Why do I like this?

"MultiplaOrgasms" (themightymultipla) 03/23/2015 at 17:42 • Filed to: Renault, Safrane, Biturbo, Hartge, Irmscher, Manual, Multiplas daily dose of french

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I mean, it was never a particularly great car to begin with. Adding a few turbos and AWD shouldn't make it that much better and nicer to drive. I guess being raised in a french car has got something to do with it. Or maybe I just like understatement.

Oh, and its pièce de résistance:

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 17:47

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Because it's awesome. Probably a nightmare to own though.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 17:47

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You like it because it's an awesome car. It may be shitty, but it's still awesome.

MultiplaOrgasms > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/23/2015 at 17:48

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Cheap as well.

MultiplaOrgasms > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 03/23/2015 at 17:49

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Turbo manual AWD barges are indeed awesome.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 17:50

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Is it? Can't get it up here you see.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 17:51

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Agreed, if it was reliable (it really really wont be) it'd make an amazing quick cruiser since Safranes are apparently pretty comfortable.

MultiplaOrgasms > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/23/2015 at 17:53

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Considering that less than a 1000 of them were built, €5k for a decent one seems like good value for a rare, practical, twin-turbo, AWD executive car that'll do 160mph.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 17:55

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Yeah, I'd say that's quite cheap. It'll be a collectors car at some point as well.

MultiplaOrgasms > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 03/23/2015 at 17:57

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But the Biturbo was built by a couple of german tuning companies, so maybe...

Yeah you're right, prepare for repair bill holocaust.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 17:59

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It has a Renault badge on it, it will break often.

Source: (had 5 Renaults in the family in the past 10 years and currently have two Lagunas)

Steve in Manhattan > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 18:02

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Big, comfy, French - if only we had something that here in US America. And the buttons ... so many.

MultiplaOrgasms > Steve in Manhattan 03/23/2015 at 18:12

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Every man knows, more buttons, more better.

Amoore100 > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 18:13

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It's beautiful; I want one too (thanks, Mercedes...[insert comment about 25 year limit for US imported vehicles])

Also, is it usually pronounced SUH-FR-AY-N or SUH-FR-AHNEE ?

MultiplaOrgasms > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 03/23/2015 at 18:20

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Depends. Occasionally some Renaults are reliable

Source: (also had 5 Renaults in the family, 1972 R16 TL, R11 (with the stupid speaking dash), two R19s and currently since 2009 a 2006 Espace MkIV Phase2 2.0 Diesel operating as my dads DD and HTAV)

MultiplaOrgasms > Amoore100 03/23/2015 at 18:24

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Probably just like saffron.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 18:30

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If you know where to find this mythical reliable Renault I'd like to know.

Old Renault 19, generally broken but it was old so it made sense. Scrapped.

2003 Scenic: snapped timing belt despite being within service interval, scrapped.

2004 Megane: variable valve timing failure that led to a very... interesting drive home and mild overheating, numerous quality issues and electrical problems. Sold

2006 Laguna: Lumpy idle that went away on it's own (never found out why), snapped hood cable, several EGR failures. Severe oil burning (heavy blue smoke consuming a litre every 1000 miles).

2010 Laguna: premature wheel bearing failure and mild electrical faults.

Saoul-Virage > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 18:36

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"Adding a few turbos and AWD shouldn't make it that much better and nicer to drive"

Well, judging by the performance of the Safrane Biturbo (a Safrane modified by german tuner Irmscher), it is better !

Amoore100 > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 18:37

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Makes sense, though I always thought 'suh-frah-nee' was probably how Top Gear would have pronounced it...

MultiplaOrgasms > Saoul-Virage 03/23/2015 at 18:49

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Now guess the car pictured in the OP.

MultiplaOrgasms > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 03/23/2015 at 19:31

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The only reliable cars of those were the R16 and the Espace. R16 was ridiculously simple, nothing to break here. R11 and R19: Unreliable rubbish, traded for white Mk.II Fiesta Diesel and red Mk.III Fiesta Diesel. Mk.II got totaled when me mum suffered a blowout at 70mph (who knew a Fiesta diesel was that fast) on the A7 and rolled it into a ditch (this was in late 1996, so roughly a year before I was born, white Fiesta Diesel is the reason I exist), red one did 300k km, then traded for B2 Passat diesel wagon (even slower than the Fiesta) when my sis was born. Then came a Citroen BX Diesel, did 200k, then given to an uncle living in Canada, later scrapped. Citroen Xantia Diesel Wagon, bought one year old, did 550k on original drivetrain, Volkswagen Multivan TDI, chipped with 122hp, most unreliable car we've owned then a bunch of Volvos, all Diesel, then Espace dci for the past five years.

Considering everything else my family has owned so far, the Espace did reasonably well. Didn't record anything major aside from a bunch of faulty pixels in the sat nav screen and a broken side mirror (my dad did that). Of course it's nowhere near as reliable as the Fiesta Diesels, but really nothing is. In the Multipla clans Hall of Reliability it resides inbetween the Volvos, behind the manual ones, but infront of the automatic one. R16 was long before my time tho, so I have to rely on my grandfathers testimony.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > MultiplaOrgasms 03/23/2015 at 21:25

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Strangely enough I know someone who had a diesel Fiesta Mk3 that got rolled. He rolled that on purpose though, he got it for £70 on ebay since it wasnt road legal and beat the crap out of it.

Maybe we just got unlucky with our Renaults, although I'm always hearing about failures on the older dci engines.

Saoul-Virage > MultiplaOrgasms 03/24/2015 at 13:29

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Yes I saw it was a Biturbo (with its typical wheels)

MultiplaOrgasms > Saoul-Virage 03/24/2015 at 16:23

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FYI, the Biturbo was modified by tuning comapany Hartge as well as Irmscher. One of them is best known for souped up BMWs, one for souped up Opels.

I have no idea why either of them ended up building a twin-turbo Renault luxobarge.

Saoul-Virage > MultiplaOrgasms 03/25/2015 at 03:13

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Oh Hartge made some Biturbo too? Didn't know that. They probably built Biturbo because Renault asked them. Renault shipped them some V6 Safrane and they modified it to have a Biturbo. The Biturbo (probably) couldn't be assemble on Safrane assembly line because number was too small.

Renault used to work with German companies for special cars. I remember the R11 Zender (quite rare nowadays) which was an R11 Turbo with some suspensions upgrade and a Zender body kit and wheels. I think the R19 Cabriolet was made by Karmann (they made a lot of coupé and convertible for many companies).