Talk:Renault 16

Non-Euro Content

Would it be possible to get some non-euro content included? The R16 (amongst other Renault models) was manufactured in Australia during the 1970's, so production wasn't restricted to France. 193.24.65.33 (talk) 01:47, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

R16s were also manufactured for a period of some years until 1972 in St. Bruno (at that time a suburb of Montreal), Quebec, Canada. These were required to have a percentage of Canadian content some of which, toward the end of production at least, consisted of shock absorbers supplied by Gabriel which were of completely different characteristics than the original French De Carbon items. Another difference was the 4-unit headlamp system. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.49.240.9 (talk) 15:45, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Gear lever

I remember that early French and German market Renault 16s with manual transmission had the gear lever up just behind the steering wheel. In the words of French wiki, that's not because there was a front bench seat (perish the thought) but simply because this was the fashion at the time.

Actually, most R16's have front chairs, only the cheapest versions in the early years had a bench. Steering mounted gear levers were not uncommon at the time indeed. It also had to do with the practicality of the R16; it saved space compared to a floor mounted lever. Drfisheye (talk) 00:51, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I know that the UK market was very resistant to the column gear changes however, and there were certainly Peugeot models which had a column gear change for continental Europe but a floor mounted (still cable operated) system for rhd markets (for which read UK: they didn;t sell too many Peugeots in Japan or Australia back then, I think).

A mate of mine had a RHD Peugeot 404 with a column shift, and my parents had a 1961 Morris Oxford and 1969 Saab 95 - both RHD - with the same feature. Mr Larrington (talk) 13:26, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone know whether manual transmission Renault 16s ever turned up with a floor mounted gear lever, or was it always a column mounted lever on all markets? I feel this might merit a mention in the entry, if anyone knows the answer, since someone has already mentioned the 'peculiar' siting of the gear box ahead of the engine.

All R16's had the steering mounted lever. The gearbox ahead of the engine actually improved the handling of the car, since the engine could now be placed before the front-wheels; so it's a mid-engine car. Drfisheye (talk) 00:51, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for any thoughts shared on this Charles01 (talk) 17:09, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

The configuration of the power-train with the engine located aft of the gearbox virtually precluded the routing of a realistically precise, positive and reliable mechanical linkage from a floor mounted gear shift lever around the engine and past the suspension and driveshafts to the transmission. The options were either a column shift or a high dash-mounted "umbrella-style" shift lever as was used in the Citroen 2CV and Renault 4 (the latter sharing general architecture topology with the R16). The steering column solution was chosen as a more upscale and competitive choice to match those of Peugeot and Citroen offerings. Based on my own experience, both the R16 and the Peugeot 404 and 504 column shifts were extremely precise, smooth and pleasant to use, considerably better than many floor shift linkages of the time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.138.120.220 (talk) 02:18, 13 June 2013 (UTC)