Can a R5 gt really be reliable???

[alister]

I'm considering driving my r5 out to Italy where I'm working at the moment, theres a track thats under an hr away and you can do 15min stints for 30euros.
I'm going to get the engine rebuilt very soon, having a chat with fishead about it soon, and getting a rebuilt turbo from adam L very soon aswell.
But do you really think r5's are that reliable enough to be driven 2000 miles, then at a track in anger most weekends for about an hr on track, and maybe as a daily driver to work(only 5 miles).

Anything I can do to make it more reliable, things to change, uprate? or am i pushing my luck hoping the little french wagon could cope with this, oh and i was planning on driving it out in june after going to watch the le mans 24hr, in summer down here in southern italy it gets hot! over 35 degrees..

[RICHIE]

corrrect fueling is a must regular oil changes and nice std engine rebuild will be just fine.

[Chris Hebden]

It'll make it buddy! Think possitive. Next year i am taking mine to Greece and back! Slow and steady on the way there and back, give it hell around the track and then do all the safety checks you can and a service before the journey home! The one thing i am most worried about it over heating so i'll be carrying a thermostat and fan switch with me at the very least!

[Mart]

Definitely. My old 'Trusty' is good proof of how reliable gtt's can be - 40k+ miles over 2 years, trackdays galore, a few Pod runs here & there, and the engine is still beating as sweet as a nut to this day in Billy's T-cup.

[Alex]

I used my GTT for 6 years as my daily car with hardly any issues.

As said, as long as it's serviced as it should be it'll be fine.

[Mart]

It'll make it buddy! Think possitive. Next year i am taking mine to Greece and back! Slow and steady on the way there and back, give it hell around the track and then do all the safety checks you can and a service before the journey home! The one thing i am most worried about it over heating so i'll be carrying a thermostat and fan switch with me at the very least!

Don't forget, R11102

[J$£5GTT]

I'm considering driving my r5 out to Italy where I'm working at the moment, theres a track thats under an hr away and you can do 15min stints for 30euros.
I'm going to get the engine rebuilt very soon, having a chat with fishead about it soon, and getting a rebuilt turbo from adam L very soon aswell.
But do you really think r5's are that reliable enough to be driven 2000 miles, then at a track in anger most weekends for about an hr on track, and maybe as a daily driver to work(only 5 miles).

Anything I can do to make it more reliable, things to change, uprate? or am i pushing my luck hoping the little french wagon could cope with this, oh and i was planning on driving it out in june after going to watch the le mans 24hr, in summer down here in southern italy it gets hot! over 35 degrees..

besides just the engine,check other things to,brakes,fuel/brake lines,wheel bearings,
ball joints,suspension,steering,cooling etc..before you even start on the engine!!
do a good solid build thats all you can do..

[scratcher]

Don't forget, R11102

Good idea.

[Kris M]

besides just the engine,check other things to,brakes,fuel/brake lines,wheel bearings,
ball joints,suspension,steering,cooling etc..before you even start on the engine!!
do a good solid build thats all you can do..

[alister]

Ive got a track day on the 27th of april and as not back much getting a friend to work on it for me before then.
He picked it up today, sent me a text and I quote
'Just picked ur r5 up, its bumpy, noisey, smells of oil, its small, overboosting, its got a **** clutch, brakes are s@#t..... but I f ing love it! awesome car mate"

i asked him what he meant about the clutch, said its just where its really heavy, and the overboosting bit, said it seems to build up boost, then bog down, so guessing fueling.

He is moving headertank to scuttle area, fitting new front discs, mintex pads, dot 5.1 fluid, braided brake lines, fitting the 'Otter' induction kit, the set of coolant hoses from unstable cable, my ktec downpipe from my old r5, new fuel filter and doing the cup mod.

I'm going to do the bushes on the wishbones and new ball joints ect soon.
Ive got a copper core rad off my old 5 to go in, and a lower temp fan switch, thermostat.

need to rebuild the carb, get the engine rebuilt, and have a good poke about in the engine bay when its out see if everything is tip top, get a new fuel pump aswell me thinks.... ermmm the turbo is smoking but hopefully get a track day out of it, might try and get a spare to take with me just incase

[Sparkie]

my cars engine has been knackered for about 2years now. and its still going, tapping and rattling away!

[Nick k]

Ive got a track day on the 27th of april and as not back much getting a friend to work on it for me before then.
He picked it up today, sent me a text and I quote
'Just picked ur r5 up, its bumpy, noisey, smells of oil, its small, overboosting, its got a **** clutch, brakes are s@#t..... but I f ing love it! awesome car mate"

i asked him what he meant about the clutch, said its just where its really heavy, and the overboosting bit, said it seems to build up boost, then bog down, so guessing fueling.

He is moving headertank to scuttle area, fitting new front discs, mintex pads, dot 5.1 fluid, braided brake lines, fitting the 'Otter' induction kit, the set of coolant hoses from unstable cable, my ktec downpipe from my old r5, new fuel filter and doing the cup mod.

I'm going to do the bushes on the wishbones and new ball joints ect soon.
Ive got a copper core rad off my old 5 to go in, and a lower temp fan switch, thermostat.

need to rebuild the carb, get the engine rebuilt, and have a good poke about in the engine bay when its out see if everything is tip top, get a new fuel pump aswell me thinks.... ermmm the turbo is smoking but hopefully get a track day out of it, might try and get a spare to take with me just incase

Forget the mintex pads, they are sh*t. I had a set in my car when i went around the Ring. Lost my brakes half way around every lap. Logg gave me a spare set of green stuffs he had with him and they were spot on. No fade at all.

[Chris Hebden]

Don't forget, R11102

Who the what now?

[Purple_rob]

Who the what now?

Its a GSF part number

[Chris Hebden]

I see says the blind man! 27,000+ and one headgasket change due to a water leak! Not bad i thought

[Brigsy]

A good o.e gtt or one thats been well built & not thrown together will be reliable.

My gtt never missed a beat for me in 70k miles, this includes loads of pod runs, trackdays & top speed runs. Its still on original headgasket now. Bodywork failed before the engine.

My van has never missed a beat since i built it, more reliable than my daily. The headgasket were the original since factory before i changed the valvesprings. Build it once build it right...

[Junglist]

i drove mine about 600 miles to near Hamburg Germany where i work
kept it 70 - 80 all the way. had a few stops ,, no probs and my car has had 14 owners and is fairly messed up under the bonnet

[alister]

i drove over here in october in a battered passat estate, back to uk at xmas, then bought an e34 525i bmw off ebay for 450 quid, and drove that out, and i drive it everyday, but i know taking a car on track will put its toll on a car so have to make sure i get the 5 ready for its adventure, 10 weeks to go!

[Woznaldo]

I lived in Germany for 2 years and used to drive all over Europe on weekenders always 4 up and the car was fine. When I drove back to UK, i'd always take at least 2 mates and their gear and used to hammer down the autobahn at 90-110mph.

With all of the above the only issue was cooling. Turned out to be a blocked std radiator (previous owner had used radweld). Stuck in a new std rad and all was cool and the G.

Ditch the Copper Core Rad and fit a std Valeo Rad from GSF (140 quid now?).

[BlueFish5Gt]

My raider had 348.000 K on the clock when I crashed it.Apart from the usual maintenance everything else worked perfectly for me and my little friend.The clutch had changed at 300.000 K for the first time.Daily driver from work and back about 100 k a day since 1990.But my uncle kept it completely standard and never drove it to the limit, all the maintainance was done by the book at a renault authorized service.(With the money he gave them he could have bought two more GT's .).I think the key to your question is keep it as standard as you can and change its fluids regularely and with good quality products.

[Maka]

R11402

full head set with uprated head gasket (GSF) same headgasket as the R11102 and a few quid cheaper.

figure that one??

[Wallace]

Maybe stating the obvious..............

But if you are going to travel that distant?! then consider some basic tools with some essentials and a few spare parts............alternator belt,cable ties etc

Keep us posted,when/if you do drive down there in the 5!!

[alister]

I'm back in the uk this weekend, and just found out my car over in italy has been nicked!
was an old e34 525i bmw, so now dont have a car over there to use, which is a major pain in the bum. That had my breakdown toolbox in the boot, basic tools, tape. cable ties, epoxy putty ect. So might be needing a car out there pretty sharpish if it doesnt turn up. the 5 is going to be a couple of months til its ready so might be driving my e30 325i bmw out soon, going to try and contact fishhead this weekend to see if i can have a chat about an engine rebuild.

[Kenobi]

My mate bommer says that a 5 is only as unreliable as its owner. His 5 has issues from time to time but he gets his spanner out and fixes it. So its back on the road the same day. Lets say you go and buy a new clio or civic or something, if that breaks down your going to be waiting days for it to be repaired buy the dealer.

Now I aint into the whole big tech side of things but unless ya carb is bummed most of the 5 is easy enough to work on. Plus we all know if something bigtime goes wrong I have some pretty cool RTOC members phone numbers.

[alister]

ive got 1 full spare carb, and one thats stripped down with afew bits broken, so going to rebuild one, again, and get it set up, so i'll have a full working spare carb to take.
Once the engine is rebuilt, and a new turbo on(might take a spare one) i think the main probs will be wiring, and steering components failing.

Just picked it up off my mate, had a drive, got a nasty misfire, did afew bits and bobs on it, took off battery tray, cleaned the dirt from underneath(no rust!) wirebrushed the rusty tray, painted it and refitted.

Id love the time to do a full nut and bolt rebuild, a friend did it to his r5 that he shipped out to oz, he was a member on here before. Would be like a new car.

[Wallace]

My mate bommer says that a 5 is only as unreliable as its owner. His 5 has issues from time to time but he gets his spanner out and fixes it. So its back on the road the same day. Lets say you go and buy a new clio or civic or something, if that breaks down your going to be waiting days for it to be repaired buy the dealer.

Now I aint into the whole big tech side of things but unless ya carb is bummed most of the 5 is easy enough to work on. Plus we all know if something bigtime goes wrong I have some pretty cool RTOC members phone numbers.

I agree totally - i'm new to R5 world on the fixing side, but anything i've wanted to improve etc has been pretty straight forward........and mostly fun

Friends have got type R's and S3's and although there not fans of the 5 they do at least agree that if something goes wrong it's VERY fix-able without the local dealer "rip-off"

No doubt mate that once you get the 5 set up right it'll cruise down to italy with very little problems, assuming you don't cain the arse out of it