Renault 25


The Renault 25 is an executive car produced by the French automaker Renault from 1983 to 1992. During its time, the 25 was Renault's flagship, the most expensive, prestigious, and largest vehicle in the company's line up. It placed second in the 1985 European Car of the Year contest. All 25s were built in Sandouville, near Le Havre, France.

Introduction

Introduced in the end of 1983 for a March 1984 start of sales, the Renault 25 was a large step forward in nearly every aspect from the Renault 20 / Renault 30 range it was replacing. Its five-door liftback body was penned by designers Gaston Juchet and Robert Opron of Citroën SM fame, and the unconventional style was aimed at giving the car a notchback look in order to overcome customer preference outside France for formal sedans in the segment.
The 25 was one of the first cars designed from the start for aerodynamic efficiency; its drag coefficient was 0.31, a key factor in improving fuel economy. The TS model briefly held the unofficial title of "world's most aerodynamic mass production car" with a Cd of 0.28, and at its launch the 25 was easily the best in its class for fuel economy.
All Renault 25 models were front-wheel drive, with four cylinder and six cylinder engines mounted longitudinally forward of the front axle. The 25's performance was above average for its class, at least in the V6 Turbo specification. A turbodiesel version of the J8S engine was also available.
The 25 was praised for its ride comfort and spirited handling. A newly designed manual transmission drew unanimous praise for its precision and smoothness. The futuristic interior was executed by Italian designer Marcello Gandini and was somewhat controversial, but the 25's passenger compartment was considered quiet, spacious, and well lit.
Equipment levels were high and set new standards for French cars, the 25 including among other features, an express up and down feature on the driver's power window, voice alerts, and one of the world's first remote stereo controls, mounted to the right of the steering column in radio mode & Volume +/–, mute and track advance ). For the first time since World War II, Renault had a realistic chance of breaking into the full size market segment outside France.

Automatic transmission

The Renault 25's least durable part was the automatic transmission. As a result, most 25s remaining are the five speed manual and few automatics have survived. Three automatic transmissions were used on R25: MJ3, 4141, both three speed, and a new four speed AR4, later used on the Renault Safrane as AD4/AD8. Due to the poor quality and design of the ATF cooler, especially on the later AR4, these versions have gained a poor reputation for reliability. A leaking ATF cooler could lead to gearbox failure with little or no physical warning, except for ATF stains beneath the vehicle to which not all drivers paid attention or not quickly enough.
The first transmissions started failing within a few years, while the model was still in production. Renault then prepared a package that was to replace the original poor quality cooler regardless of vehicle age and mileage. However, the cooler location in front of the right wheel could not be changed. As a result, Renault 25 Automatics with the AR4 transmission are rare today.

Facelift

The car underwent a facelift in June 1988, with a new front end, taillights, interior materials, and front suspension. Essentially, every panel was changed on the facelifted car, with the intent to smooth the styling. The new version also featured more powerful engines, the 2.2i engine being dropped and replaced by a 12v version of the 2.0i engine which produced 140 bhp.
There were a small number of run out post facelift cars fitted with the 2.2i engine to use up stocks, these were rated at the normal 123 bhp for that engine. Production ended in February 1992, to make way for the Renault Safrane.

Related models

Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco

The Renault 25 was the basis of the car platform for the American market Eagle Premier that was introduced by American Motors. The Premier featured exterior styling by Italdesign Giugiaro using the Renault 25 chassis, although the suspension was derived from the Eagle Medallion. The interior was designed by American Motors. When launched In January 1988, the model was branded as Eagle Premier, subsequent to Renault selling its 47% stake in AMC to Chrysler in 1987. From 1990 to 1992, Chrysler also marketed a rebadged version as the Dodge Monaco.

Renault 25 Limousine

An extended wheelbase version of the initial Renault 25, called the Renault 25 Limousine, was offered. It was longer than the standard car and was available in two variants. The standard 25 Limousine had the same rear bench seat of the standard wheelbase model whereas the Executive version had two individual seats with electric adjustment. The limousine was dropped from the range of Renault UK, within two years of its introduction in 1985, but continued in other European markets.
Coach builders, such as Boonaker, provided bulletproof variants as well as fitting 2.5 V6 Turbo engines. For a time, the President of France used an armoured limousine variant of the Renault 25, with some special modifications. Not least of these were two extra fuel injectors fitted into the sill mouldings on either side of the car at the 'B' Pillar position.
These were directly connected to the engine fuel system through a switch in the passenger compartment that would, if the engine was running, simultaneously pulse high pressure jets of neat petrol and ignite them as a deterrent. Since the fuel injection system runs at high pressure this would have been a quite effective flamethrower but somewhat dangerous for innocent bystanders. The system was later removed for this reason.

Trim levels

French market specifications:

Petrol engines

TX and TXE Top speed:
GTX Top speed:
GTX Top speed:
TX-V6, V6 Injection, and Baccara Top speed:
TX-V6, V6 Injection, and Baccara Top speed:
V6 Injection Top speed:
The 25 was also exported to Australia. Introduced in 1985, it was priced at A$35,000 without cruise control. It had a disc drum brake setup, rather than a four-wheel discs as on the Renault 18.
The R25 was exported to the United Kingdom from the beginning of 1984, where its hatchback bodystyle helped it to stand out compared with conventional saloons.
GTX in the United Kingdom was equivalent to Level 3 in the above list & used the 123 hp 2.2i engine. For the facelift versions the equivalent to the GTX was the TXI, with the 2.0 12v engine of 140 hp. The 12v head from the 2.0 engine was latterly used in the J7T 2.2i engine in Safrane. The 2.2 engines in the Safrane are effectively a long stroke version of the 2.0 engine – which gave better torque but was less free revving.
For the United Kingdom, the pre facelift range included TS, Monaco, GTX, V6 & V6 Turbo.
The facelift cars were TX, TXI, V6, V6 Turbo for a short period and Baccara which was the top of the range. The 2.2i engine in the Phase 2 cars was only available 'while stocks last', and is very rare vehicle. The lower compression 108 hp 2.2 was never sold in the United Kingdom.