Archive for Renault

TC Eurokars Sdn Bhd had a public preview of four Renault models at its Jalan Semangat showroom on the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of March 2008. The models displayed were the Renault Megane R26 Renault Sport, the Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet, The Renault Clio RS and the Renault Grand Espace. Reader Al Maarof shares with us some photos snapped of the cars.

The Renault Clio RS has a different 2.0 engine than the one found in the normal 2.0 liter Clio III. While the Clio III used new 2.0 liter Renault M engine (essentially the Nissan MR20DE), the Renault Clio RS uses the F4R - an older 2.0 liter engine in the Renault stables, but one that revs high and produces 197 horsepower at 7,250rpm, and 215Nm of torque at 5,550rpm. Matced to a 6-speed manual, it hits 100km/h in 6.9 seconds.

The other hot hatch is the Renault Megane R26 with a torsion beam rear, powered by a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine making 230 horsepower at 5,500rpm and 310Nm of torque at 3,000rpm. 0 to 100km/h takes 6.5 seconds with a 6 speed manual. If you look after the jump you’ll see the car’s huge brakes at the front. TC Eurokars indicates this one will come in at about RM235,000 in the second half of 2008.

The less hot Megane you will see after the jump is the Megane Coupe-Cabriolet which features a foldable hard top. It’s 2.0 liter normally aspirated engine makes 135 horses at 5,500rpm and 191Nm of torque at 3,750rpm, paired to a 4-speed auto.

The last car is an MPV - the Renault Grand Espace. This is a replacement model of the NGV-powered third generation Espace used as KLIA taxis we see here in KL. Its turbocharged 2.0 liter engine puts out 170 horses at 5,000rpm and 270Nm of torque at 3,200rpm. It features 6 airbags and seats 7 with independent seats for all passengers.

Check out more photos after the jump.

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Renault’s agency Publicis produced this “Parts” advertisement for the new Renault Megane. It shows a mad rush of multiple similiar parts rushing down the corridors to be installed into the new Renault Megane Renaultsport 230 F1 Team R26. Kind of like how humans are produced actually - only the best makes it through

View the ad after the jump.

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Renault will display the high performance Renault Laguna GT at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. The Renault Laguna GT will be available in two bodystyles, the Hatch and Sport Tourer and the car will feature Renault’s new Active Drive with four-wheel steering.

The GT can be had with either a 2.0 dCi turbodiesel producing 180 horsepower at 3,750rpm and 400Nm of torque at 2,000rpm, or a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine producing 205 horses at 5,000rpm and 300Nm of torque from 3,000rpm.

Brakes have been uprated to 320mm discs at the front and 300mm discs at the rear, and the wheels together to accomodate the larger brakes. The Laguna GT uses 18 inch Celsium design alloy wheels wrapped with 225/45R18 Bridgestone Potenza tyres.

On the interior you get leather/alcantara sports seats with the GT logo embossing, drilled aluminium pedals, aluminium gearknob and GT steering wheel.

Full specs, photos and technical info will be released later sometime closer to April 2008 when the Renault Laguna GT will be launched in the UK.

More photos after the jump.

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Another variant of the Renault Logan has been launched, one with a pick-up body, making total variants now up to 4 - a sedan, a station wagon (Logan MCV with windows and Logan VAN without windows), a hatchback (Sandero) and now a pick-up.

The 4500mm long, 1740mm wide and 1550mm tall Logan pickup has an internal luggage compartment of 300 liters. The pick-up bed fits objects as long as 1880mm. The rear opening width is 1200mm, and maximum payload is 800kg.

Under the hood is a choice of one petrol engine or two 1.5 DCi turbodiesel engines. The petrol engine is a 8 valve 1.6 liter that makes 90 horses at 5,500rpm and a peak torque of 128Nm. The 1.5 DCi is available in two stages of tune: 70 hoses and 85 horses. All engines are mated to a 5-speed manual.

More photos after the jump.

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Renault has taken a similiar step as its fellow French manufacturers Citroen and Peugeot in producing an SUV with the help of a Japanese car manufacturer. Citroen and Peugeot recently launched the Citroen C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007 twins, which are essentially reskinned Mitsubishi Outlanders.

The new Renault Koleos (to be sold as the Renault Samsung QMX in South Korea) is based on the Nissan X-Trail platform and even uses the same suspension system, which is a MacPherson-type front suspension and a fully-independent multilink rear suspension. The Koleos is basically another fruit of the Nissan-Renault Alliance.

It is marketed as a crossover and has crossover-like styling instead of outright rugged SUV styling, and like most crossovers that are intended to stay in the urban jungle, comes in 4X2 as well as a 4X4 drivetrain. The design first made its debut as a concept at the 2006 Paris Motor Show.

It is available with either a 2.5 liter 175 horsepower inline-4 petrol engine or two M9R 2.0 liter dCi Euro 4 turbodiesel engines that come in either 150 horsepower, 320Nm torque or 175 horsepower, 360Nm torque versions. The turbodiesel engines feature piezoelectric injectors, common-rail 1,600-bar fuel injection, and water-cooled variable-geometry turbochargers. Transmission choices include a 6-speed manual, or a CVT transmission.

The 4X4 drivetrain powers the front wheels most of the time, and channels power to the rear only when necessary, up to a split of 50:50. There is a Hill Start Assist feature for gradients of more than 10%, and also a Hill Descent Control feature that holds the car at 8km/h when going down steep hills. Ground clearance is 188mm for the diesel models and 206mm for the petrol version.

The Renault Koleos will make its official public debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show in March 2008. More photos and a video after the jump.

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Renault is the latest car manufacturer to join the dual clutch transmission club, however no launch date, no specs and pretty much nothing else was revealed. All that was revealed to motoring publications by Renault’s head of product planning Patrick Pelata is that “they are on their way and we will not come too late.”

Although Renault’s usage of dual clutch transmissions will mainly be to cut fleet CO2 emissions, we could see some of Renault’s best hot hatches equipped with the ultra fast shifting twin clutch gearboxes, like the Renault Clio Renaultsport 197 and the Renault Megane Renaultsport 225 (shown above).

The latest Renault hatch to get the Renaultsport treatment is the Twingo. The full details on the Twingo Renaultsport will only be revealed at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, but Renault has released a few photos of the car, together with a some information on what will power the car and how much power it makes.

A 1,598cc normally aspirated engine putting out 133 horsepower together with finely balanced handling and the general zippiness of a short wheelbase hatchback is a formula that’s hard to go wrong with!

One more rear view photo after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Renault Twingo Renaultsport 1.6L with 133 horses

Renault is looking into making a budget car even cheaper than the Renault Logan, and its production base and initial market will be India, home of the Rs 1-Lakh car project. Renault wants its new budget car to cost US$3,000 - about Rs 1.19 Lakh.

“The big question is what will have to be done to bring this car up to export quality. It will have to be modified, sure — and what will be the cost of these modifications so it’s viable? Logically, Brazil would be a natural market. Brazil is one of the strategic markets (for Renault) for the future, along with Russia, China and India,” said Renault chief Carlos Ghosn.

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The Renault Clio Sport Tourer based on the Clio III is one of the most compact estate cars on the market. It has the same wheelbase as the hatchback at 2,575mm but has a 216mm longer rear overhang because of its estate rear.

The 439 liter boot can be extended to 1277mm when you fold the split fold rear seats down. The shape of the rear bumper and the low sill height of 581mm allows easy boot access with no protuberances. The boot has a removable floor flap, which when removed increases boot space by a further 72 liters.

Three petrol engines and three diesel engines are available. The baseline petrol units is a 75 horsepower 1.2 liter 16 valve. This is the manual model - when equipped with a robotized manual transmission (similiar to our Savvy AMT) the engine is tuned up to produce 80 horsepower. Next in line is a 100 horsepower 1.2 liter 16V turbocharged engine, with a peak torque of 145Nm at 3,000rpm. I wonder if somehow someone could stuff this engine into a Savvy. The top of the range gasoline in a 1.6 liter 16V with 110 horsepower and 151Nm of torque at 4,250rpm.

Oil burners are all 1.5 liter DCi engines in different stages of tune - 70 horsepower with 160Nm of torque, 85 horsepower with 200Nm of torque and 105 horsepower with 240Nm of torque.

Watch a video and see more photos after the jump.

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The Renault Sandero is essentially a 5-door hatchback version of the Renault Logan with relatively better styling. The car will make its debut in the Brazilian market, with Argentina set to get the car next in February 2007. Later in 2008, it will reach the European market and Maghreb, and South Africa is set to get the car in 2009.

The Brazilian world debut is natural as the car is a co-development project by Brazilian RTA (Renault Technologies Americas) that began in 2005. Naturally, being a Brazilian market car it has a 1.6 liter 8V flex-fuel engine option, which complements the normal 1.0 16V and 1.6 16V engines.

More photos after the jump.

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