Niels Svane
Renault 4TL '83, 1B1 845cc engine, Ducellier diz
- Messages
- 382
- Location
- Denmark
Hi everybody - I've missed you!
So I wanted to take the R4 on a trip the summer of 2018, and with a friend we chose to drive from Denmark to the classic Le Mans in .... Le Mans.
After some preparations: oil and filter change, air in the tires, 12V plug, removal of the rear seat, a good clean, new rotor and plugs, we were ready to go in late June.
We drove from Southern Denmark at 3.30 in the morning to get past Hamburg and all the heavy traffic before 8.00 o'clock. After filling the car with octane 99 and 100, it really went like crazy - soo smooth and drove 18.5 km/l fully loaded at speeds up to 105 km/h (it's a late 845cc).
The first day ended at the Nürburgring, where we wanted to take the car to the track the next day. So the first stint was 1040 km (15 hours with stops and wrong turns). That day I was the only one driving as I knew the car and actually didnt feel tired at any point. After some searching we found a really nice campsite with cars and bikes racing past on the winding road, and some young germans that gave us some beer.
The next day we took the car to the Ring when we FINALLY found the right entrance.... It ran 40 km/h on the slowest parts and 110 at the fastest. We chose to take off the roofrack at the track, to get full aerodynamics
The time ended up with something between 17 and 20 minutes!
We then drove to Luxembourg and camped at a super nice camp site on the top of a small mountain (large for us danes). At this point the car had trouble starting and drove iffy at low speeds. So I called my R4 guru in Denmark, and got to a sticky needlevalve. After dismantling and cleaning the carburetor (Zenith 32IF) we left the parts to soak in WD40 and left to eat a cheap and good steak with chips while watching Denmark and Croatia play WM in football.
We then drove to Champagne and Chablis (and loaded some crates of whine), Verdun, Orleans and Le Mans, where we watched the Classic Le Mans races and exhibitions (we where only TWO R4's - the other one was french). One of the days a beer cap exploded and hit my eye, so after removal of the contact lense we had to find an ambulance pronto (I lost all visual on that eye and apparently it bled inside). After some campsite guards ignored us, we drove to the race track where some nice young guards helped us, and I got to the hospital.
I got my sight back at around 22.30 in the evening and got some hardcore medicin for the rest of the trip.
After a few days we decided to go back home and drove to Belgium. On the way the car overheated (up hill at 100 km/h) but after a rest and some more water + bleeding, it went fine for the rest of the trip. Then from Belgium we drove the long way home in one run in about 14 hours.
I ended up driving 3700 km in 11 days, and I'm really proud of the little cars performance. This year we'll probably go to Normandy because of the 75th anniversary of the invasion of france.
Since then I got hit by a car while on my motorcycle in Denmark and broke my collar bone - the guy also just drove off without me getting his number. This led to a depression and a standstill of my PhD, and also silence in this forum from me. 2019 will therefore be the year where the R4 will get a complete rust treatment (new panels and proper undercoating), and maybe some other stuff. Presently I have driven nearly 30.000km in it, and this winter the only problem is intermittent loss of heating (air in the system), and rough running at more that 1/3 gas pedal depression for 5-10 km's both when cold and lukewarm. I've cleaned the carb but it didnt help - and I am runnning with carb-fluid when below 5 degrees.
So this was my long update from the last half year! I hope you all had nice trips last year and a merry christmas and happy new year! I hope to meet some of you this year on the trips and you are of course welcome here in Denmark.
Sincerely, Niels
The carb-cleaning:
The champagne-run:
On the Le Mans track:
At Nürburgring:
So I wanted to take the R4 on a trip the summer of 2018, and with a friend we chose to drive from Denmark to the classic Le Mans in .... Le Mans.
After some preparations: oil and filter change, air in the tires, 12V plug, removal of the rear seat, a good clean, new rotor and plugs, we were ready to go in late June.
We drove from Southern Denmark at 3.30 in the morning to get past Hamburg and all the heavy traffic before 8.00 o'clock. After filling the car with octane 99 and 100, it really went like crazy - soo smooth and drove 18.5 km/l fully loaded at speeds up to 105 km/h (it's a late 845cc).
The first day ended at the Nürburgring, where we wanted to take the car to the track the next day. So the first stint was 1040 km (15 hours with stops and wrong turns). That day I was the only one driving as I knew the car and actually didnt feel tired at any point. After some searching we found a really nice campsite with cars and bikes racing past on the winding road, and some young germans that gave us some beer.
The next day we took the car to the Ring when we FINALLY found the right entrance.... It ran 40 km/h on the slowest parts and 110 at the fastest. We chose to take off the roofrack at the track, to get full aerodynamics
The time ended up with something between 17 and 20 minutes!We then drove to Luxembourg and camped at a super nice camp site on the top of a small mountain (large for us danes). At this point the car had trouble starting and drove iffy at low speeds. So I called my R4 guru in Denmark, and got to a sticky needlevalve. After dismantling and cleaning the carburetor (Zenith 32IF) we left the parts to soak in WD40 and left to eat a cheap and good steak with chips while watching Denmark and Croatia play WM in football.
We then drove to Champagne and Chablis (and loaded some crates of whine), Verdun, Orleans and Le Mans, where we watched the Classic Le Mans races and exhibitions (we where only TWO R4's - the other one was french). One of the days a beer cap exploded and hit my eye, so after removal of the contact lense we had to find an ambulance pronto (I lost all visual on that eye and apparently it bled inside). After some campsite guards ignored us, we drove to the race track where some nice young guards helped us, and I got to the hospital.
I got my sight back at around 22.30 in the evening and got some hardcore medicin for the rest of the trip.
After a few days we decided to go back home and drove to Belgium. On the way the car overheated (up hill at 100 km/h) but after a rest and some more water + bleeding, it went fine for the rest of the trip. Then from Belgium we drove the long way home in one run in about 14 hours.
I ended up driving 3700 km in 11 days, and I'm really proud of the little cars performance. This year we'll probably go to Normandy because of the 75th anniversary of the invasion of france.
Since then I got hit by a car while on my motorcycle in Denmark and broke my collar bone - the guy also just drove off without me getting his number. This led to a depression and a standstill of my PhD, and also silence in this forum from me. 2019 will therefore be the year where the R4 will get a complete rust treatment (new panels and proper undercoating), and maybe some other stuff. Presently I have driven nearly 30.000km in it, and this winter the only problem is intermittent loss of heating (air in the system), and rough running at more that 1/3 gas pedal depression for 5-10 km's both when cold and lukewarm. I've cleaned the carb but it didnt help - and I am runnning with carb-fluid when below 5 degrees.
So this was my long update from the last half year! I hope you all had nice trips last year and a merry christmas and happy new year! I hope to meet some of you this year on the trips and you are of course welcome here in Denmark.
Sincerely, Niels
The carb-cleaning:
The champagne-run:
On the Le Mans track:
At Nürburgring:
