1990 Renault Espace Quadra 4WD
Discussion
What a great thread! I remember the old Espace fondly as my father had one briefly when I was about 10 years old!
He didn't have it very long, as it was horribly unreliable. But its a Renault, its French and I believe they call all those foibles charm.... right?
My Renault 5 is the same full of character and charm.
He didn't have it very long, as it was horribly unreliable. But its a Renault, its French and I believe they call all those foibles charm.... right?
My Renault 5 is the same full of character and charm.
Great purchase, as said above best of luck with it!
We had a Grand Espace three (in The Race trim) 2.2Tdi it did ok as it was a big heavy old beast despite seemingly being made mostly of plastic!
The kids dubbed it 'The comedy Bus' and soon realised that Dad spent a lot of weekends fixing the fromage electrics, it eventually succumbed to rot and I ran out of places to weld fresh metal in.
Real shame as it was without doubt the most versatile vehicle I've ever owned, a van or 7 seater and everything in between.
Miss that versatility but not all the time spent on a wet and cold drive fixing things that had fallen off or had stopped working!
We had a Grand Espace three (in The Race trim) 2.2Tdi it did ok as it was a big heavy old beast despite seemingly being made mostly of plastic!
The kids dubbed it 'The comedy Bus' and soon realised that Dad spent a lot of weekends fixing the fromage electrics, it eventually succumbed to rot and I ran out of places to weld fresh metal in.
Real shame as it was without doubt the most versatile vehicle I've ever owned, a van or 7 seater and everything in between.
Miss that versatility but not all the time spent on a wet and cold drive fixing things that had fallen off or had stopped working!
We had 3 Espaces when I was growing up:
A sliver mk1
A red mk1 (an ex demo in red with quattro and the cabin seats that turned around and tables etc)
Then a green MK2(?) Helios
I learnt to drive in the last one. I just remember the offset pedals (sore left knee on long journeys) and the old school TD power delivery.... Foot down.... Nothing.... Nothing.. POWER.... Nothing. Change gear and repeat
A sliver mk1
A red mk1 (an ex demo in red with quattro and the cabin seats that turned around and tables etc)
Then a green MK2(?) Helios
I learnt to drive in the last one. I just remember the offset pedals (sore left knee on long journeys) and the old school TD power delivery.... Foot down.... Nothing.... Nothing.. POWER.... Nothing. Change gear and repeat
I'm really enjoying this thread! It's bringing back memories of when I was very young and my parents had two Espaces, one after the other.
The first one was so useful to my parents that despite being unreliable, and upon its deathbed, it attempted to give my dad severe burns, they still bought another one as a replacement. I believe that one was a fair bit better!
What had happened was my mum was sat in the middle row with my sister and me in our child seats, my dad was driving, on the motorway on our return from a holiday, it started overheating, so my dad pulled into a services, pulled into a space, and as soon as he got out of the drivers seat the radiator sprung a leak and somehow managed to blow a lot of super hot steam into the passenger cabin via the heating vents!
My mum, sister, and I were mostly shielded from the steam by the front seats, and the open drivers door meant most of the steam escaped out before it reached us.
The first one was so useful to my parents that despite being unreliable, and upon its deathbed, it attempted to give my dad severe burns, they still bought another one as a replacement. I believe that one was a fair bit better!
What had happened was my mum was sat in the middle row with my sister and me in our child seats, my dad was driving, on the motorway on our return from a holiday, it started overheating, so my dad pulled into a services, pulled into a space, and as soon as he got out of the drivers seat the radiator sprung a leak and somehow managed to blow a lot of super hot steam into the passenger cabin via the heating vents!
My mum, sister, and I were mostly shielded from the steam by the front seats, and the open drivers door meant most of the steam escaped out before it reached us.
TheInsanity1234 said:
I'm really enjoying this thread! It's bringing back memories of when I was very young and my parents had two Espaces, one after the other.
The first one was so useful to my parents that despite being unreliable, and upon its deathbed, it attempted to give my dad severe burns, they still bought another one as a replacement. I believe that one was a fair bit better!
What had happened was my mum was sat in the middle row with my sister and me in our child seats, my dad was driving, on the motorway on our return from a holiday, it started overheating, so my dad pulled into a services, pulled into a space, and as soon as he got out of the drivers seat the radiator sprung a leak and somehow managed to blow a lot of super hot steam into the passenger cabin via the heating vents!
My mum, sister, and I were mostly shielded from the steam by the front seats, and the open drivers door meant most of the steam escaped out before it reached us.
Not many owners ticked the "Swedish Sauna" option, must have been very rare! The first one was so useful to my parents that despite being unreliable, and upon its deathbed, it attempted to give my dad severe burns, they still bought another one as a replacement. I believe that one was a fair bit better!
What had happened was my mum was sat in the middle row with my sister and me in our child seats, my dad was driving, on the motorway on our return from a holiday, it started overheating, so my dad pulled into a services, pulled into a space, and as soon as he got out of the drivers seat the radiator sprung a leak and somehow managed to blow a lot of super hot steam into the passenger cabin via the heating vents!
My mum, sister, and I were mostly shielded from the steam by the front seats, and the open drivers door meant most of the steam escaped out before it reached us.
Well the sauna option seemed to give you severe burns because the steam was so hot!
PorkRind said:
Nice one.
Talking of old french 4wd cars , i found out renault made an 11 with 4wd and turbo in the 90's... Would have been an interersting alternative to the sierra and 309s and having tuning potential - could have been fun..
Renault had the 21 Quadra Turbo in their range.Talking of old french 4wd cars , i found out renault made an 11 with 4wd and turbo in the 90's... Would have been an interersting alternative to the sierra and 309s and having tuning potential - could have been fun..
This was very much the French Coswirth of its time.
This thread has proved much more popular than I imagined! Love hearing all the Espace stories. There are so few of any generation that you see on the roads now.
Update:
The f
king indicator relay isn't fixed, it buzzes constantly between 2200 and 3500rpm like it's sending distress messages via Morse code back to France and won't allow you to use the indicators whilst its doing so. Which is great on the motorway (buzzzzzz, stick in 4th and replace that with engine noise so that you can indicate and then back to buzzzz). Any ideas of what to test/replace would be incredibly welcome.
Service parts have been purchased. New oil, air and fuel filters and 5L of Shell helix for about £38. Lovely.
In the couple of months I have it, i have now done about 1600 miles which is more than it has done per year for the last 10 years or so. It drives nicely and will eat up the miles at a decent pace and 37 MPG on a run. Lots of glass means visibility is excellent but does mean it';s not the most well insulated car out there and HVnoAC struggles a bit. The space is just fantastic and it's great for sticking bicycles in without having to remove wheels etc.
Not sure how long I'll keep it though. I'm just so busy at the moment hat I can't really give it the care and attention it deserves and I'm conscious that i could end up spending a fortune trying to make it good.
Update:
The f
king indicator relay isn't fixed, it buzzes constantly between 2200 and 3500rpm like it's sending distress messages via Morse code back to France and won't allow you to use the indicators whilst its doing so. Which is great on the motorway (buzzzzzz, stick in 4th and replace that with engine noise so that you can indicate and then back to buzzzz). Any ideas of what to test/replace would be incredibly welcome. Service parts have been purchased. New oil, air and fuel filters and 5L of Shell helix for about £38. Lovely.
In the couple of months I have it, i have now done about 1600 miles which is more than it has done per year for the last 10 years or so. It drives nicely and will eat up the miles at a decent pace and 37 MPG on a run. Lots of glass means visibility is excellent but does mean it';s not the most well insulated car out there and HVnoAC struggles a bit. The space is just fantastic and it's great for sticking bicycles in without having to remove wheels etc.
Not sure how long I'll keep it though. I'm just so busy at the moment hat I can't really give it the care and attention it deserves and I'm conscious that i could end up spending a fortune trying to make it good.
W00DY said:
This thread has proved much more popular than I imagined! Love hearing all the Espace stories. There are so few of any generation that you see on the roads now.
Update:
The fking indicator relay isn't fixed, it buzzes constantly between 2200 and 3500rpm like it's sending distress messages via Morse code back to France and won't allow you to use the indicators whilst its doing so. Which is great on the motorway (buzzzzzz, stick in 4th and replace that with engine noise so that you can indicate and then back to buzzzz). Any ideas of what to test/replace would be incredibly welcome.
Service parts have been purchased. New oil, air and fuel filters and 5L of Shell helix for about £38. Lovely.
In the couple of months I have it, i have now done about 1600 miles which is more than it has done per year for the last 10 years or so. It drives nicely and will eat up the miles at a decent pace and 37 MPG on a run. Lots of glass means visibility is excellent but does mean it';s not the most well insulated car out there and HVnoAC struggles a bit. The space is just fantastic and it's great for sticking bicycles in without having to remove wheels etc.
Not sure how long I'll keep it though. I'm just so busy at the moment hat I can't really give it the care and attention it deserves and I'm conscious that i could end up spending a fortune trying to make it good.
Ah. How interesting. I took a trip down to look at this beast before biding on e-bay (and losing). My plan was to take it to bits and rebuild it, starting with the fluid coupling...and the exhaust...and the interior...and possibly some other bits.Update:
The f
king indicator relay isn't fixed, it buzzes constantly between 2200 and 3500rpm like it's sending distress messages via Morse code back to France and won't allow you to use the indicators whilst its doing so. Which is great on the motorway (buzzzzzz, stick in 4th and replace that with engine noise so that you can indicate and then back to buzzzz). Any ideas of what to test/replace would be incredibly welcome. Service parts have been purchased. New oil, air and fuel filters and 5L of Shell helix for about £38. Lovely.
In the couple of months I have it, i have now done about 1600 miles which is more than it has done per year for the last 10 years or so. It drives nicely and will eat up the miles at a decent pace and 37 MPG on a run. Lots of glass means visibility is excellent but does mean it';s not the most well insulated car out there and HVnoAC struggles a bit. The space is just fantastic and it's great for sticking bicycles in without having to remove wheels etc.
Not sure how long I'll keep it though. I'm just so busy at the moment hat I can't really give it the care and attention it deserves and I'm conscious that i could end up spending a fortune trying to make it good.
Always wanted a Quadra. Had the Mk.2 Espace when the kids were small, same chassis with different plastic body. Was just searching the web to see if there were any for sale and came across this thread.
SO, if you want to sell it I'll buy it for what you paid.
Not A Petrol Head said:
Ah. How interesting. I took a trip down to look at this beast before biding on e-bay (and losing). My plan was to take it to bits and rebuild it, starting with the fluid coupling...and the exhaust...and the interior...and possibly some other bits.
Always wanted a Quadra. Had the Mk.2 Espace when the kids were small, same chassis with different plastic body. Was just searching the web to see if there were any for sale and came across this thread.
SO, if you want to sell it I'll buy it for what you paid.
I'd probably be up for that. Send me an email via my profile.Always wanted a Quadra. Had the Mk.2 Espace when the kids were small, same chassis with different plastic body. Was just searching the web to see if there were any for sale and came across this thread.
SO, if you want to sell it I'll buy it for what you paid.
W00DY said:
Not A Petrol Head said:
Ah. How interesting. I took a trip down to look at this beast before biding on e-bay (and losing). My plan was to take it to bits and rebuild it, starting with the fluid coupling...and the exhaust...and the interior...and possibly some other bits.
Always wanted a Quadra. Had the Mk.2 Espace when the kids were small, same chassis with different plastic body. Was just searching the web to see if there were any for sale and came across this thread.
SO, if you want to sell it I'll buy it for what you paid.
I'd probably be up for that. Send me an email via my profile.Always wanted a Quadra. Had the Mk.2 Espace when the kids were small, same chassis with different plastic body. Was just searching the web to see if there were any for sale and came across this thread.
SO, if you want to sell it I'll buy it for what you paid.
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