Advertisement

Renault 4 – no ordinary old-fashioned van, this one

July 18, 2011 at 9:10 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Renault


Click to enlarge

Yes, if you think that it looks like something harking back to the 60s, you’re positively right, because it is something from the 60s. It’s a Renault 4, apparently the the world’s third-best selling model of all time (with 8,135,424 cars, vans and utes sold in more than 100 countries between 1961 and 1992, no less), but this is a La Quatrelle (or 4L) with a difference.


Click to enlarge

This one is set to take on the challenge at Speed Week taking place at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah next month, with the aim to get said R4 to crack 280 kph. Decidedly insane? Well, not for the trio of childhood mates with a need for speed – the Les Triplettes de Bonneville, as they are called, have armed themselves with a recently completed Renault 4 F4 van variant (with the model name Fourgonnette), built with assistance from Renault Classic.


Click to enlarge

Externally, it’s identical to the original vehicle, give or take a front mud-guard, exiting exhaust pipe and minuscule ground clearance. This one has a parachute (no ejector seat, yet), and a 290 hp Renault 5 Turbo race engine, suitably borrowed from a race-winning museum-piece.


Click to enlarge

In addition to the race-tuned mill, the gearbox, steering, suspension, brakes, wiring and fuel system have all been sourced specifically for this event by Renault Sport Technologies in order to comply with the Southern Californian Timing Association regulations.


Click to enlarge

Weighing in at 720 kg, the front-engined, front-wheel drive salt flat charger – dubbed Saline4Fun – also boasts a roll cage, race harness and seat and a fire extinguisher. Hopefully, the last won’t be needed.

5 Comments      

Dual personality: Renault Frendzy Concept for Frankfurt

July 11, 2011 at 4:50 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Renault

Renault’s recent concept cars tell a story. After the notion of ‘love at first sight’ expressed by Paris 2010′s stunning DeZir, discovering the world with Captur (Geneva 2011) and starting a family with R-Space, here comes the Frendzy, which represents “the world of work” in Renault’s design strategy. This “human life cycle” series is directed by Laurens van den Acker, Senior VP of Design at Renault and the man behind Mazda’s Nagare design.

The Frendzy concept was conceived as a light commercial vehicle (think Kangoo) that can double up as a comfortable passenger car. On the passenger’s side, there’s no glazing or centre pillar, just one conventional door and one sliding side door which incorporates a widescreen display. This is the world of work. The driver’s side, complete with side windows, still no centre pillar, but with centre opening doors, represents the world of the family.

“The concept of an asymmetric body design was the most logical way to express this vehicle’s two roles. From the very start, I wanted to move away from the traditional format for commercial vehicles and, in doing so, show that this type of vehicle could also be more emotional, more dynamic and more attractive,” said exterior designer Deyan Denkov.

“I took inspiration from a wide variety of sources, including unconventionally shaped aircraft such as the Airbus Beluga and the Antonov 224,” the Bulgarian revealed.

Inside, the Frendzy has a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that controls the 37-inch screen on sliding rear door, unique ‘sound signatures’ inside and out, fabric roof that adapts to shape of bulky objects, magnetic fixings for stuff to be secured to the floor, slate board in rear cabin for children to sketch on, touch-sensitive pad for rear passenger movie watching/gaming and ambient lighting.

The driver’s side of the cockpit is designed around the theme of a futuristic “work bench” featuring a structure which appears to be made from molten metal. The use of wood in the cabin is from the idea of “camping” – it’s a symbol of warmth and strength.

The Frendzy is of course an electric vehicle. The powertrain is carried over from the Kangoo Van Z.E., although the charging point hidden under the front Renault logo is identical to that shown on the ZOE Preview.

Gallery after the jump.
[Read more...]

2 Comments      


Williams dumps Cosworth for Renault engines from 2012

July 5, 2011 at 2:52 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports, Renault

Williams and Renault have struck a deal that would see the Formula 1 team use the latter’s engines starting next season. This move revives the “Williams Renault” name that should be no stranger to F1 fans – Renault supplied factory engines to Williams from 1989 to 1997, and that fruitful collaboration (Red Bull’s ace designer Adrian Newey was in the mix, too) won four drivers’ and five constructors’ titles.

Fans would remember the glory days of the Camel/Canon sponsored car and the famous Rothmans liveried Williams, but the car of today, which uses Cosworth’s V8, is no longer a front runner. Will this reunion power them up the field again?

“Our previous relationship with Renault was one of the most successful in Williams’ history but we will not allow ourselves to dwell too much on the past. We must look to the future and continue to re-build our on-track reputation, which I am hopeful that today’s announcement will help us to do,” said team principal Frank Williams, who also thanked Cosworth for being “a fair and reliable partner both on and off the track for the past two years”.

Co-owner Patrick Head shared a bit more. “A lot of these engines are very close in their ultimate performance, some of their characteristics will vary quite a bit. With Team Lotus one can see changing with engine, it didn’t light their performance up. We are never a team that looks for excuses but if someone says how much (of the deficit) is in the car and how much in the engine, the difficulty with the current engine and with the other teams running it,” he said.

“With the Renault engine in the back of a car from Milton Keynes at the moment, if someone went around saying it is not a decent engine… The Renault engine seems to be very good across the board,” he added, referring to champs Red Bull.

This deal is for seasons 2012 and 2013, with an option to continue when V6 engines are introduced in 2014. With Williams on board, Renault will be powering four teams on the 2012 grid, including Red Bull, Team Lotus and Lotus Renault GP.

14 Comments      

Renault Koleos facelift to enter market later in the year

June 24, 2011 at 9:17 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Renault

Renault has announced that its facelifted Koleos will enter the market later in the year. The primary changes to the model, which was launched in 2008, are with exterior styling elements as well as with the interior trim.

The front end of the Koleos has been revised, with the air-intakes positioned either side of the Renault logo on the current model making way for an elegant chrome grille, and the vehicle also features new, slimmer headlights as well as LED indicators on the side mirrors.

The initial version’s distinctive rear-end styling continues on as is, though a new exterior colour called Cayenne Orange has been added to the shade lineup. Mechanically, the Nissan-derived all-wheel drive transmission soldiers on, as does the two-wheel drive option.

No changes too with the three powertrain choices available in the outgoing Koleos – the 150 hp and 175 hp versions of the 2.0 litre M9R diesel and 170 hp 2.5 litre TR25 petrol engines will be used in the facelift, though in the case of the diesels, work on the vehicle, engine and gearbox has resulted in appreciable reduction in CO2 emissions.

A selection of new upholsteries and trims have come about to enhance the interior, while the dashboard and instrument lighting have evolved too, with the introduction of a modern, more stylish speedometer housing and display.

The Koleos, which has made its way to 40 markets on five continents since it was launched, will continue to be made at the Renault Samsung Motors plant in Busan, South Korea. The vehicle was introduced in Malaysia last year.

Gallery after the jump.
[Read more...]

19 Comments      

Renault Mégane R.S. 265 Trophy sets a new FWD lap record of 8’08” at the Nürburgring

June 21, 2011 at 1:15 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Renault

Records are meant to be broken, and with that do we come to a new one set by Renault’s latest wunderkind, the Mégane R.S. 265 Trophy. The car has set a new lap record for a front-wheel drive production car at the Nürburgring, almost three years to the day the Mégane R26.R established its lap record for a FWD production car at the Nordschleife in June 2008, with a time of 8 minutes 17 seconds.

Last week, the R.S. 265 Trophy clocked 8 minutes 8 seconds to break the R26.R‘s record, which has stood since then. The time posted at the Nürburgring puts the Mégane R.S. Trophy on par with an extremely prestigious list of supercars, with a level of performance rivalling that of vehicles with power outputs of up to and beyond 500 hp.

“The Nordschleife is a legendary course. Its difficulties are extremely varied, ranging from fast and even very fast in places to much twistier and slower portions. Turns like ‘Karusell’ and ‘Pflanzgarten’, for example, make huge demands of the car and driver alike, yet the Mégane R.S. Trophy is very much in its element here and feels particularly reassuring despite the uncompromising nature of the terrain,” said Laurent Hurgon, development driver at Renault Sport, who took the R.S. 265 Trophy out on its record-setting lap.

“The limited slip differential allowed me to accelerate hard out of the countless turns without understeer. The carefully-tuned Cup chassis, the dampers, the fade-resistant brakes, the Recaro seats, the power of the 265 hp engine, the ready availability of torque between 2,500 and 5,000rpm and the car’s Bridgestone RE 050A (235/35 R19) tyres allowed me to make the most of the car’s enormous potential, especially into and out of the corners. It is this package which enabled me to post such a quick time round this circuit, which you must always approach with a certain degree of humility,” he added.

13 Comments      

Renault Samsung SM7 based on Nissan Teana unveiled

June 15, 2011 at 12:28 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Koreans, Nissan, Renault

Renault Samsung has unveiled the first shots of the production Renault Samsung SM7, which was previewed just in April as the Renault Samsung SM7 Concept. This Teana-based sedan is intended for the Korean market, but apparently it might just make it to certain markets with a Renault badge.

The production car sheds much of the funkiness that the concept had, which were all the cues that hid the concept car’s Teana origins well. The production version looks much more identifiable as a restyled Nissan Teana.

Look after the jump for a full gallery of both production and concept cars.
[Read more...]

27 Comments      

Renault Mégane Renaultsport 265 Trophy limited edition – 15 hp and 20 Nm more than RS 250 Cup

June 13, 2011 at 12:20 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Renault

Those salivating at the idea of a Renault Sport Mégane RS 250 Cup will be dropping buckets at the sight of this one – it’s called the Mégane Renaultsport 265 Trophy, and it’s the fastest ever road-going Renault.

The car, which will make its world debut at the World Series by Renault in Nurburgring next weekend, has 15 hp more than than the RS 250, as well as 20 Nm of extra torque at 360 Nm.

Naturally, it has improved performance statistics, if slightly so – the newcomer does the 0-100 kph sprint in exactly six seconds, compared to the 6.1 of the RS 250, and top speed is up from 245 kph to 254 kph. Meanwhile, the 360Nm is usefully available across a broad rev band between 3,000 and 5,000 rpm.

To achieve these gains, Renaultsport has upped the engine’s maximum turbo pressure to 2.5 bar, up by 0.2, together with the air intake being revised to take account of the higher pressure and running temperatures.

Features on this one include Recaro seats with yellow seatbelts and detailing, Renaultsport Monitor on-board performance tracking and an optional gloss Renault i.d. Diamond Black roof.

The 265 Trophy wears gloss black 19-inch Speedline alloys with red rim, high-performance Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tyres, ‘Trophy’ red decals on the F1-style front blade and doors, and LED daytime running lights.

The exterior shade welcomes the return of Liquid Yellow i.d. metallic paint, reborn from its original use on the Clio Renaultsport 182 and V6 255, and on the R26 and R26.R. If yellow’s not your flavour, black and white options are available.

Elsewhere, the new 265 Trophy retains the essence of the Mégane Renaultsport’s award-winning recipe, including the critically acclaimed Cup chassis (stiffer springs, dampers and anti-roll bar and grooved brake discs), mechanical limited slip differential, Brembo brakes, as well as the innovative PerfoHub independent steering axis front suspension set-up, which virtually eliminates torque steer.

Deliveries of the Mégane Renaultsport 265 Trophy commence next month, but it’s all going to be rather exclusive with this one – the car will be a limited production run of only 500 examples worldwide. Gallery after the jump.
[Read more...]

14 Comments      

Renault Sport teases hotter Megane RS on Nürburgring!

June 6, 2011 at 9:11 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Renault, Videos

Renault Sport, the sporting arm of Renault, has released a teaser video for what seems to be a hotter version of the Megane RS 250 Cup, which we absolutely adore in this office. The video asks us to look forward to June 17 for the reveal.

In this 1 minute 27 second clip, the boys from Dieppe are shown preparing a red Megane RS (with those sexy 19-inch spider wheels that are ill suited for our roads) for a run on the most challenging circuit in the world – the Nürburgring. The Megane is then seen blasting past the famous section of the ‘Ring where the tarmac is full of graffiti, seemingly digging into it with only three wheels!

Two men are named – Philippe Merimee, Suspension Setting Systems Manager and Laurent Hurgon, Development Driver – but perhaps the more significant cameo is that of the Megane R26.R, the hottest variant of the previous gen Megane. That limited edition stripped out version of the already excellent R26 established a new lap record for a FWD car at the ‘Ring with a time of 8m17s back in 2008.

If they use the same formula on the more powerful new Megane RS (250 hp/340 Nm vs 230 hp/310 Nm), that time is bound to be topped by the upcoming king hot hatch. By how much? We’ll know on June 17.

8 Comments      

Renault starts production of ‘Energy dCI 130′ engine – world’s most powerful 1.6L diesel, inspired by F1 tech

May 19, 2011 at 12:04 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Diesel Cars in Malaysia, International News, Renault


Click to enlarge

While the modern diesel engine is still a bit of a novelty here, it’s the default engine in Europe, and is usually the volume seller in many a model range, luxury ones included. There’s no sign of this trend waning, and we’ve seen CO2 figures pushed down and power figures pumped up over the years. Now, Renault has what it hails as THE diesel engine family boasting high tech for regular cars.

It’s called the Energy family, and the first to appear is the dCi 130, a 1.6-litre diesel that will be launched in the Scenic and Grand Scenic MPVs before powering the Megane range. This unit will supersede the long serving 1.9 dCi 130 (F9Q) in line with the downsizing trend.

The 1.6L Energy dCi 130 is the world’s most powerful engine of its size, Renault says. It makes 130 hp and 320 Nm of torque at 1,750 rpm, 80% of which is available from 1,500 rpm. That’s about the same as what the Focus TDCI’s 2.0L Duratorq makes, but with max twist produced 250 rpm lower, so it’s an impressive effort.

At the same time, combined-cycle fuel consumption is 20% better than the 1.9 dCi engine it replaces, while CO2 emissions have been slashed by 30 g/km. Renault says that with the Energy dCi 130, the Scenic/Grand Scenic will be the most frugal MPVs on sale with CO2 emissions of 115 g/km and fuel consumption of 22.7 km/l. Compared to before, potential range on a full tank is up by 300 km.

Working from a clean sheet, the Energy is said to carry over a number of technologies developed and fine-tuned by Renault’s F1 engine den at Viry-Chatillon. Philippe Coblence, the design office manager for this R9M project, used to work at Viry.

The F1-inspired features include a so-called ‘square’ architecture. The engine is said to be square when the piston stroke is similar to the diameter of the cylinder (bore), an arrangement which allows large-diameter valves to be housed in the cylinder head for more efficient filling of the combustion chambers. This helps performance. Other measures are transverse water flow cooling technique that allows for a smaller, less energy-consuming water pump. This has been combined with a double water jacket arrangement for the cylinder head.

Super-finishing and special surface treatments as well as UFLEX oil control ring technology also feature in the Energy. The U-shaped geometry is highly flexible and enables the ring to adapt to bore distortion to achieve the best compromise between efficiency and friction. “The principle is comparable with that of a multi-blade razor. It adapts naturally to the contour without having to exert high pressure on the cylinder wall. The result is maximum efficiency and less friction,” Coblence explains.

This ‘unprecedented high-tech package’ contains over 30 patents, according to Renault. Of course, existing tech from higher up engines such as VGT, Stop & Start plus cold-loop, low-pressure exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) are present. Alliance partner Nissan, which co-funded this project, should also benefit greatly from it.

35 Comments      

Renault Twizy – looking to bowl over the scooter crowd

May 13, 2011 at 8:51 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Renault

Renault has announced the pricing and opened reservations for its electric Twizy, which is due to go on sale at the end of the year in Europe. There are three versions in all, a 5hp model called the Twizy 45 and two 17 hp variants, the Urban and Technic.

The Twizy 45, as its numerical moniker suggests, has a speed capped at 45 kph, which means it can be driven without a licence in certain countries. With pricing starting from 6,990 Euros for the model, its price – in Europe – also means that young drivers will now be able to afford a vehicle that is safer than a two-wheeler.

As for the faster (80 kph) Twizy twins, which happen to be on display at the ongoing Barcelona Motor Show, the tax-paid prices for the Urban and Technic will start from 7,690 Euros and 8,490 Euros respectively, with a monthly tax-paid cost of the battery lease for both versions being 49 Euros.

The four-wheeled Twizy sits two occupants in tandem, one behind the other like on a scooter or a bike, with wraparound bodywork and side deflectors to ensure enjoyable open-air motoring, but protected from the elements.

Renault adds that it offers greater safety compared with a two-wheeled vehicle, thanks to an extensive list of active and passive safety features. It also allows easier parking, with its compact dimensions (it’s 2,337 mm long, 1,191 mm wide and 1,461 mm tall). The Twizy sits on 13-inch wheels, which wear 125×80 front and 145×80 rear rubbers.

The Twizy’s lithium-ion battery fully charges in just 3.5 hours using a domestic electrical supply via a spiral cable stowed behind a flap at the front. Twizy’s low weight (450kg, including the 100kg battery) helps it get an operational range of around 100 km per charge.

Accessories for the vehicle include an all-purpose, 50 litre capacity bag, a Parrot audio kit (including Bluetooth connectivity, plus a USB connector, a jack socket and an Apple connector), rear parking sensors, additional protection against the weather and a range of customisation options such as coloured alloy wheels and decals, stuff that’ll make your ride Twizy to spot. Sorry, couldn’t resist!
[Read more...]

15 Comments