Renault 20TS

Introduction

The Renault 30TS was the first Billancourt model to feature the five-door fastback body design and, equipped with the 2.7-litre V6 engine, it made for a very fast five-seater - at least by European standards - where the V8 Torana was probably never heard of. Then followed the Renault 20TL which was equipped with the 1647cc push rod four, similar to the unit used in the 16TL and 17TS. In what was, again by European standards, a large car, the engine was overstressed and underpowered, and this was born out in the mediocre performance and fuel consumption figures.

A happy medium was reached when an overhead-camshaft 1995cc engine was installed in that same body shell to produce the 20TS. The extra power gave the car a respectable performance for its class. You could option the 20TS with a three-speed automatic gearbox like that fitted to the larger 30. The auto transmission was developed at the Ruitz plant in Northern France, and featured an electronic control unit. Somewhat advanced for the time, and in the price range, the 'black box' took into account engine speed, driver command, vehicle speed and engine load, and thus made compensation and changes accordingly. It replaced the more conventional hydraulic system and was therefore meant to be more accurate and reliable.

Another advantage of the layout was that it allowed the fitting of a diagnostic plug for easy analysis of trouble. In practice, the gearbox worked well, although the changes were a little on the abrupt side - and by today's standards it would be considered crude. If the throttle was held to the floor, the engine would change gear exactly at the beginning of the red sector on the tacho, and so the manual hold on first and second ratios seemed needless. In automatic guise, the car would still reach the red line in third gear, which works out at just over 103 mph. Acceleration was only a shade slower than the manual car with 0-60 mph taking 12.6 seconds. Fuel consumption worked out at 24 mpg which was good considering how hard the car was pushed in cross-country work.

One disappointment was how harsh the engine sounded at anything over 3500 rpm which, along with more than a fair share of wind noise, made things somewhat tiresome at high speed. The servo assistance on the power steering worked well in hiding the naturally heavy trait of front-wheel drive, although the 20 did not suffer as badly as the more powerful 30 in this respect. Actually, the 20TS handled quite neutrally until pushed hard when the front wheels would momentarily break traction and skid wide.

It was quite insensitive to the position of the throttle and so would not suddenly change its attitude to oversteer if the throttle was released in mid corner. For all that the 20 TS was a car which encouraged spirited motoring and was equally at home in its role of a comfortable and roomy family sedan, which was easy and relaxing to drive, thanks to the all-independent suspension by front MacPherson struts and semi-trailing arms at the rear. In 1981, the 2.2 litre fuel-injected R20 TX was added to the range, followed by the R30 Turbo Diesel. Production of the 20 and 30 ceased on 16 October 1983 to make way for the Renault 25.

Renault In Australia - They Badly Needed Another Model

As the 1970s progressed, Renault’s balance sheet was, ironically, somewhat in the balance. It was achieving borderline profitability, despite the product being very good. By 1978 the company did manage to register a $190,000 profit – so if it wasn’t the quality of the product – what was the problem? It was all too obvious that their Australian operation had too few models available to lure buyers into the showroom. The Renault 16 TS disappeared from the scene in 1977, leaving the only Renault model available as the Virage, a descendant of the long-running 12. The Virage was a pleasant little car, but it has never had the widespread appeal of some of its competitors. The Virage was a 1400cc four-seater – ideal as a city run-around but competing but conceding ground to Australian’s appetite for larger 6 cylinder family sedans. Renault not only desperately needed another model for the showroom floor – they needed something bigger. And that came in 1979 with the refined shape of the 2.0-litre up-market hatchback Renault 20 TS. The good news continued, with the smaller 1800 cc Renault 18 being released the same year. Finally there was some competition from the French carmaker.

Well-received in Europe at its launching late in 1977, the 20 TS didn't so much break new ground - rather, it took the engineering principles of the popular (and, in its day, revolutionary) Renault 16 and refined and developed them a stage further. The 16 and 20 had much in common: front-drive, a useful fifth door, great touring capabilities, a high degree of passenger comfort and long-reach independent suspension on all four wheels. But whereas the 16 had personality, as opposed to good looks, there was nothing unattractive about the smooth, almost conservative, lines of the 20. The Renault stylists managed to come up with a design which incorporated the advantages of the 16 while maintaining a more conventional appearance. The 20 shared the same body and similar trimmings to the V6-powered Renault 30 which first saw the Iight of day back in 1975.

Though Renault placed considerable emphasis on safety, the designers nevertheless managed more than a touch of elegance in its lines. The front was simple and uncluttered, the headlights blended easily into the plain, wide grille. The rounded fuss-free front and falling bonnet-line made it at least look very aerodynamic. Even the tail - so often a visual hotch-potch with hatchback models from this era – was reasonably pleasant to the eye.

On The Inside

The functional elegance of the exterior was complemented by the understated and roomy interior. Shooting for a dateless simplicity, the Renault design team had, in the 1970s era that featured loud colours and wall-to-wall plastic, hit a delicate blend of function and good taste. As simple as the controls, dash and console appeared at first glance, make no mistake: in the usual Renault fashion, the driver and occupants were well catered for. For example, there were power windows on the front doors, a laminated windscreen, an internally-adjustable outside mirror and a knob on the side of the steering column which, when twisted, either raised or lowered the headlight beam to compensate for fluctuations when the the car was carrying varying loads. Something done electrically these days – but very rare on a car of this era.

Stalk controls operated the lights, turn indicators, two-speed wipers with intermittent mode (eight sweeps every minute), washers and horn. The wiper lever, on the left of the column, was located close to the ignition switch – and some owners invariably turned them on accidentally. The instruments, grouped together behind the steering wheel, were all easy to "find" and read in an instant: speedometer, tachometer, water-temperature gauge, Voltmeter, a quartz clock and a gaggle of warning lights - park brake, pad wear, brake operation, oil pressure, charge, hazard flashers, rear demist, high beam and fog lights if fitted. There was only one exception to the easy readability: the four circular dials were offset towards the dash centre and the fuel gauge, in the far-left dial, was partially hidden from the driver by the dial's raised rim. The Renault 20 was fitted with an AM/FM stereo radio/cassette player complete with then “futuristic” digital frequency read-out and touch-control led station memory; more important of course was that it sounded good, too. Three separate slide controls were responsible for the distribution and temperature of the heater/ventilation system, with a rotary switch for the variable-speed fan boost.

The four vents - two at dash height, two lower down at console level - provided ample hot blasts but a barely-adequate flow of cool air in warm weather. In contrast to the "simple" look of the fascia, the remainder of the interior looked pretty luxurious, with seats that pampered the occupants and carpeting that extended right through the car, from the firewall back and part of the way up the door trim panels. The Renault 20 may not have been a big car, but the interior gave the impression of spaciousness - and it was a genuine five-seater (with the rear armrest folded up into the seat). Plush seating had been a Renault by-word wince the 1960s and the 20 TS did not let the team down. Initially very soft, the vinyl-covered buckets managed to keep their occupants in place, though lumbar support could be better - this was a deficiency that showed up on long trips. But around town there were few cars sold in Australia that could beat it … in any class of car.

Behind The Wheel

The driving position was higher than the majority of similar-sized cars - much like a Volvo, in fact - but the soft-feel steering wheel, T-bar shift and pedals were comfortably located. Strangely the automatic gear selector pattern wasn't illuminated, so a bit of night-time guess work was required for anyone not familiar with the car. Under the hood was one of the sweetest 2.0 litre mills then in existence. The all-alloy 1995 cc plant ran north-south, and a shade ahead of the front wheels, which it drove through a three-speed automatic transmission. The Douvrin engine (so-called because it came from the Renault/Peugeot-owned factory in the French town of that name) had a belt-driven single overhead-camshaft, cross-flow head, wet-sleeve cylinder lines and five-bearing crankshaft.

In typical Renault fashion, it had a sealed cooling system and a thermostatically-controlled electric fan which cut in only when needed, thus saving fuel and the loss of the odd kilowatt, as well as blocking the possibility of overheating in traffic jams. With a two-stage Weber carburettor and 9.2 to 1 compression ratio, it produced around 80 kW at 5500 rpm, with peak torque of 168 Nm at 3000 rpm. Though Renault had this engine earmarked for competitions use (Formula Two), the Renault 20 itself didn’t break records in acceleration. From standstill, the 20 TS touched 60 km/h in 6.5 seconds, 100 km/h in 14.4 seconds and covered the standing-start 400 metres in 19.3 seconds. The car felt very docile at lower speeds, but warmed to the task as the revs built. The first 25 km/h would come quite slowly but once the 1300 kg got rolling, it started to get the job done reasonably well.

The ultimate performance of the 20 RS wasn't sensational but the engine always seems eager, easily revving to the 6000 rpm limit. Even in top it would run to the redline, with 180 km/h (indicated) on a slight downhill spurt. On the flat, its true top speed was closer to 168 km/h at 5700 rpm. The biggest drawback of the electronically-controlled automatic transmission (a small "computer" dictated the changes at optimum speeds) was the low gearing of the first and second gears. Even when held manually in second, the 20 TS would be starting to peak at around the 115 km/h mark. But its real potential came when touring. Despite the absence of brute power, the car could lay down mightily impressive times for the 1970s, point to point. Around town, its lack of zest low down placed it at a slight disadvantage in frantic traffic. But out on the highway - or on twisting, demanding roads - it roared into its element.

Stirring the Renault along could be great fun, but the price you paid for such an entertaining time was the inevitable extra visit to the service station. Compared with other cars of similar weight and performance from the late 1970s, the 20's 13.6 litres per 100 kilometres at fast highway speeds was not all that bad. Better still, drive conservatively and you could achieve better than 10.5 litres per 100 kilometres. And that gave you a range of 500 kilometres between re-fuelling stops - a rarity in the day of tiny tanks designed to meet Australian Design Rule 27A. Revving the 2 litre out drivers claimed the cabin would become somewhat noisy - when either accelerating or even cruising at high speed. Though not harsh nor particularly offensive, the noise level was nevertheless greater than most people expect to find on a $15,000 vehicle – not particularly cheap for 1979.

The Renault's all-independent suspension - double wishbones and coils up front, longitudinal and transverse trailing arms with coils at the tail, with anti-roll bars at both ends - struck a nice blend of handling and ride comfort, a happy medium that seemed to escape other (read, non-French) manufacturers. Supple suspension and perfect tuning had become the state of the art in France, and not just for Renault, as Citroen and Peugeot succeeded in producing vehicles that could handle in the best tradition yet stiII cushion occupants from the hard knocks. The Renault 20 TS offered one of the smoothest rides of any car on then on the market; the excellent seats were fully complemented by a supple suspension that soaked up the lumps and potholes just as competently as it handled a 160 km/h glide along a European autobahn. A natural understeerer, like all front-drive vehicles, the Renault 20 TS nevertheless struck a fairly neutral stance through anything but tight corners. Though there was some initial body roll, it didn’t lean as crazily as did the Renault 16 or Renault 12, and it cornered as well as any car from this era.

Torque steer, evident on just about every front-drive car that would be considered its competition, cars such as the Virage, the Honda Prelude and the Volkswagen Golf, was happily unobtrusive with the Renault 20 TS – it was there, but the power steering managed to keep it under control. Nicely-geared, though a little short on road feel, the power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering would exhibit no bad habits; and it was well-damped against kickback and road shock, which wasn't as pronounced as was the case on other similar front-drive cars. The brakes were right up with European standards: the teaming of the big ventilated front discs with rear drums was a good one, and road testers of the time that tried to induce fade usually came away disappointed in anything less than truly abusive conditions. There was no instability, fade or locking wheels. On wet, slippery roads, the Renault brakes - helped along nicely by the surefooted Michelin radials – would resist locking up – but they were prone to squeal a lot, something that was common for Renault’s of the era.

Interior-space utilisation was exceptional, with roomy accommodation for both occupants and cargo alike. Even with two large adults up front, there was ample knee-room across the back seat for three tall Aussies - the absence of a tail-shaft tunnel helped here. The versatility of the rear hatch had few bounds: luggage area ranged from 0.395 cubic metres with the rear seat in place to a cavernous 1.55 with the seat removed. Other options available included being able to remove the rear seat to extend the length of the boot, or to arrange a makeshift double bed by laying the front buckets horizontally (after first removing the headrests). The spare tyre was tucked away on the outside, under the car – helping again to maximize interior space. The jack and wheel-brace were located in the engine bay – again another clever design to ensure cabin space was not compromised. Renault made a point of emphasising the 20's towing capabilities. At 1300 kg, it was a surprisingly heavy car for its size, remembering it had a lightweight alloy engine and transmission. In particular, the automatic version was designed for towing - it came standard with an oil cooler.

When launched in Australia the Renault 20 TS came in at $14,490 for the four-speed manual and $15,390 for the automatic, which was way above what Renault buyers were accustomed to forking out. Renault banked on their loyal devotees understanding that the 20 was worth the extra. And there was some justification in that approach too – it’s capabilities both on and off road put the Renault 20 TS into Audi 100 and Rover 3500 territory, so an astute buyer may have seen it as a bit of a bargain! Though not as big externally as those two cars, the Renault matched them in just about every respect - and even came out ahead on some counts. A good car then – but we would like to hear from you. If you or anyone you know owned the Renault 20, why not leave your review below. We would love to hear about your experience!

Renault 20TS Quick Specifications

Engine: Front mounted, in-line, four cylinder. 88 mm (3.46 in) bore x 82mm (3.23in) stroke - 1995cc (121.7 cu in). Maximum power (DIN) 110 bhp at 5500 rpm; maximum torque (DIN) 1231b ft at 3000 rpm; light alloy cylinder block and head. Compression ratio 9.2:1.5 main bearings. 2 valves per cylinder operated by single overhead camshaft. Weber 32 DARA carburettor. Note - this engine was shared with the Citroën CX and later the Peugeot 505
Transmission: Three-speed automatic gearbox with torque converter. Ratios 1 st 2.222, 2nd 1.370, 3rd 0.926, rev 1.777. Hypoid bevel final drive, 4.125:1.
Suspension: Front-independent by MacPherson struts, coil springs, telescopic damper struts, lower wishbones and anti-roll bar, rear- independent by semi-trailing arms.
Steering: Rack and pinion. Turns from lock to lock 3.25.
Brakes: Discs front, drums rear.
Wheels: 5.5in x 14in. Tyres 165SR x 14.
Body/chassis: 4 door, 4 seat. Integral.
Dimensions and weight: Wheelbase 1 04. 68 in; track-front 56. 85 in, rear- 56.61 in; length 177.95 in; width 67.96 in; height 56.5 in; ground clearance 4.7 in; weight 25911b; turning-circle 36.7ft; fuel tank capacity 13.2 gal.
Performance: Maximum speed 103 mph; acceleration 0-60 mph 12.6 secs; fuel consumption approx. 25 mpg.
Differences between the Renault 30 and 20: Technical differences between the 20 and 30 were that 20 used drum brakes at the rear wheels, 13 inch wheel rims, and a smaller 60 litre fuel tank. The 20 came in three different trim variations: L, TL and GTL. The two cars were effectively two 'badge engineered' versions of the same car with separate numeric classification. The Renault 20 had two single rectangular headlights whereas the Renault 30 had quadruple round headlights. The interior specifications differed substantially however with the Renault 30 having a higher specification in all models. Over 622,000 R20s and 145,000 R30s were produced in Sandouville, Le Havre, France.

The original 20 was way underpowered. Thankfully the TS had a 2.0 litre donk.