INTRODUCTION
Renault 16 Club Tilburg.

SPARE PARTS
Renault 16 in pieces.

REPAIR MANUALS

TESTS & TEC-SPEC'S
The facts.

HISTORY
Development and changes.

COLLECTORS' ITEMS

PICTURES

GALLERY

CONTEMPORARY RENAULTS
These were successful too

FORUM
Any questions?


LINKS
For relevant and updated info.


CONTACT

BUY PARTS
Mail Geert



 

 


Better still
(Out of: Motor Road Test No. 20/68
)

Sporting engine with all existing touring virtues…
safe road holding with roll…exceptional comfort…
fair economy.


When we last tested a Renault 16, the GL model, in February 1966, it was fresh from its success in the Italian (??) magazine Autovisie ‘s annual competition ( it is in fact a Dutch magazine, PvE) to select the car of the year, in this case the car judged to be the most outstanding introduction of 1965. It would be interesting to see if the voting had been significantly different had the panel been confronted with the Renault R 16 TS.

With only 55 b.h.p. (net) in a 19 cwt. Body, the ordinary 1,470 c.c. 16 falls short of lower priced rivals in performance and in response to uprate the engine substantially without sacrificing the comfort and refinement on which the car’s reputation is based. In this they have been remarkably successful. The TS engine, apart from a totally different redesigned cylinder head, has a capacity raised to 1,565 c.c., with negligible increase in weight. Maximum speed goes up by 15 m.p.h. to over 100 m.p.h. with corresponding improvements throughout the acceleration range. Despite speed limits these factors are still considered more important on this side of the channel than in France because there are fewer artificial inducements such as high petrol tax (comparatively) and capacity taxation to restrict engine size and performance.

But the TS has lost none of its appeal to the large family seeking to cover long distances with a full load over often poorly surfaced roads. The suspension has not been stiffened, as it often is when power is increased, and the ride is still soft enough to swallow bumps and irregularities in its path without dropping below a cruising speed well into the nineties. Handling is modified only marginally by larger section tyres so full use of the performance will provoke even more roll and nibble into the reserves of cornering power inherent in the standard car, but it still feels very safe and stable. The front brake discs are slightly larger and servo assistance is standard. Road and wind noise still intrude hardly at all and though the distant hum of the engine is a little more pronounced, it has lost none of its flexibility and is as smooth and free from resonance as ever. Neither is fuel consumption seriously increased.

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