New from Tuscany
 

Hi everybody,
I'm Leonardo, i write from Pisa, the city of the leaning tower, in Italy.
I drive a 2000 VW Passat B5 (1.9 TDI 110cv), a 2014 Peugeot 208 (1.4 VTi 95cv Petrol and LPG) and a 1986 Renault 4 (950 34cv petrol).

And about this last car I'd like to improve the efficency, it's light and not so powerful, so I think its 35 MPG could be improved with some tricks :D

I'll read a lot, I think.
Have a nice day!

Have you already planned any mod into the R4? Is it fitted with a Ventoux engine, right?

Mine is fitted with a Cleon engine...
I'm rebuilding an engine to fit it in, then I'll look for 135/80 tires instead the 145/80 (maybe on alloy wheels).
I'd love to fit also an electronic injection from a Twingo with also the Cleon engine, but it's just an idea now.

Welcome to the site Leondardo.

Have you checked out our page on hypermiling?

100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

That would be interesting. BTW what was the smallest engine fitted in the Euro-spec early Twingo?

The first Twingo in Europe had only 1.2 liters engine, it started with a Cleon C3G, the same family of the one on my R4, 1239cc 8v OHV 54hp. I considerd also to swap a 1.2 liter engine in my car, but the water pump and the alternator wheel are on the opposite side and it can't fit under the bonnet.

You know what could be cool to swap into your car? One of those Moto Guzzi V-Twin engines :D

Is the cleon the one used in the mk1 Clio too ?

Basically, yes.

Yes, it is. It's a family of engines used for a very long time on little renault (and not only...) cars.
You can find it on wikipedia, Cleon-Fonte. I still can't post link :(

But in 90s it begun to be replaced by the Energy (the "E" family) and by the "D" family.
So only the first Mk1 Clio and Mk1 Twingo had a Cleon engine.

If the bottom of the block is the same then you can swap them. It would be a real shame to hack an R4 about to fit something else, unless you are going really radical and fitting a Diesel ?

I don't think I'll fit a diesel engine, for the Cleons there are some problems for fitting, the transversal mounted ones have a different disposition of camshaft's wheel, alternator and waterpump. So I can't fit it in my car without some major modifications.

For the mod, I'll do only reversible modifications, I want to be able to have the car original if I want.

Why would you ever want it to get back to original?

R4s are becoming rare, so being able to reverse any changes would be of benefit potentially later.

Postscript - they used to be common here in the UK, I remember loads on my street as a small kid. Haven't seen one since 1990s. We put salt on the roads here in winter. And we are the home of British Leyland...

That's the reason, it's going to be a classic car, so I don't want to modify it irreversibly.
And, in fact, I can't image such mods on that car :)

Agreed. There are period style eco mods e.g. a vacuum gauge which help too.

They were also very popular in Argentina, but I haven't seen one of them since December 2012 when a couple of Argies appeared in my neighborhood with a red R4 GTL heading to Amazon.

Yep, Renault's 2CV - and arguably better conceived.

Welcome, Leonardo! I was in your beautiful city 3 years ago. Good luck with your Renault mods and other machines. Love that the Euro engine families have names, not just E4X1, etc.
Have owned: Fiat X1/9 (purchased due to a Popuar Science article, dependable), Opel GT, VW Rabbit(US with German engine).
Son has Lamborghini(model with Audi engine), Audi A4 station wagon

That's questionable at some point. Both are good for their purpose as an economy-oriented vehicle, not just regarding fuel savings but also maintenance costs. And the R4 undeniably has its performance advantages due to its project a little more modern than the 2CV...