Dear pals,(Specially for Juha )
Again I am asking for suggestions.
Like most tuners, I have big will and less money
I have R11 '85 3 doors, 1,7 (F2N i think) with body such turbo version. Interesting is that suspension is with 2 torsion bars. My ask is how easly can i increase the power of the engine and how much is the maximum for the wheels, which wheels are propper for my car ( i think not only from renault)
Thanx,
Ivo

Your car is from the last year Renault used the 2-bar rear suspension for the 1.4 Turbo and 1.7 atmospheric versions. In 1986, they were both fitted with a new 4-bar rear (European-made cars).

Your car is 3-door, so the rear wheel arches are slightly larger than those of the 5-door model. You SHOULD be able to use 195/50x15 tyres without rubbing, as Renault fitted these as standard to the original R11 Turbo Zender version (3-door). As for the wheels, 6.5x15 is probably the size of the Zender wheel Renault used.
The offset (also called 'ET') should be close to the original ET=36mm. Most aftermarket wheels are 35 or 38mm. With an ET of 38mm, however, the tyres may rub against the rear shock absorbers, as this ET brings the wheel 2 mm closer to the centre of the car compared to the original 36mm. So 35mm is more recommendable.
The wheel bolt circle (known as 'PCD') should be 4x100mm, and the centre hole diameter 60 mm.

If you want to play it safe (i.e. no rubbing at the back), don't go for wider than 185mm. For 15" wheels, the correct tyre size would be 185/55x15. Narrower tyres are also less prone to tramlining than wider ones.

15 inches is the usual "minimum" diameter for tuning wheels nowadays, but if you're tight on budget, you can go for 14-inch wheels: 185/60x14 offer a considerably better roadholding than the original 155x13 or 175/70x13 tyres.

As for tuning Renault engines, I'm afraid that just about the only Renault engines that have readily available "easy" tuning kits for them, are the 1.4L Turbo (Renault 5 GT Turbo) and 1.8/2.0L 16V (Clio 16V/Williams/R19 16V/Mégane 16V/Sport Spider). For the others, "consult your local machining shop"...

I suggest what is better for you is to lower the car, on back part, you should rotate the torsion bar so the car will go lower( about a loop ) and on the from you should cut the springs what is very easy. Your car will be stiffer, you´ll have much better handling and it looks great.

I think if I cut the front springs will not help me !!!
Front suspension will be softer after cutting and some road hole may damage some fender if I am turning the wheels (I am planing to fit 15" wheels)
And speaking about rear suspension I have simple one with 2 bars. The torsion bars are too softly for me
maybe I have to replace with suspension from 19 - th.

I did cut the standard front coils of my previous 9 GTL. Running on a low budget (even lower than today...), that gave the car the right look for no money spent, but didn't help handling very much.

When the road surface was smooth, the car cornered reassuringly, with considerably reduced roll. But that was only when everything was smooth... On less ideal surfaces, every bump and pothole caused a very unpleasant "no springs" sensation. What a torture for shocks and body it was!

Also, the bottom coil of the spring is originally flattened to fit in the lower spring platform. When you cut the spring - usually 0.5-1.5 coils to achieve satisfactory lowering - the then bottom coil no longer is flattened, causing poor fit in the spring platform. At the same time, the cut spring becomes so short it no longer has the necessary pre-tension to keep it firmly in place. In the worst case scenario, when you jack up the front wheels, the coils drop off their places! A certain MoT failure and potentially dangerous in an extreme driving situation.

I managed to find a pair of used tuning lowering coils for my current 9. They'd only been installed for ~200 kms, so they were as new. I'm not quite sure which make they are, but probably G&M. The bottom coil is properly flattened and there's no fear of springs falling off their places. Although, at -40mm from the already lowered standard Turbo, they're about the maximum that can be used with standard length shock absorbers.


I agree with you Ivo that cutting coils is the last option to go for, but I must disagree on one thing; When you shorten a coil spring, it actually gets stiffer! Think of a coil spring as a metal rod that has just been wound into a different form. When the spring is compressed, it's basically the same as if you'd grab a metal rod by the ends and twist it. And as we can all test for ourselves, the shorter the rod the harder to twist, right?


If you can't find old stock from any lowering spring manufacturer, then I'd see two options; Take the standard front coil with you and either go to a well-equipped parts shop with lots of springs to choose from (or a good catalogue with detailed drawings/dimensions), or go to a company that makes coil springs to order. The tricky part can be finding a right spring rate.

Jiha, I understood what you are meaning about cutting springs will be a little bit harder but the height will be not reached as you said.
A have an idea to fit less rolled and more thicker springs with same diameter but the only one chance to find proper is to remove mine to sit over them and to test the height and compare with other types :))
You mentioned that I need some data RIGHT I AGREE, but here in Bulgaria I think we don't have such brochures released or special stores or even tuning specialists. Only one place to get complete info is to ask You :)) or to try by me, which is idea that is more expensive.
Soon I am planing to remove my rear suspension for remount. In store when I am buying some spare parts told me that there are some rubber or something like that brackets which are very important and they stands whole car. Is it right.
I have two torsion bars suspension (you know) so you know some tips and tricks when can be easily removed. In addition, how to calculate the right height by checking the teeth’s (one teeth skipping means how much in cm) cause I plan to lower it may be with 10 cm.