Summary:
Paradise for amateur mechanics
Faults:
I rebuilt the car entirely. Nothing wrong yet. CV joints aren't OK. Small rust holes on rear floor. Erratic starter solenoid.
General Comments:
I bought it from a friend.
It's very easy to work on, everything is accessible and the gearbox & engine are easy to take out. The engine is upgraded to 1397cm3, has a 34-34 carburetor, 4 to 1 exhaust manifold, R18 GTL camshaft, R9 electronic ignition, CD player, 1" widened wheels with Goodyears GPS-2, etc... Performance is awesome, but i'm still trying to tune it up right. Front disc brakes (originals from 1984) are a great improvement from old drums, but still short of power for safe braking. In the future i'll bolt on a servo. Dash is stock R4 (+ RPM & oil pressure gauges). The interior is narrow and noisy, but gives a great feel of the car.
The R4 is usually overlooked for tuning up, since people prefer the R5. But it's great to have this R4, stock on the outside, but with a lion's heart that eats Fiat Unos for breakfast...
It cost me about 1000 Euros + 200 euros for building it up, and it's worth every penny.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 29th June, 2003
1st Jul 2005, 23:01
So far I replaced lots of other things, brake compensation valve, rear brake cylinders, I re-wired the blinkers circuits to have also hazard lights, upgraded non-functioning hand brake for one from a R18, replaced front and rear floor pans, fixed rear hatch (dumb taxi driver rammed it).
I can´t imagine myself driving anything else. Will keep my R4 for some time.
I get great feedback from other drivers, and girls too... except when they get up because the noisy upgraded engine. At least once a week someone asks me if i´d sell it, to which I answer not for the moment being, thanks...
Even though there were a lot of R4 made here in Argentina, R4 became somewhat scarce because of government-sponsored car renewal plans of recent years.
The R4 owner is a special character.. half of the times I cross my way with another R4, we both blink our headlights at the same time, a way of saying "hi there!!"
25th Nov 2005, 06:00
Since about a year, my gearbox developed an annoying habit of randomly locking itself while going in reverse. The only way to unlock it was going forward about 1 turn of the wheels and only then backing up.. I guessed it was the axle holding the satellite gears in the differential case, sliding out in reverse and going back to it place when going forward.
I really didn´t have much experience with gearboxes, so I just hoped this would wear itself into position or eventually blow up in pieces and i´d have to rebuild it completely anyway.
Well, 2 weeks ago just that happened.. doing 120 kmh on the highway, the box just went CRACK!!!...hissssssss... pulled out, gear grease leaking...
My prediction was correct: had to get a differential, the axle that goes from the clutch to the primary gears, the front aluminum cap (where the speedo cable goes to) and had to weld the rear of the box, since when the diff exploded, parts of it opened a hole there..
All in all, about $280 argentine pesos (80 euros), fixing it myself and learning a lot about gearboxes in the meantime... Luckily I got some parts from junk and others are still manufactured here in Argentina.
First lesson.. a gearbox is a clockwork mechanism that rarely fails, and when you have a clear sign of something wrong, fix it quickly or it´ll cost you more when it breaks...