1986 Renault Fuego TURBO! (Real NZ Road Test) 

Loved the styling of the Fuego. It was one of the first cars I 'noticed' as a kid.

The Fuego was the first car ever to feature remote central locking, and even marketed itself as pioneering that tech

Still one of the best names for a car, the design hasn't aged too badly either. top work mr hubnut!

I can't be the only person thinking: 'when did I last see one of these'?

I've been waiting for this one. I was lucky enough to have a Fuego as my first car, a GTX with the 2.0 engine, and yes the seats are amazing! I still miss it.

I've always loved the looks of the Fuego and in my opinion, it has aged well and still looks stunning when compared with today's vehicles.

Ahead of its time and still a timeless shape, particularly in that colour. Seats looked very inviting.

This is absolutely awesome - I adore these as they are quite bonkers. I love R21 and R25 so much so this is like a nirvana. Brilliant video Ian, made my day 😎 with all that wiper action it should be locked away....

Loved the Fuego. It’s been years since I’ve seen one and I’m amazed you found one! It’s such a gorgeous car and a great video Ian 👍👍👍

i actually own one of these with fuel injection in america. mines still slightly broken and this is the first modern review i've seen of one. gives me more of a push to fix it

Excellent! The Fuego is still a lovely looking car. The Irish Renault dealers ran an art competition when the Fuego came out. I won a radio cassette player and a Renault rally jacket for my entry!

My primary school headmaster had one of these. He was a larger than life Welshman. He rolled it. But both he and it lived on thankfully. I can't remember the last time I saw one, pretty stylish motors to be fair. Enjoyable review, many thanks!

I just found your channel the other day and you are reviewing all the cars of my youth! Memories

Here in North America these cars got a lot of bad reviews. Well I had mine 10 yrs or more. 2.2L I think it was a 1985. Bought it 2nd hand and it needed struts. Being maybe 18 yrs old I was quite tight on cash I bought the struts and cursed and panicked my way till they were in. Lucky for me Mr. Plaizer who ran a European car repair shop and had a kind heart let me use his special Renault spring compressor. it cost me a few hundred dollars and that was about all I ever did put into it save oil ect! I loved that car. One of the only cars I had a hard time seeing off. I have since had a number of much more prestigious brands since. The little burgundy Fuego stole my heart.

I used to have one in the 90's in Argentina, they are still a few around there!

You are going to have a lot of comments and views from Argentina, they love this car!

No other car channel pays such attention to wiper mechanisms, that's what we love about you. What a beautiful car that is, so 80's in the detailing

What a lovely car. I remember as a kid seeing these and was impressed. Thanks for sharing.

Favourite video so far 🙂 Much love and respect ❤️

Thank you very much for this Ian. This was my Mamars favourite car and sadly she passed last year. This review means a lot. Thank you :D

I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a Fuego. Great review, Ian.

Lovely to see a Fuego again ,and in such beautiful nick 👌

This was everything and more... Fantastically restrained road test, absolutely love that paint code, thoroughly enjoyable!

Made me travel back in time Ian, Was the best car by far I had had by then. Mine was resprayed nearly the exact same colour as that one but the sprayers took it upon themselves to spray all the plastics and bumpers the same colour, this was way back in the days of cellulose and I must say she looked amazing, I only have one faded pic of her left and was only looking at minutes before I turned on and saw you were testing that one and nearly blew my socks off, my daughter jumped when i swore and said I don't believe it :) Nice to see you taking it easy.

Mr Hub Nut another excellent review. Loved your reviews of our cars in oz and NZ.

Here in Argentina, in 1988 we redisigned the original Renault Fuego calling it Renault Fuego GTA, and GTA max, bouth powered by a 2.2 liter engine, and a very modern new looking! Unfortunately we never had the chance to see the renault fuego turbo in our country.

I absolutely love these!

A school caretaker had one when I was a young teen in the early 1980s. We were hugely impressed. I have to say that the styling has held up really well.

My first car was a 1988 Renault 11, which had the same remote central locking as the Fuego here. It was the most simple infrared based system you can think of, no rolling codes or anything in the way of security. In fact, we could teach the remote code to the learning infrared remote control of my friend's hifi system and then open and lock and unlock the doors with the hifi remote.

My dad had one of these and I loved it as a kid. Loved the turbo noise and it was same spec as this but black, it looked excellent - much better than a Cavalier or Cortina like everyone elses dad seemed to have .. RIP B259 TBU! Good times!

Smashed it again Mr Seabrook. Nostalgic excellence.

Nice test drive, thanks. I also recall seeing Fuegos on the road a fair bit in the UK back in the day, but not seen one for decades. A very nice looking car helped by nice paintwork. Definitely one to look after, with an eye for long term preservation, I'd have thought.

Amazing, like a lot of your hub nutters I remember this car from my younger days. You made me laugh when you mentioned the indicator stalk being on the right hand side. My girlfriend drives a Kia Rio and I drive a fiat 500. The Rio has the indicator stalk on the right, same as the Fuego, and my Fiat indicator is on the left. I’ve lost count of the number of times I drive her car and turn on the windscreen wipers instead of indicators, then after a few days driving her car, get into mine and turn on my wipers instead of indicators. Best wishes, for Christmas and throughout the whole year,. We ALL love your videos and appreciate the hard production work you put into them for us, you are certainly very talented and very natural in front of the camera. Regards Brian .

I always remember these when I was a young child, they definitely stand out, sadly it's one of those forgotten cars I don't know why I loved them.

People didn’t like them and thought them ugly back then. Now they look ok. Weird that. Very nice to see one. Thanks for showing this.

Nice video & review. I remember my dads boss having a bright red fuego turbo when they first came out. It was just so different at the time to his previous car which was a old rolls. He ran them both for a while. I can still remember him showing me the fuego & him being quite exited about it. It stuck in my mind as he wasn't normally like that about anything.

Yes, yes, YEEEESSSS! Used to be one of my favourites as a kid! It even has the huge TURBO decal!

pops up on notifications just as i settle down to stuff my face with a smoked bacon sandwich, good timing ! and its the colour of my Rover Tourer so thumbs up

I've been in a Fuego a few years ago. Loved it. Feels like the best, or at least one of the best cars to do large distances at moderate speeds with. Beautiful green dashboard lighting, really comfy seats. Didn't get to drive it sadly, because the clutch was so far gone that with a bit of throttle you could let it slip. Sadly the owner first got the clutch fixed, and then traded it for a smart fortwo, IIRC. Unbelievable. But i think you've heard that story before.

Great review Hubnut! 👍 What a cool car.

I had one of the last renault fuego's here in the UK back in 1994 and to this day I can honestly say it was one of the best cars I have ever owned....

Found this channel thanks to this vid.. And of course subscribed. Greetings from a Fuego driver! ;)

Nice, looking forward to this one. I remember seeing loads of these on the road back in the day.

Fabulous review, great Sunday evening viewing. :)

My grandfather used to have one painted yellow. Fell in love since I developed self consciousness. Definitely gonna buy one someday!

Glad you're mood has lightened. Top tip, live in the now,don't anticipate next week,next month next year, just be!

Must say I do like the 'epilogue' portions of your reviews, showing the light clusters etc. Very good. Nice car the Fuego and as rare as hen's teeth in the UK.

I remember one when I was a teenager that I walked past on my way to school. I thought it was cool then and do now.

1980/81. AC Williams Renault, Water Street, Stamford Lincolnshire. The first time I saw a Fuego. A non-turbo, in this colour illuminated by spitlsmps in the showroom window. A superb looking car with that Porsche 924-style tailgate. Great video Ian.

Always love it when you review a Renault - particularly anything from the numbered era, being too young to rememember when they were on the road with the exception of my parents 21 and the few 19's that were knocking about until early high school. I once saw a Fuego about 10 years ago, so it was nice to get a proper look at it and appreciate the styling a bit more - like the black trim that goes around the car, makes it look very futuristic and reminds a bit of the DB11 and the DS5 with similar features.

Not seen one since the 90's and never really gave it a second look, but all these years later it has grown on me and you can appreciate its unique stance and styling esp compared to the modern mass produced stuff these days. Ps. Really liked the squareness of some of the dash switchgear and controls, plus the simple dash binnacle ergonomics. Thanks Ian, great review.

The Fuego is one of my all time top cars, especially in turbo form.I always thought of them being mini GT's than a sports car.Beautiful.

The poor mans Porsche 924, that was every bit as quick

Thanks again for another awesome test drive. I can't remember the exact time I last saw a Fuego but it was a very long time ago. Not too many made it to Australia. I have it in my head it was red one.

Blast from the past Man Had 2 Fuegos in my youth always wanted a turbo one Nice

Our Swiss French teacher had one of these back in the 1980s she got nicked for speeding in it. Very much enjoying all your adventures down under Ian I think you will enjoy Australia I have a older brother in Adelaide there’s plenty of old Japanese cars from the 70s and 80s still knocking about that have long since rusted away here in the Uk 👍👍👍👍

Really comfy seats, looks better now than back in the day. The next decent result after this was the 19 16v. Great vid thanks 😀👍

I thought I'd watched all the NZ videos Must have missed this one! Well happy!

Amazing car mate, thank you for the video never knew they were sold in NZ too and the europian version !

My parents had a golden one with a full fleded philips hifi (3 units high). Goregeous sound. The party trick was the turbo kicking in. Even my mom enjoyed it.

Very interesting car! Thanks for the great review!

You were spot on with the granada front lights was just thinking that as you said it

Merry Christmas! Having spent Christmas's abroad I know it can be a strange time plus... nothing better than a Boxing day fiddle in the garage. I hate going away at Christmas, have to sit and talk to people when I want to be on my back under a car... I start to day dream about the projects. Pig in poo at the moment, finally picked up an early manual 850 t5... its a hoot to drive! Starting to favour it over my L322. New Beetle is a work in progress for quiet period before New Year, replaced the thermostate and then just kept going with injectors, breathers and throttle body refresh! Merry Chritmas Hubnut.

What a fantastic looking coupe. I love 70s and 80s coupes and this is one of my favourites. So rare now though but the example in the video looks to be in great shape.

Someone had one of these on my street back in the 90's in British Columbia. I couldn't believe it even at the time.

Beautiful design. I remember on holiday in France in 1980 i saw one for the first time, it looked so futuristic, i was like ''wow'' !

32 years ago I remember the Fuego was something petrol heads in pubs all had an opinion on, mostly good from those that owned one.

We actually got the Fuego here in the USA, and I always thought the styling was quite nice. Thanks!

I actually had one of these back in the day, same colour too. The styling was fantastic and It turned heads. The good old days of motoring.

Smashing car. I ran one of these in the UK back in the late 90's and it was a lovely place to be. More of a Capri/Manta competitor, it was fully loaded with kit and one of the nicest interiors I've ever sat in. Turbo boost would fall in like a hod of bricks around 3.5k and wouldn't last because they didn't really like to rev. I would have one again, if nothing else for the nostalgia. Oh, and l live in France now and you rarely if ever see them...

That's a blast from the past! Had forgotten about these. I'm sure I had a matchbox one...I think! Love those seats 😁

Lovely looking car back in the day

hello Ian might I take this moment to wish you and all your family a very happy Christmas. all my best to you sir.

Hallo witty tester , this my first time i watch your video and i liked it positively , althought as a foreigner i have a slow understanding of English. Just telling : the R.Fuego was also built in Argentina until late 1996, lattest farewell version was the 2.2 Litres GTA . For its days proved to be quite popular, sold very well being a coupe . Engine always good , the other items were below the average . Weirdest thing they were heavily marketed and just affordable for the upper class budgets . Rare today in 2021 these Renault Fuegos are incredibly underrated , they neither have the category of collectible cars . Nobody gives 5 pfennigs in the used market's offers .

Nice colour, hope your well remember these cars as a child !!!!!😅😅😅😅😅😅😅☕☕☕☕☕🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧👍👍👍👍👍

Wow. Perfect Christmas present. Thanks.

Wow you have struck gold with this one.

OMG! I had a 1.6GTS, black with gold coachstripe, full fabric electric roof, special alloys . Got it a year old as a company car (there were 2 of us, the boss and I) in about 84. I was only 24 and boy did I LOVE that car! Felt and looked like a million dollars - that fact it didn't go like a rocket mattered not. I had the best car by miles of all my friends. Then I had a terrible non-fault accident, and it was never the same. Fantastic to see one again. If I came across a mint GTS or GTX I'd be tempted.

I had the 2.0L GTX back in the day. Beautiful to drive and to look at. Had added some subtle styling touches and larger wheels.

thanks for this one Hubnut i to remember seeing them when i was younger and now at last a road test a very interesting car to look at nice wiper action :) , i always thought they looked a bit fragile and i think the expression at the time with regards to the turbo was enough power to get you out of bother, what bother i thought? enough to overtake safely was the answer.

@Hubnut Another great video and thanks Ian for this one, I'm slowly getting through a lot of your "classic" vid's. I owned the predessesor of this a Renault 15 which was basically a sporty looking "12". By no means a bad thing because the 12 was a fantastic car of which I have had the pleasure to own many through the years. I always wanted a 17 but sadly they are as rare as hens teeth nowadays.

My mum is not a car person but this is a car she has nominated as her favourite. It had aged really well inside and out. The French obviously aimed to innovate when they designed this. The old proven drive train freed up the development budget to design it's fresh new suit.

Love your car reviews !

Renault are truly the masters of ride comfort. Love the velour upholstery. I would guess that the blanking plug next to the trip computer is for optional Air conditioning perhaps? Hope you are doing well, Ian. The current pace of your videos is absolutely fine imo.

I had 2 of these way back in the day first one was a 1.6 TS and the second was a 2.0l GTX which was beautiful and powerful. Could never afford the insurance for the Fuego Turbo but i did have an 11 Turbo. Great cars. I loved them.

I owned one back in the 80 great car for the money, new technology come to America,, we gone thur rain , snowing the mid west for 3 years, and all the way to Florida and to California....very smooth ride and comfortable.... I really missed it. paid almost 10K. its worth every Pennie of it.

French cars always had incredibly comfortable seats

I keep forgetting that you are in New Zealand. Beautiful car.. Love them. In my time where i live they were rare cars. It sure is 25 years ago when i see one for the last time.

A teacher of mine had a red one in 1985, I thought it was very cool!

Hello from NZ. I bought one of these in about 91 and to this day it's one of the most comfortable cars I've been in and yes those seats are amazing; the back ones too! It's one of those cars that was much better than the sum of its parts. Mechanically crude with a pretty horrible gearbox but still effective. A mate at the time bought a Corolla GTi which was about neck and neck performance wise, but the Fuego would eat the GTi in comfort, handling, braking etc. It just had that certain je ne sais quoi that the French do so well.

I very nearly bought an 82 Fuego Turbo (in 1989). Red with black interior. It looked so cool, I was willing to overlook the appalling reputation French cars had in the USA. It was very comfortable, it looked like a Spaceship to me. I’d also never seen a car with a key-fob remote to unlock it, the car felt like 10 years ahead of anything I’d ever been in! Unfortunately during the test drive, the turbo spit it’s impeller out the downpipe😳 (and no, I wasn’t abusing it!) The owner told me “the price is still the same. Are you taking it, or not?” Needless to say, I passed on it... It then sat in the guy’s yard for the next 10 years with the “For Sale” sign in the window... It was fun watching this video, I haven’t seen a Fuego in the metal this century. Love your channel!

Ian I loved your down under hub nut adventures. Can we see more hub nuttery in the future please!

Great memories - I had a Fuego turbo from new in 1986, unfortunately I couldn't afford to keep it at the time. I remember the turbo lag kicking in, it felt like the seat was sliding from underneath you, Still a stunning looking car all these years later

These old Renault petrol engines sound is really recognizable and charismatic :)

Great looking car the Fuego and that glass on the tail gate is amazing.

Mate your awesome never amaze us all you need to get to get to grips with the turbo lag thing love all the videos mate enjoy yourself while away and hope we meet at some point via a nec display.all the very best .Pete

Remember loads of them about in the early 80s when I was a child.. (Mainly the metallic green and blue ones ).. Seemed very futuristic to most other things at the time...Last one I saw was a black turbo about six months ago on e bay!!..Great video Ian!!

Lovely Jubbly, now I do remember these. The Renault dealership in my town at the time was Allen Pond on Nantwich Road, sadly they disappeared like the rest of them at the time, recession hit the UK hard back then in the early 1980's and the fact Renault's disintegrated before your eyes.

That model is very beautiful !

Good to see you, Ian. I hope you’ve gotten some much deserved rest. Nice car. These were never very popular in the USA. They were on my radar due to my Francophile Renault 18i driving grandparents. Sort of a French Porsche 924. No one I knew had one. Of course the same could be said of the far more pedestrian 18. The svelte looks were muddled by USA spec bumpers and sealed beam headlamps. Looking at the 1985 brochure that I still have, it appears our 1.6 turbo was fuel injected. I never realized it was OHV not OHC, but I’ve never been close to one of these before. No mention of hp or torque (about 102 hp, I think). N.A. Cars got a 2.2 injection. Definitely a later steering wheel in your car. That dash looks straight out of my grand’s 18i (minus the bright blue). My brochure shows a different dash arrangement on USA cars with a more extended hood Ofer the I.P. That encompasses the center vents. no boost gauge. Ohhh you could get leather interior with a huge Renault diamond stitched into the backrest in contrasting hue leather strips! Tres chic! And a cloth folding sunroof(just like a 2CV!) Thanks for the trip down memory lane.