Renault 21 Turbo
 

Had to deliver one for parts to someone yesterday. The guy had one that he said was 300bhp. It has T34 turbo and two intecoolers!! They are 2.0 turbo's and there is a 4WD version called a Quadra. But this was FWD and he said he gets low 13 quarters.

Anyone had any experience of these?

my mate has a quadra and a fwd one, they do go well but if you tweek the boost and keep the standard zorst expect to blow a few liners. there is 2 coolers 1 like a reno 5 and another slim one above the rad.

Yeah thats what the IC's were like.. They were both ally ones, but one was only about 2.5 inches high the other was like any othe wing mounted one.

yea the one in the wing is the same as a reno 5 the slim one is only about 2.5 inches high but it sits right above the hot rad. headgaskets are another weak one fit a payen one and they are ok with the boost.

Yeah, one of my best mates had a FWD one.. ugly as sin - wardrobe on wheels, but power delivery was.. the nicest way I can describe it is 'vicious', his was a case of throttle down, a bit of confusion about if anythings going to happen and then "OMFG!"; brought a whole new definition to the word Lag, the power curve on an impreza is silky smooth by comparasion!! Felt far faster than it really was, mates had a fuel economy gauge that suggested it actually did better MPG at 120+mph - but seeing as it has the Cd of a row of terrace houses I doubt that very much! Good fun though, mainly because people didn't know what the hell the thing was most of the time!

One of the best handling fwd saloons of its time - ran the 405 Mi-16 very close in tests. Plus it was much faster point to point.

Also did well in Performance Car ( forerunner to EVO ) mag when pitted against the Sapphire Cosworth, 325i Sport and Audi 90 20v quattro...in fact it won that one on driver appeal

It was definitely rated as a cosworth challenger in its day. I remember one of our neighbours owning an "F" plate round about 1990-92. Used to see it leaving quite regularly when I was waiting on my bus for school :)

Was pretty cool back then, but they just look like complete sheds now. Cant see the appeal at all any more. They are part of performance motoring history though and deserve their place in it.

Struggled to find any for sale, got there eventaully:

1989 RENAULT 21 TURBO GREY MODIFIED CHEAP 5 GT TURBO RS on eBay, also, Renault, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 28-Dec-07 17:54:10 GMT)

years ago i remember my mate saying this motor was up his arse when he was giving it everything in his renault 5 turbo it then blasted by like he was going backwards it was a renault 21 turbo.

@Mike 123 => I have that copy of the mag :)

October 89 IIRC - I have it too. ;)

It's quite interesting to read the mags of the time when cars were new and tested against their peers......and then see how they are perceived today

I remember driving the 1.7 Ren 21 and marvelling at how pokey it felt, it was about 1988 though.

Funny that, so did I! Had the estate version as a delivery wagon - only had about 90bhp but felt much more!

What the mags rated as quick back in the early 90s, is now standard repmobile performance, even diesel family barges hit 60 in under 9 seconds and do the in-gear 40 to 60 / 50 to 70 increments in around 5 secs ...

My missus (then Girlfriend) bought a Renault 5 GTX 1.7, that flew as well, pile of crap though.