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The suspension
The suspension of the Renault 16 is in principle a modification of the R4 of the year 1961, adapted to the higher weight and power.
The wheels in front and in the rear are equipped with independent suspensions, what was to that time all but standard in this class. But still, the suspensions have some peculiarities, which look unusual at the first glance.
The front wheel suspension incorporates double wishbones, anti-roll bar and telescopic dampers. There is no coil spring, but longitudeal torsion bars working on the lower suspension arm. Because the suspension is (french) soft, these torsion bars are real long - which means they reach till below the front seats. The suspension travel way is 20 cms.
The rear suspension maybe is even more exotic: equipped with simple longitudeal suspension arms, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar and torsion bars it doesn´t look that weird. But the R16 has a different wheelbase left and right! The left rear wheel is 6 cms behind the right one! The reason is, that due to the soft suspension also long torsion bars were used. That long that they - arranged traversal, working on the suspension arm - reach over the whole width of the car. Therefore they could be arranged one behind the other only, and that´s the reason for this curiosity. The travel way of the rear suspension is even 30 cms!
Once you get used to the somtimes adventurious curve inclination, you don´t want to miss the excellent ride comfort. In contrast to many other calssic cars, the R16 suspension doesn´t have to be greased, the whole suspension built for simple maintenance. Only wear parts like bushes, ball joints or silent block of the rear suspension get tired with years and kilometers.