Renault 19 16v Phase 1

my son owns a Renault 16 unfortunately he now lives in Australia but his faithful Renault is still here and running it has a leather interior alloy wheels and a significant exhaust, if there are any enthusiasts or people looking for parts we will sell the car rather than it rust away. call 07973669782 if interested. thanksL

Bought a 1 owner 124k fsh, phase 1 hatch of an old boy last week. Always been an astra gte man but this is a real eye opener - great power and superb handling (however does let go right on the limit). Absolutely thrashed the life out of it for about ten days now and have had a grin like the joker since.

Easy way to get points on the old licence. Rev happy, great gearbox - not sure of the power but plenty fast enough on the a to b roads.

With redtops getting expensive these I'm sure are the next best thing.

Well if ever there was a car that everyone should own then this is it. I had a Clio 16v a year or so before this so I knew the engine well enough (I did a head gasket change on the Clio). I bought mine with a blown head gasket and so as I'd already done one I knew what was involved. Easy enough to do with much more space than the clio engine bay. I had a white phase 1 with 85,000 miles. A careful previous owner and in standard form. At the end of my ownership the gearbox just had the start of a rumble - I could hear it because I knew what it was like when I bought it but anyone else couldn't hear it.

I'd done a total of 25,000miles in 2 years with no problems at all, despite it being driven with full use of the revs up to 7000rpm all the time, I did let it warm up fully every time and am fanatical about maintenance with cars, doing everything myself. This was without doubt the best car I have ever owned, it felt so comfortable to me when driving as I knew exactly what I could do with it on the roads. A memorable experience was on our local country road with many twisty turns when I left for dead my mate in his Peugeot 306 GTI-6 ,Full s/s custom built exhaust, decat and manifold, air filter, cams, lowered, 17" wheels etc . My Renault was over-steering, under-steering, sliding, counter-steering to the limit! Absolutely amazing car!

It was far from the norm in terms of things I had done to it. For starters I had plumbed in a second smaller radiator to help cooling, had a twin k+n air filter set up, lowered using springs and uprated, shortened shocks and removed 2 more coils from the springs courtesy of the angle grinder - this gave it a real stiff ride (so stiff in fact that I hit a pothole at 45mph and split the top mount on the front shock almost all of the way round. This same pothole in a Ford focus and my current 1997 escort is almost unnoticable!!!). A decat pipe on a cat back Scorpion twin dtm exhaust .17" 6 spoke wheels. The brake bias valve I adjusted rather coarsely by literally hard braking until all wheels locked up together at the same time. The arches were rolled a little to reduce tyre scrubbage .A few other little tweaks were done as well. The interior was black soft leather and fit for a king! MOT time it passed first year and failed the next on a tiny retaining slider that had fallen out of the rear brake pads so in theory nothing was holding them in, that was it. All in all this is a car that one day I will own again - hopefully it'll be as good as the one I owned previously - I hope the new owner that I sold it too is as happy with this car as I was. The Renault forums are really helpful and you soon understand how many of these cars go wrong (wheel bearings, top mounts splitting and the small bearing break up, gearboxes give up, engine mounts allow engine to move too much hitting the underneath of the bonnet!, rust on rear arches, power steering problems and all have slow electric windows) and how good a car mine was. It was without doubt the best handling, most fun, best value for money, best looking, most reliable, and most regretted sale I have done in my years of driving. They're a cult car with falling numbers - few are left on the road. But judging by the two, phase 2 cars that my friend has owned (both Charmades, blue and k-reg) which have gone wrong left right and centre resulting in them both being scrapped with problems ranging from gearboxes, clutches, ECU's dying, suspension noises and wheel bearings... I definitely had a decent one!

My Renault 19 GTXS 1.4 is very nippy about 75 mph in 3rd and so with K & N filter sounds awesome. Just eats clutch cables, mates laughed at first, now loving it and will soon when 2 litre turbo goes under bonnet.

I have owned two renault 19 16v chamade a phase 1 and a phase 2. The phase 1 was a more powerful car and had better body work. Well recomended, buy one and enjoy a fast sporty family car with lots of space and nice leather seats.

I've had my Renault 19 16v Phase 1 Chamade for about four months now, the only problems I've had is that the head gasket was half-blown when I bought it. Otherwise it is an excellent car, everyone of my friends think it has the best seats even compared to a -99 Merc SLK. Now the car is coming together again I can't wait to drive it! ;)

I was always very intrigued by the Renault 19 16v Phase 1 as it was so cheap and looks cool.

But after test driving one that a friend of mine owned (convertible version) that was in mint condition with just 50k on the clock I was very let down.

You really have to boot it to make it go, the handling is bad (although it was a convertible) and the gearbox is horrible.

In the end I opted for my 205 1.9 with full exhaust system and manifold, Piper X air filter and ecotec valve. My car is now so loud when I put my foot down it's unbelievable. To be honest, it accelerates better in a straight line and handles much better as well.

I would suggest if you want a Renault, GET an R5GTT or if you have a bit more money, a Clio Cup is fantastic!

I brought a Renault 19 16v phase 1 for £150. when I first got in the car I was lovin it blowing round the streets at 60 its amazing. In this car you can easily please a crowd (if you have got the skils) 17inch rims Evo bonnet and spoiler its all good. ITS AWESOME.

The Renault 19 16v phase 1 handled great as i had mine lowered, i think its a must as the standard height was OTT.

I drove mine very hard all of the 8months i had it, took the thrashing well but things started to go wrong. Changed the driveshafts and bearings and were off to thrashing about again.

2 gearbox failures, well i snapped the diff in the first gearbox but performing sitting ducks but the downfall was you should hit the limiter in reverse and then slam it onto 1st, nonono..

2nd gearbox wasn't very good when i put it in.

I did build a custom exhaust and induction kit so the car sounds like the lot cost me a grand!

Got lots of looks, lots of smiles and the ladies liked it.. Looked like a gansters car, black inside and out, very low, fast, sounds sooo sweet when booted, i regreted selling this car even though i had so many problems with it, maybe i was just unlucky. More like an idiot for being far too hard on it.

I have a Renault 19 16V hatch. Nice power to turn females on or make men excited when being driven. I have a few expensive problems, bearings and electrical.