 and thought it was an accident waiting to happen. The bloke who designed the suspension for it and the newer Clio V6 255 was on the phone to me one night and admitted that he'd got it wrong!
My Renault 5 Turbo2 felt quicker than the Clio in acceleration and I can confirm that VW Golf GTis and similar hot hatches were a disappearing dot in the rear view mirror. The Turbo2 was not great in terms of top speed. It felt nervous (probably due to being about as aerodynamic as Finland).
I still have a spare grille from the front of one of the rear arches. I frequently pick it up and the memories come flooding back. I was very lucky to drive this as my everyday car when I was 22 years old.
But there is always someone luckier!! I had a friend who owned a Ford RS200 and the Tornado Red Audi Sport Quattro from the Patrick collection. The latter is now owned by another chap who I know, who also owns Michele Mouton's works rally Audi Quattro and Franz Beckinbauer's Copenhagen Blue Audi Sport Quattro (which I very nearly bought myself in the mid 90s).
And there you have it. The Clio was a great car. I really enjoyed it. But the Renault 5 Turbo2 was something far far more than that. Words fail me when I try to describe how it felt to drive it back then amongst the Sierras and other dull cars. It pretty much defined me back then and I still have people saying to me "you're that bloke who used to drive that brown Renault...".
If you want to know anything else about Turbo2 ownership etc. please feel free to ask. And by the way, contrary to what someone said up above in the thread, my tax book definitely said Renault 5 Turbo2 on it :-)
I'd love to have it back.
Gary.
A lot has already been said by you guys, but I'll try to add some further info from an owner's perspective. I can also compare it with the Clio V6 255 as I also owned one of these in metallic Mars Red from new in 2004 and also used it as my everyday car for a few years.
Notes:
When I sold my Renault 5 Turbo2, it still had the protective plastic on top of the carpeted engine cover.
I used to transport my bass guitar amplifier on top of the engine cover, securing it with the 3 seat-belt style straps provided. Rear view was non-existent then.
I found my Renault 5 Turbo2 (and Clio V6) to be extremely reliable - perhaps due to being built at the Dieppe factory.
The only big jobs mine ever required were a replacement clutch at 20,000kms and a replacement brake hydraulic cylinder (can't remember master or slave).
The servicing work on mine was carried out by a bloke who worked at the local Renault dealership, but who had extensive experience working on the Alpine A110 of rally driver Adrian Boyd, whose co-driver Frank Main lived in my street.
I occasionally had a current world champion co-driver travel with me. Terry Harryman was a friend of my girlfriend's father and Ari Vatanen's co-driver. Ari used to post signed photos to me during his championship campaigns.
I stopped using the Renault 5 Turbo2 as my transport on the weekends of the Circuit of Ireland Rally. The reason for this was that my car was starting to attract more attention than the competitors, due to the demise of the Group B cars.
The main issue with using the Turbo2 as a daily driver is that it was very 'lumpy' from a standstill and didn't take kindly to being driven slowly around town.
That didn't stop me and the bangs, howls crackles echoing up narrow streets in my town were always appreciated. As were the occasional exhaust flash.
The other little 'bother' if I can call it that, was that the plugs needed a bit of a clean and gap set every couple of weeks - just to keep the car really sharp.
It was a bit of a pain getting at the engine as you needed to open the tailgate, undo the straps and use the little allen key with plastic handle which clipped up under the little stunted parcel shelf on the right hand side - I wonder how many of these are lost! On the plus side, however, was the fact that on the Turbo2 the pins could be removed from the rear side window catches, meaning that rather than opening just a couple of inches, both windows could be folded fully forward, giving 360 degree access to the engine if you folded the front seats forward as well.
I used to buy my spare parts at Radbourne Racing on the main street running through Wimbledon.
I found out accidentally one day that my Krook-Lok key happened to open the driver's door!
Oddly most of my documentation and handbooks etc. were in German. The little yellow plastic owner's folder sat in a tiny elasticated netted alcove between and behind the seats in the carpeted bulkhead in front of the engine.
When I stopped the car, there was an air intake fan which always went about its business quite noisily for a period of time.
When I arrived home of an evening one of my neighbours who used CB a lot had to turn his equipment off and go to bed as my car interfered so much with it.
With regard to the handling, in the dry when accelerating hard on the sharp corners exiting a roundabout, the grip was so good that as you flicked the car round the corner, you could easily jar your back. The seats were not sports seats. They were very comfy, but lacked any real lateral support.
In the wet, it was a different beast entirely. If you planted the accelerator in third on a straight road, you'd be snaking wildly when the turbo kicked in, if the road was greasy. I used my Renault 4 when I needed to cover distance quickly in the wet.
The standard fitment radio cassette (from memory) was a Philips unit.
The Clio V6 255 was much smoother and a lot easier to control. In the wet I never had any dramas. It sounded like a 911 when pushed hard. It lacked the explosive excitement of the Turbo2. And as well as the bite it lacked the bark!
I did once drive the original Clio V6 and thought it was an accident waiting to happen. The bloke who designed the suspension for it and the newer Clio V6 255 was on the phone to me one night and admitted that he'd got it wrong!
My Renault 5 Turbo2 felt quicker than the Clio in acceleration and I can confirm that VW Golf GTis and similar hot hatches were a disappearing dot in the rear view mirror. The Turbo2 was not great in terms of top speed. It felt nervous (probably due to being about as aerodynamic as Finland).
I still have a spare grille from the front of one of the rear arches. I frequently pick it up and the memories come flooding back. I was very lucky to drive this as my everyday car when I was 22 years old.
But there is always someone luckier!! I had a friend who owned a Ford RS200 and the Tornado Red Audi Sport Quattro from the Patrick collection. The latter is now owned by another chap who I know, who also owns Michele Mouton's works rally Audi Quattro and Franz Beckinbauer's Copenhagen Blue Audi Sport Quattro (which I very nearly bought myself in the mid 90s).
And there you have it. The Clio was a great car. I really enjoyed it. But the Renault 5 Turbo2 was something far far more than that. Words fail me when I try to describe how it felt to drive it back then amongst the Sierras and other dull cars. It pretty much defined me back then and I still have people saying to me "you're that bloke who used to drive that brown Renault...".
If you want to know anything else about Turbo2 ownership etc. please feel free to ask. And by the way, contrary to what someone said up above in the thread, my tax book definitely said Renault 5 Turbo2 on it :-)
I'd love to have it back.
Gary.
Edited by cloudburst on Monday 16th April 20:51
Edited by cloudburst on Monday 16th April 20:53
Edited by cloudburst on Monday 16th April 20:54
Edited by cloudburst on Monday 16th April 22:57
good story, also never seen one in that brown colour, looks good me thinks.
what I did not like with those cars are indeed the seats, you should get some recaro's or sort likes in their
and by some R5 turbo's I found often the gaps around the headlights not so nice...a lot of them have some trouble their getting that nice.
another question, the turbo's of those days have some delay I guess, can you overcome that by say, build a nice Rotrex supercharger on it? instead of the turbo?
or maybe 2 little fast turbo's, make it a bi-turbo to keep it more in the Turbo style but less peaky and more modern turbo.
what I did not like with those cars are indeed the seats, you should get some recaro's or sort likes in their
and by some R5 turbo's I found often the gaps around the headlights not so nice...a lot of them have some trouble their getting that nice.
another question, the turbo's of those days have some delay I guess, can you overcome that by say, build a nice Rotrex supercharger on it? instead of the turbo?
or maybe 2 little fast turbo's, make it a bi-turbo to keep it more in the Turbo style but less peaky and more modern turbo.
@Gary...here another, or is this your ex?
it has already the special seats
although this one for sale sounds more how your car looked I guess?
http://bringatrailer.com/2011/06/08/rt-cover-girl-...
it has already the special seats
although this one for sale sounds more how your car looked I guess?
http://bringatrailer.com/2011/06/08/rt-cover-girl-...
Edited by GTRene on Monday 16th April 22:22
My pleasure. I spotted this one for sale in France some time ago and actually thought it may be mine. However, it's a couple of years older than mine was. And it also appears to have a couple of changes in the engine bay. The cross-brace has been painted brown and the oil cap and distributor cap do not look standard to me.
Gary.
http://www.gt-spirit.fr/fr/voiture/renault-5-turbo...
Gary.
http://www.gt-spirit.fr/fr/voiture/renault-5-turbo...
Bumped into my mate (the nephew) of the guy that used to on one of these local to me and i got some pictures from him. Please excuse the pics as they are a photograph of a photograph. Does anyone recognise the reg or have any leads of it where about's?
I've done a little searching and it was sold in 2009. Thats the last known link i can find.
It actually started off looking like this with black bumpers and sills...
And while he was out one day he quite randomly bumped into this one parked up. What are the chances of that !!
I've done a little searching and it was sold in 2009. Thats the last known link i can find.
It actually started off looking like this with black bumpers and sills...
And while he was out one day he quite randomly bumped into this one parked up. What are the chances of that !!
Hi Gary (CLOUDBURST)
Send me a email as i have your old brown T2 in the UK i purchased it from a guy from Belfast.
I have a French fella who despratley wants to buy it, they are quite rare in this colour,
Oh by the way it still has the plastic covering on the rear engine cover.
The only difference from your pictures is it has minilite wheels
Cheers
Clive (WISEO)
info@wisedesignsinglass.co.uk
Send me a email as i have your old brown T2 in the UK i purchased it from a guy from Belfast.
I have a French fella who despratley wants to buy it, they are quite rare in this colour,
Oh by the way it still has the plastic covering on the rear engine cover.
The only difference from your pictures is it has minilite wheels
Cheers
Clive (WISEO)
info@wisedesignsinglass.co.uk
originalforgery said:
I had one of these for 5 years and I miss it so much.
It was a pearl white Turbo 2 with a complete leather interior and was previously owned by Peter Stringfellow. It had the 185hp kit, Dimma wheels, Devil exhaust etc- I loved it.
My proudest moment was being invited to display it on the cricket pitch at the 2003 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
I sold it very shortly afterwards and believe it now lives in France.
I'll always remember that insane rush when the turbo cut in from 3,000rpm to the redline and the rapid multiple, flame spitting backfire as it hit the redline. Totally addictive and brilliant at setting off car alarms! It was a bit tail happy at times but I never had any real concerns - it's what it was.
If you can then you must do it.
Top lurking! It was a pearl white Turbo 2 with a complete leather interior and was previously owned by Peter Stringfellow. It had the 185hp kit, Dimma wheels, Devil exhaust etc- I loved it.
My proudest moment was being invited to display it on the cricket pitch at the 2003 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
I sold it very shortly afterwards and believe it now lives in France.
I'll always remember that insane rush when the turbo cut in from 3,000rpm to the redline and the rapid multiple, flame spitting backfire as it hit the redline. Totally addictive and brilliant at setting off car alarms! It was a bit tail happy at times but I never had any real concerns - it's what it was.
If you can then you must do it.
I think the op car has been for sale for quite some time.
Have just seen all the postings about the renault 5 turbo 2s and decided to post my views.
The owner of the car at curborough ...I was there too with my red T2 and what a great meet that was catching up with other owners not only of T2s but group B lancias, Rs200 and the like.
I didn't at the time appreciate the access to all of these fantastic cars that I had but now as time passes realise that it is extremely doubtful iff I would ever witness a gathering now like that outside of a heritage rally.
I remember Alan and the guy who edited the group B magazine at the time that used to arrange meets at knock hill, Curborough, 3 sisters etc.
What I want to ask you all out there is this....I still have that same T2 from back in the day and due to circumstances has been dry stored for 10 years.I bought this in 1993 for the grand sum of 8750.00 after my renault 5 gt turbo was stolen and thought that was a great car but the T2 was something else!The question is this I have been thinking of selling it but am in two minds because it was and still is a car with attitude, doesn't like slow speeds at all and is always on the leash, but when you let it go, it does go and keeps on going.The car now needs a bit of engine work but condition is excellent so do I sell or get the work done and enjoy again?.
The owner of the car at curborough ...I was there too with my red T2 and what a great meet that was catching up with other owners not only of T2s but group B lancias, Rs200 and the like.
I didn't at the time appreciate the access to all of these fantastic cars that I had but now as time passes realise that it is extremely doubtful iff I would ever witness a gathering now like that outside of a heritage rally.
I remember Alan and the guy who edited the group B magazine at the time that used to arrange meets at knock hill, Curborough, 3 sisters etc.
What I want to ask you all out there is this....I still have that same T2 from back in the day and due to circumstances has been dry stored for 10 years.I bought this in 1993 for the grand sum of 8750.00 after my renault 5 gt turbo was stolen and thought that was a great car but the T2 was something else!The question is this I have been thinking of selling it but am in two minds because it was and still is a car with attitude, doesn't like slow speeds at all and is always on the leash, but when you let it go, it does go and keeps on going.The car now needs a bit of engine work but condition is excellent so do I sell or get the work done and enjoy again?.
This is a post in answer to M3john asking about the whereabouts of the Red Turbo 2 B253 GCJ.
My friend owned the car from around 1988 to 1990, I have uploaded the image to this post for you to view - somewhere along the line it's seemed to lose it's original wheels! My Friend loved these cars and always wanted one, then he bought B253 GCJ. I always remember this car even to this day, I was 23 at the time and use to drive it regular - it was an amazing car, it was very quick and used to go through the gears so so fast and the sound of it! I still remember like it was yesterday!
Edited by Tiptoes on Wednesday 26th March 22:41
Edited by Tiptoes on Wednesday 26th March 22:43
Edited by Tiptoes on Wednesday 26th March 22:48
Edited by Tiptoes on Wednesday 26th March 23:20
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