Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / TL:DR - Retro Test Drive - Renault R5 Turbo II

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TL:DR - Retro Test Drive - Renault R5 Turbo II · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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  Grand Touring Motorsports started as a social group of car enthusiasts,
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  but we've expanded into all sorts of motorsports disciplines, and we
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  want to share our stories with you.
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  Years of racing, wrenching, and motorsports experience brings
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  together a top notch collection of knowledge and information
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  through our podcast, Brake Fix.
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  Hey everybody, Crew Chief Eric here, and today we're going to cover my retro
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  test drive of a Renault R5 Turbo II.
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  They say, never meet, or in this case, drive your heroes.
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  But when someone approaches you and says, I need you to run an errand
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  for me, and please take my car, then hands you an odd looking set of
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  keys which unlocks a gateway to the past, it's really hard to say no.
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  And this past weekend, GTM's new friend, Alan, of the Classic Car Club
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  of America, was more than generous to let me borrow his pristine
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  Renault R5 Turbo II for a few hours.
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  An American in Paris.
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  When someone brings up the Renault 5 in conversation, it stirs up a lot
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  of different thoughts and emotions.
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  And for some, they probably have no idea what the significance of this vehicle is.
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  And first impressions are lasting ones, so I won't fault anyone if they feel
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  like it's a bit of an ugly duckling.
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  Growing up during the height of the Killer B era, mention of the
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  R5 immediately conjures images like those of the rally cars.
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  Even though the R5 was an FIA Group 3, 4 entrant, it ran alongside the
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  famed Killer B cars like the Audi Quattro, the Peugeot 205 T16, the
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  Lancia Delta, and the Ford RS200.
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  And I have no shame in admitting there was a model R5 parked next to my other
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  diecast rally heroes in my bedroom.
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  After watching the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again, starring
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  Sean Connery, it locked the R5 in a special place in my heart.
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  And like many others, it is an automotive icon.
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  The gorgeous Fatima Blush, played by Barbara Carrera, introduced the
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  homologated rally car to the world by driving through narrow European
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  streets while being chased by James Bond on a BMW motorcycle, as seen
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  in the clip in our original article.
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  Hmm, thinking back, I'm not sure who I had a bigger crush on.
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  The Renault or Barbara Carrera.
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  Le sigh.
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  For folks slightly older than me, they can probably remember this laughable
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  little gem, the base model Renault 5, sold stateside as the Le Car.
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  Sales of the Le Car were dismal at best, and by now most have biodegraded.
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  However, a sum total of 4,987 1820 of which are Turbo Ones
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  and 31 67 are turbo twos.
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  The R five turbos were manufactured during a six year production run from 1980 to 86.
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  The Turbo one was the closest to rally SPECT using Barona, Alpine and specialty
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  alloy parts directly from the Reno Sport parts bin, whereas the Turbo two
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  was more of an affordable version using much more off the shelf Reno parts.
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  Ooh, dat ass.
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  It's undeniably wide, and one of the R5's most distinct features.
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  Approaching the R5 from behind makes you feel like you're behind other
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  wide body cars of the era, like the Porsche 930 or the Ferrari Testarossa.
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  But the front end is significantly narrower than the rear, giving the
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  R5 a noticeably wedged footprint.
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  To make room after changing the configuration of the base Renault 5
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  from front wheel drive to mid engine rear wheel drive, the engineers
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  at Renault had to make significant modifications to the rear half of the car
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  specifically for cooling and ventilation.
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  Up front in the, quote, frunk is a large tubular reinforcement beam that
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  was installed in place of the engine in order to keep the chassis from twisting.
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  At 144 inches long, the R5 is quite small, and for the sake of comparison, a first
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  generation Mazda Miata is 155 inches long, and a fourth generation VW GTI is 163.
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  Both of these vehicles, by today's standards, are considered compact, but the
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  R5 is nearly two feet shorter than the VW.
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  Whoa!
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  It's what's on the inside that counts A stock R five Turbo two is
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  powered by a turbocharge 1.4 liter Renault Clay on font four cylinder,
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  making 158 brake horsepower.
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  Made it to a five speed gearbox with a top speed, somewhere shy of 130 miles an hour.
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  Alan's Turbo two has been upgraded to a stage two package, which bumps the
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  horsepower up to a Peppy 180, making it feel like a much larger engine.
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  As mentioned previously, if you compare this car to the sportier and
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  racing inspired Bertone and Alpine interior of the Turbo 1, the Turbo
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  2 is much more plush and civilized.
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  Unfortunately, moving to the off the shelf Renault parts means a cheaper
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  feel and poorer fit and finish, even for a limited production hand built car.
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  The seats are probably the best and worst feature of the R5.
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  They are bulky and almost too large for the cabin and provide
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  an awkward seating position.
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  Imagine driving while sitting at your kitchen table.
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  But they do provide plenty of absorption for the R5's rough coilover ride.
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  In typical early 80s Euro fashion, the interior is every shade of
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  earth tone possible and comprised of chunky plastic components.
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  The steering is left of driver center and the clutch pedal is spaced very
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  far from the brake, whereas the gauges are easily visible and the
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  shifter is in a great location.
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  The R5 is full of quirks, which add to its charm.
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  One of my favorites being the horn button, which is not in the center
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  of the steering wheel, but found on the end of the indicator stalk.
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  It makes one of the happiest sounds when people pulled up next to me on
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  the road, waving and giving thumbs up.
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  I would respond with a cheery beep beep and watch their faces
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  explode with grins and laughter.
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  The R5 has a raspy exhaust note, but having the engine directly
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  behind you encased in a carpet covered plywood box gives you a no
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  filter symphony from the engine.
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  Unfortunately, because there is no separation between the driver and
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  the engine, like you would find in a Lotus Elise or a Porsche Cayman,
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  there is no lack of heat in the cabin.
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  Transcribed Driving with the windows cracked or opening the
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  center air vent, which only lets in outside air, is mandatory.
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  Diagnosing problems with the R5, especially sounds or smells, is a breeze.
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  If I were to spend more time in the R5, I would probably install a carbon
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  monoxide detector just to be safe.
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  But it has great personality!
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  Driving the R5 is interesting.
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  I got to spend time with it in a mix of situations.
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  Twisty backroads, highway, and even in weekend traffic.
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  On the highway, it's like any other car at 65 miles an hour.
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  A little bumpy because of the coilovers, and not too noisy.
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  The motor hums at mid range RPM, and there are small rattles here and there.
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  Visibility is good, and after a while you can begin to get accustomed
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  to the odd seating position.
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  I did mistake the hood release as a dead pedal until I realized
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  the floor pan didn't have one.
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  This meant resting your foot flat on the floor, which was okay, because
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  my knee became a resting place for my wrist since the steering wheel is not
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  only off center, but slightly leans towards the dashboard on the left side.
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  On a twisty road or off ramp, the nose of the R5 tends to get light and
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  gives you the impression of massive body roll, but once you've gotten
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  used to it You can really point and squirt the car wherever you like.
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  At first, the brakes were mushy, but I started to realize that Allen had taken
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  this car to an HPDE a few seasons ago and it was equipped with race pads and Toyo
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  R888R tires, which take time to warm up.
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  Usually, manual steering cars turn slowly unless at speed and feel heavy
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  and truck like, but the R5 is so light and generates lift quickly, it gives
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  the impression that it has power assist, which makes attacking corners fun.
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  By today's standards, where your mom's Camry comes with close to 300
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  horsepower, depending on the package, it's hard to say that the R5 is fast.
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  If you take the R5 back to 1985 Comparables, the punch that the
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  1397cc can deliver in this tiny package is absolutely impressive.
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  The turbo lag is period appropriate, and when the R5 is
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  on boost, it's an absolute riot.
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  The transmission in the R5 is fabulous.
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  The gating between 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th is perfect, tight, with no searching.
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  The car responds well to quick shifting and heel toe, and it makes sense
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  that 5th gear is a bit of a reach, as it would be seldom used in a race.
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  Reverse, on the other hand, equally as far from the H as 5th,
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  is in an odd spot, being right next to 2nd gear with no lockout.
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  This makes a Bay City Roller, or 2nd gear rolling takeoff, or an aggressive
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  3rd to 2nd downshift challenging.
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  But once you get used to the spacing, it does become very natural.
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  Verdict.
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  Is the R5 a good car?
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  Heck no, it's terrible.
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  It's rare, it's difficult to get parts for and maintain, it's cramped, it's
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  hot, it's quirky, it's cobbled together, it's laggy, it has awkward handling,
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  and above all, it's very French.
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  But that doesn't mean I didn't love it.
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  Driving the R5 was an absolute hoot and I appreciated every moment behind the wheel.
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  Storming down a B road with trees rushing by in a car like
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  this gives you an overwhelming sense of euphoria and freedom.
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  Seeing so many positive reactions from outsiders adds to that sense of
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  glee and it was an absolute concrete reminder of why cars are awesome.
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  Like all good things, my rendezvous with Genevieve, I felt it appropriate to name
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  the R5 after our date, had come to an end.
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  A special thank you again to Alan for letting me spend time with
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  a true icon, one of my heroes, and to get to know it better.
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  This was definitely an experience I will not forget.
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  From all of us at the GTM Writer's Desk, we hope that you look forward
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  to more reviews on classic cars coming in the next few months.
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  And if you want to have your car featured or reviewed as part of a
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  retro test drive, be sure to reach out to us at crewchief at gtmotorsports.
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  org.
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  We hope you enjoyed another awesome episode of Brake Fix Podcast, brought
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  to you by Grand Touring Motorsports.
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  And if you'd like to learn more about the content of this episode,
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  be sure to check out the follow on article at gtmotorsports.
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