Why so slow????

DoubleChevron

DoubleChevron

Real cars have hydraulics
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Hi Guys,

I've been driving the R19 for a couple of days now. Not a miss or anything to even hint at there being a problem.

But why oh why is it so bloody gutless. My old Renault 12 would've been quicker than this, a 16TS would blow it off the road.... Hell even my badly tuned CX C-matic that I picked up a couple of weeks back would leave this thing for dead.

I've driven my cousins R19 chamade previoulsy and if anything it's even slower mallet These cars feel to me like they have the hell retarded out of the ignition and just do not & will not rev out with any ease... The BX that's the same size with a motor about 100cc bigger feels like a racing car in comparison.

What did they do to these things to make them so gutless?? Can it be 'undone'?? If the manuals are this gutless the automatics must be shockers eek! I really do think my old long stroke ID19 would give this thing a run for it's money roll_lau roll_lau roll_lau

seeya,
Shane L.
 
Remember, until the Phase III, these had an earth shattering 68.5kW

Renault is about the only company I can think of in the past decade that really bothered to put in the 0.5kW of a kilowatt in their specs. They must've really been desperate :)
 
The early 1.7's are notorious for not exactly ball-tearing performance. Sort of an adaption to run the 19 on 91 octane standard unleaded. However if everyone has been having some well meaning tinkering the settings could have been altered to give less than ideal performance.

It could also be one of a number of sensors that have placed the car in a less than optimum condition, also blocked cat. etc..

As for having less performance than an early ID19, I'll have to dig out some old tests to do a tabletop comparison, should be interesting. I reckon a Renault 19 on three cylinders would still beat an early ID 19! :)
 
The R19 has the same motor as the 1.7 R21s in Europe. I had a wagon one of these, a phase 1 with only a carby on it. An R21 wagon weighs a whole lot more than a 19, and I had it cruising at 180kph on the Autobarns. I thought it went just fine! Maybe something is definantly wrong with yours?
Re. the missing, check the central earth connection for the engine computer - should be on the block somewhere.
 
Haakon:
The R19 has the same motor as the 1.7 R21s in Europe.
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It would if the subject 19 was in Europe. In AUS the 19 had a unique tuned motor to take 91 octane unleaded and lost around 10% of its power in the transition. If your Euro based 21 wagon took unleaded it would be tuned to the Euro standard of 96 octane, their premium being 98 octane.

Same reason why the AUS market Renault 21’s have the 2.2 litre motor over the Euro version 2 litre motor. Ditto early AUS spec Pug 205 GTi 1.9's compared with Euro spec 1.9's.
 
Well that last comment is exactly on the mark.My 1721cc Renault 19 phase 2 auto sedan was ok but not a speed machine. It used to coast along the freeway but was a dog on the hills. It used to drop right back in speed all the time. Lucky i never had any rear passengers in it pretty much all the time.
Overall they are a great car and a re really quite simple to fix if there are issues. There used to be a website called <a href="http://www.renault19.com" target="_blank">www.renault19.com</a> but it has shut down. There is a forum on the net but i forget the url. There are heaps of guys in the UK that are experts.
Paul Mitchell is an expert. Had many conversations with him many times about the thing. <a href="http://www.autoparis.com.au" target="_blank">www.autoparis.com.au</a> guys are also very good with them if you can contact someone on that site.
David collier in sydney is also an expert, at Colliers automotive in granville.
Do you guys think i miss my Renault 19? I do!!! cry
 
Simon:
Haakon:
The R19 has the same motor as the 1.7 R21s in Europe.
Click to expand...
It would if the subject 19 was in Europe. In AUS the 19 had a unique tuned motor to take 91 octane unleaded and lost around 10% of its power in the transition. If your Euro based 21 wagon took unleaded it would be tuned to the Euro standard of 96 octane, their premium being 98 octane.

Same reason why the AUS market Renault 21’s have the 2.2 litre motor over the Euro version 2 litre motor. Ditto early AUS spec Pug 205 GTi 1.9's compared with Euro spec 1.9's.
Click to expand...
Good point - my R21 in Europe was a pommy spec ie leaded fuel (4 star, no cat and a carby). Was just as happy on the 95 ron ULP on the continent though. Was revving its head off at 180, and seemed very happy to do it!! :D
But I still would have thought the AUS R19 would be quicker with EFI and less weight?!
 
I once had an R19 Chamade Automatic as a loan car for the day. I was amazed just how bloody awful it was to drive. Amazingly gutless performance, crude and plasticky fixtures & fitting, and a suprising amount of NVH. IMO, a soulless driving experience.

If this was representative of all 19's then IMO, the R19 was most definitely not Renaults finest hour.
 
Europa all cars have their flaws and the 19 for the price here was quite a good buy i believe at the time.
Yeah they are a bit plasticky but they are pretty good...
 
Hi Guys,

to be fair I have been reletively gentle on the car. I've been driving exactly as my sister would hoping it'll cut out in the same way. Last night I found there was to be a tiny amount of power to be found. It's in the last 1/2cm of throttle. This car must have the twin injection butterfly setup of the R25. I'd almost say it's 'nippy' in 1st gear if you drive with you foot rammed through the firewall. However this isn't how I drive cars. The BX would simply blast this thing off the road at any speed in any gear.

It really does feel like they have retarded the hell out of the ignition. It's not my car so I'm not going to touch anything. If I had to own one of these things I'd investigate trying to advance the ignition, wether it be mecahincaly or software driven.

The tediously low geared steering is the only other major gripe I have with this car. Why would you bother with power steering if your going to have the steering geared at about 25turns lock to lock :confused:

My sisters taking it back this afternoon dance dance head_ban head_ban cheers! Party time, I get to drive a REAL citroen_ car again roll_lau

seeya,
Shane L.
 
DoubleChevron:
it's 'nippy' in 1st gear if you drive with you foot rammed through the firewall. However this isn't how I drive cars.


The tediously low geared steering is the only other major gripe I have with this car. Why would you bother with power steering if your going to have the steering geared at about 25turns lock to lock

My sisters taking it back this afternoon dance head_ban cheers! Party time, I get to drive a REAL citroen_ car again roll_lau

seeya,
Shane L.
Click to expand...
I take it the job at the Diplomatic Corps didn't work out then?? :rolleyes: mallet

Alan S :D
 
DoubleChevron
[QB]My sisters taking it back this afternoon dance dance head_ban head_ban cheers! Party time, I get to drive a REAL citroen_ car again roll_lau [QB]
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree with you more Shane. I hope the experience with the recalcitrant R19 doesn't taint your feeling towards other *real* Renaults :)

IIRC, the R19 was the last of the "boring" Renaults, designed before Patrick Le Quement started raising the design profile, and also Carlos Ghosn started kicking butt financially.

These things never turn around quickly, but I think you'll find that most subsequent model Renaults are a lot nicer overall.
 
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