Jamesemt

Sounds like a bit of a daft question...

When I first got into performance cars these were all the rage. I longed for one for years and have gone through a few decent cars - including 205 1.9 GTIs, Golf GTIs and my current blob eye Scoob. But never actually owned a 5.

I realise that build quality was non existant and that they went wrong every other mile - but were/are they as fast as they looked? What were they like to drive?

Am I the only person on the planet that still lusts after one? Its odd seen as I've got my Scoob which cost stacks more and is truly gorgeous - but as its a blob eye I never lusted after one prior to owning it - maybe I should have bought a classic...

amber nectar

I still lust after a 5 tub also.
Have a mate thinking of getting one for a bit so maybe i will get ago in his.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I would imagine that nowadays the longing is more pleasant than actual ownership, however must admit to a little 5 Turbo appreciation, way to do it is to buy one that has had all the work done already, most will be like this now as all the rubbish will have long since expired but do a lot of reading and be careful.

It would be interesting to see how one fares against the current crop of powerful but lardy hot hatches.

What were the performance figures for a standard one, I seen to remember 0-60 was 7.2, what about 0-100 and 30-70 etc, remember going in one in 1990, I had a MK1 Golf GTI 1.6 at the time which was the quickest car any of us had, then this lad gets a 5 Turbo and it no longer felt very quick.

p@ul

I had the 11 turbo (same engine as 5) it was bloody quick a few m8's had the 5 turbo's and i too always wanted one but never quiet managed it
Up too 100 they were superb but after that they were gutless (pretty much in the same ballpark as the uno turbo)
The 11 i had was forever blowing water pipes,then the expansion chamber, then the headgasket which was pretty much the norm for 11's and 5's because of the high temperature they ran at

RS Grant

Suffered from alot of hot starting problems IIRC...

Do still quite fancy one though....

Cheers,
Grant

jjones

i too wanted one for years and bought one in feb this year. kept it for 3 months. it was reliable enough but was only giving 20mpg. it was pretty rapid to 100 and handled well but the build quality was shocking.

would advise that you just keep longing.

Daryl

I had one for 5 years, never went wrong once!

Better handling than a 205 IMHO, much more predictable and no lift-off oversteer, just beautifully adjustable 4 wheel drifts. Presumably most have been ruined with bigger wheels/stiffer springs etc, but if you can find an original one, go for it

Billgtt

I've had mine for over 4 and a half years now. Don't believe the stories!! They are very reliable if looked after. Mine's used every day and it's only let me down twice. Once with a snapped clutch cable and once with a snapped accelerator cable, and mine's not standard under the bonnet . They do go very well up to 100mph odd but after that the lack of cc's tends to show. They can be taken to 160bhp reliably for pennies if you fancy it (120bhp standard), and you'll find it'll suprise quite a few more powerful cars (They only weigh 840kg's). The build quality is not exactly brilliant to say the least *lol*, but the grin factor more than makes up for that. There are more and more good examples appearing nowadays, and being restored. And at long last they are starting to shake the "boy racer" image and people are realising that they are a modern day classic.

If you're thinking of getting one, or do get one then go have a look on www.rtoc.org There's a lot of helpful info on there, just ignore the few who still think gtt's have to be bodykitted up by Carisma to get any sort of respect

mmuuzzzzyy

Try a punto GT turbo....Modern day-ish 5 turbo.

I had one a few years back..... 1000kg with 170bhp(chipped).


very quick indeed!

RB5201

I owned one for just over a year, (about 10 years ago now!) at the time it was a great car, very quick up to 100 and would really surprise bigger more powerful cars. Handling wise they were great, had a real go kart feel to them. In my year of ownership I had no trouble with it, just lots of fun

chump

There is one for sale on www.rtoc.org - 220bhp

in a car that only weighs 840kg? How quick would that be? Would like to see the figures

Chump

jjones

mike spencers car is for sale.

12.18 quarter mile.

Mark A

iTrader: (1)

Great fun, stella car at the time

Had one for 6 years in 1989. Easily tuned to @ 180 bhp, very light, forgiving but typical Renault build quality. Had mine broken into twice by pulling the top of the door/window frame.
A couple of things to watch out for, clutch cables, light/thin panels, wheel bearings, blocked radiators and weak geabox castings (Used 2 towards the end of it's life) Never had a problem with hot starting.

Remember coming back from a party with 4 up doing 80-90mph, just before Papworth and a fox running across the road, swirved to miss it and at that point realised Renault had paid alot of attention to the chassis. nothing to do with my M.Schaumacher skills unfortunatey

PS Don't buy cheap tyres for them either.

Great fun, had been looking for a cup car as a bit of fun.

Mark A

davegtt

bought my first GTT in march 2000, superb car, love it too bits, still got it, never had no trouble with it until the fuel pump packed in about a year and half ago and Ive just left it...lol I know gonna dig it out this winter and get it going again as I could do with flogging it, most reliable car Ive had too, faster than the scooby and much more fun.... bought 1 last year D reg ph1. bog std with 60k miles, again reliable as any other car, still only getting about 25mpg from it though... love them, actually (can't believe Im gonna say this) I reversed the 5 on the drive friday night for some unbeknown reason, I never put it there for a year Ive parked it on the street cause the exhaust scrapes on the floor when getting on the drive, like I say for some reason I stuck it on the drive. got back from notts yesterday in the scooby and some1 had nicked my space on the street, so whilst discussing whether it had been dumped or not(had a few cars dumped before and this looked a proper banger) I was reversing on the drive. BANG!!!!!!! ohhh **** the renault.. Id only reversed the scooby into the renault dosey bassa... luckily the 20 year old hot hatch stood its ground and no damage but a few scratches on the rear bumper of the scoob....

Billgtt

Well done Dave

Senior_AP

I test drove one but never bought one. It was a wicked motor.

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

I bought one a year or two ago. 36k miles, one owner and totally standard/untouched. Had to be the best original one available. £1200! No rust, garaged from new and only used on dry w/e's.

I thought the performance was suprisingly good. I had to sell it though as I couldn't bare to keep it outside I made sure I sold it to an enthusiast who was going to make it a show car

Oh, well...

F

Billgtt

There's one for sale at the moment on rtoc that has only done 11k miles and is as mint as it was the day it left the factory

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

They are so hard to find in good condition now I remember having a quick spin in a 5 turbo a few years ago and it seemed pretty good and felt tight and did what I wanted it to A friend owned a renault 11 turbo and that was fun although after he sold it the new owner left it idling for quite a while and the head gasket went I believe that was a problem with them

davegtt

I know bill, lucky really cause I cant afford to be repairing 2 cars alls well that ends well though

Paul, nar the headgasket problem came about when people realised that fitting a bleed valve to the GTT would make it go quicker, more boost and no extra fuel was why they popped a head gasket left right and centre.... if treated properly they are as reliable as any other motor very simple in design and part are cheap if anything does go wrong

asagi

Sold mine about 5 years ago. Had it for 4 years. Brilliant car to drive, a bit temperamental if tweaked. Built quality naf. Proper 'kick-in-the-back' when on boost.

With a foam filter, and straight-through exhaust It sounded awesome. For fun it was as good as my current Scoob.

Happy days.

Emms

Absolutely stunned to find out one of our friends px'ed his to a dealer last year to buy a saxo!!! Got £800 for it.


It was an H, White, completely unmodified, perfect condition no rust dings or anything only used at the odd w/end also. 26k!!!. I'm sure he could have got nealry a couple of grand if not more private for it. Shame. It was great fun to drive, kind of like a we go-cart.

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

It did have adjustable boost but I think it went pop at idle iirc I'm sure the boost controller was removed before he sold it to the guy too because he thought he'd blow it up or crash it. He was right

Rich D

iTrader: (12)

I've had 2 of them now, great little cars, so entertaining to drive!

First one was not too clever bodywise, but the 2nd one (which I still have) is very tidy for a 14 year old car and looks lovely when it's all cleaned up.


Standard performance, they are quick but nothing earth shattering, they run out of puff as the speeds rise, but once you do a few little tweaks they really do bl00dy fly...

jonny gav

iTrader: (1)

had 2 R5 turbo's in my time, fantastic little car.

pic of my 2nd R5- GT TURBO RAIDER

James_TypeR

I have a R5GTT aswell as the Scooby

here is mine

http://fed.cix.co.uk/r5new1.jpg

its running;

Engine
Piper BP300 racing/rally cam
Piper adjustable vernier pulley
Piper harder valve spings
new Valve stem oil seals
BBPT up-rated 12.9 headbolts
up-rated Headgasket set
new Timing chain & Tensioner
new Oil pump
new Pipercross oil filter
new Water pump
new Starter motor inc. heat shield
Re-conditioned alternator
Fibre-glassed sump
Inlet manifold & Exhaust manifold
Cool-it Thermotec exhaust wrap
mint Engine harness inc. relays
inc. Oil pressure & level sensors
inc. Speedo sensor
inc. TDC sensor
inc. Engine pinking detector
inc. Oil engine/radiator pipes
new Valeo up-rated clutch kit (3 piece)
new B8EV spark plugs

Lowered on Avo Coilovers all round and torsion bars lowered (picture above is older without coilovers, just spax adjustables.

Turbo charger is a Garrett T2 bored to a T25 shaft with cut back blades
http://fed.cix.co.uk/turbo.jpg

it has a double capacity alloy intercooler, and can run up to 30PSI of boost! (when its finished and back on the road, hoping by January, as its a winter project the new engine replacement, all packed up in the garage waiting)

I love the R5, handles like a go kart, and for a 1.4l engine, its well fun to drive!

R1916v

If you cna find an 11 turbo they are great sleepers, and handle better than the 5 I've been told due to the longer body.

Mikecam

My colleque has a bog standard, totally unmodified blue R5 Turbo for sale at present. I believe it's one owner, he's certainly had it for years. Not perfect but good condition (little bits of interior trim need doing etc.) He wants about £1500- if anyone's interested private message me.

davegtt

30pis on that turbo you'll be lucky to keep it running 30psi for more than a quarter of mile....dont play with the boost too much the engines aint indestructable