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Bramz fleet. The ever changing procession of mediocrity. Disaster time....


bramz7

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That looks great! The R19's time has deffo arrived I reckon, they must have one of the highest rates of attrition of any normal 1990s car, honestly can't think of when I last saw one in the wild

I have seen quite a few still in regular use in France whilst here.

 

They don't appear to rust very badly and I don't think the engines have any major reliability issues, they just appear to have disappeared like most mass market French cars, due to them being worthless once they reach a certain age in the UK. A shame, as they are very nice looking things (especially in saloon form).

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Yeah, I don't really see any out and about either but they do still come up for sale on a reasonably regular basis on Gumtree and Facebook, and sometimes eBay. For example, someone is selling a later model 1.8 RT on FB for £400, that's with 12 months MOT too, plus its the higher power engine, with 108hp. 

 

IMO, one of the most under-rated and forgotten French cars of it's era, and easily as good, if not better, than rivals of the time.

 

They do rot, but generally just around the rear suspension and sills. Otherwise, mechanically they are pretty tough. You could even get injection Cleon engines in them, with a measly 58hp. 

Oddly the earlier carb fed Energy engines are actually slightly more powerful, and at lower revs. 

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Yes please to the XM booklet Wuvs, I'd really appreciate that.

 

 

I came home with this today:

 

attachicon.gif20180908_160042.jpg

1.4 GTS-X. Carb engine and no central locking. Old boy owned for a decade, for his round the corner (literally) commute. Given up driving now he's turning 80.

 

Theres a droning bearing somewhere I think...plus it stutters at 40. Otherwise it's decent, the soft ride was much missed.

No PAS either and it's unbelievably heavy.

Yes it has (working) yellow fogs!

 

I remember the advert for the GTS-X. I think it has funky stripey upholstery.

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TBH, the trims aren't at all bad, at least they have the correct number of bolt holes... (drives me mental when I see 4 stud cars with 5-stud trims, especially when the `bolts` are splayed out like a tart octopuses legs). 
 

29629987837_643bfc4ae4_b.jpg1991 Renault 19 GTS-X. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

Don't worry, the gross universal trims are being binned, but only when I manage to acquire some OEM Renault ones, in 13 inch size. 19s look even more like bangers without trims...

 

I also want front door pockets. 

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I have some original Renault 13 inch trims you can have. Quite a dull design to be honest and they don't even have a Renault logo on the front but would look right on this( no offense!)

 

Pretty sure they are off a late 11 but would suit this.

 

I'll take a photo tomorrow

Sound good to me!

 

Also those VW trims don't look too bad. Nice Chamade though.

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post-20043-0-14374800-1536532525_thumb.jpg

 

And this concludes my purchases for now.

It's okay. It sounds pretty good. It seems to drive okay. Gear linkages feel a bit dry, it has a shabby steering wheel and it's cambelt roulette, but it's pretty fast.

Smells the same as the Brava I had not too long ago. Of course.

 

I'm sure one day a £400 V6 156 will be looked back on as a rare thing, but right now it's just a cheap saloon I got insured on a classic policy...

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Might have to buy that, but I already know what they'll say about the 156:

'good turn of speed, direct handling but poor ride around town. High feeling driving position and disappointing interior quality, but raucous engine note makes up for it.'

 

I drove it to work today and it's okay. I already knew what 90s Fiat products felt like and it feels the same. The way it creeps up over the speed limit with little effort is neat though.

The leather is meh quality and is the same shade as lipstick used by ladies of the night.

The thermostat probably doesn't work as it doesn't warm up that fast.

Fuel gauge constantly creeps up during a journey. Weird.

 

Handles well though. And the front suspension feels good, so it was clearly fixed after an MOT fail.

 

I feel a tad underwhelmed as it's not as comfy or raw feeling as the 323i.

 

Decent B and A road hustler mind, and I didn't know it was 6 speed on the drive back...so 70 was 3500rpm in 5th.

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Allegedly styled by Trevor Fiore, too (according to Trevor) which gives it a certain appeal. I don't like the big plasticy dash but they do look nice and the roadholding is ace

It even has carbon fibre effect on the dash, which is factory. Yuck.

The gauge pods and positioning is reasonably cool though. And at least the inner door handles are actually metal, and not chromed plastic.

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Might have to buy that, but I already know what they'll say about the 156:

'good turn of speed, direct handling but poor ride around town. High feeling driving position and disappointing interior quality, but raucous engine note makes up for it.'

 

I drove it to work today and it's okay. I already knew what 90s Fiat products felt like and it feels the same. The way it creeps up over the speed limit with little effort is neat though.

The leather is meh quality and is the same shade as lipstick used by ladies of the night.

The thermostat probably doesn't work as it doesn't warm up that fast.

Fuel gauge constantly creeps up during a journey. Weird.

 

Handles well though. And the front suspension feels good, so it was clearly fixed after an MOT fail.

 

I feel a tad underwhelmed as it's not as comfy or raw feeling as the 323i.

 

Decent B and A road hustler mind, and I didn't know it was 6 speed on the drive back...so 70 was 3500rpm in 5th.

 

 

The trouble with the 156 is that it arrived at the same time as the E46 - these were of course crap, but had much more showroom appeal. I like 156's but have never felt compelled to own one.

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