Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
This is my own R4, which I completely rebuilt. After about 18 months work the car was completed in the spring of 2005, and is now occasionally used for trips to France or other special days out. It is a real beast to drive with ferocious acceleration and a top speed of 125 m.p.h. Its innocent looks deliberately disguise its potent power plant; consequently it has to be driven with some caution
Other road users see the car approaching and quite happily pull right out in front of me, obviously assuming that I am travelling much slower than I actually am, also they are desperate to overtake even though I am travelling at the same speed as every one else. Still its great to see the look on their faces when I go past them, when for example a hill or perhaps a stretch of duel carriageway is reached.
The car underwent a complete body-off restoration; I used a new chassis, which is now no longer available from Renault. I did, however, manage to track one down in Holland. The chap there had bought five chassis from a Renault car plant clearout, and, needless to say, he sold them very fast as people are realising that the parts for R4s are drying up.
I carried out several welding operations on the body shell, and every bit was meticulously cleaned and painted, using the best paint and materials that I could buy. The chassis was cleaned and painted with ICI chassis black and then treated to 5 litres of wax oil, which I sprayed through every orifice. The vehicle was then reassembled.
Everything I used was new from Renault, and the pictures show some of the parts amassed, but a whole lot more went in that I haven't shown including bonnet, wings, rear wings etc.
The engine was fully rebuilt. It is a R5 Alpine unit fitted with Group 2 inlet manifolds and twin Webber 40s'. There are a lot of modifications, including; R5 Alpine Turbo radiator and clutch assembly, a remote oil filter, a 50mm one-off exhaust system, and a magnetic ignition system.
It was very difficult getting all this under the bonnet, especially with a right hand drive layout. Other modifications include the steering column, electric fuel pump, and the carburettors themselves, to name a few more. I have used a R4 GTL 4-speed gearbox because I did not want to lose the dash mounted gear change.I have a 5 speed gearbox which I intend to fit when I get the time, this will still retain the dash gear change which is an integral part of the R4 driving experience.
The engine has loads of low down torque and has no trouble at all in pulling the very tall gear ratios that this gearbox provides. I recently took my car to a rolling road and have drawn up a table of comparative power figures that give an indication of my cars' performance, especially if you know, and have driven other old Renaults. The overall B.H.P. figure is not much more than a standard R5 Gordini, but it is how the power is produced that really counts. The torque figure recorded at 2250 RPM is the important one, power this low down in the rev range is what gives flexibility and allows for very easy "point and squirt" driving. It is a real fun machine.
Figures For Comparison
| Car | Maximum BHP @ RPM | Maximum Torque(lb/ft) @ RPM |
| R4 850 | 30 @ 4700 | 45 @ 2300 |
| R4 1108 GTL | 34 @ 4000 | 55 @ 2500 |
| R5 Gordini | 93 @ 6400 | 85 @ 4000 |
| R5 Gordini Turbo | 110 @ 6000 | 108.5 @ 4000 |
| My Car | 45 @ 2250 | 102 @ 2250 |
| My Car | 110@6300 | 110 @ 3750 |
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing Gallery Gallery (click to view)
