Tag Archives: Renault

Renault Announces 2 Entry-Level Rally Cars

Renault has announced two Twingo based rally cars, meant to race in low-level rallying while still being good daily drivers. These are the Twingo RenaultSport R1 and Twingo RenaultSport R2.

They both come equipped with a four-cylinder 1.6L engine, putting out 160hp and 160nm of torque, 27hp more than the stock Twingo. The engine has been hooked up to a five-speed sequential gearbox with a dog clutch and wheel-mounted shifter (Not to be mistaken for paddle-shifters, the shifter is simply mounted to the steering column).

The exterior gets very little changes, just an optional roof mounted air intake as well as some new wheels.

The interior gets quite a few changes though. There are racing seats and harnesses, an LED instrument panel, roll cage, and racing wheel. There are also quite a few bits missing compared to the standard model, for the sake of saving weight.

The kit will cost about $40,000, but you need a standard Twingo to apply the kit to, which will set you back another $16,000 or so. Not too cheap if you ask me.

That’s why there’s the R1. The R1 is supposed to be a cheaper version of the R2 kit. They’ve removed some things like adjustable suspension and a limited slip differential to make it cheaper. Renault hasn’t released pricing on the R1 yet though.

Source: WorldCarFans

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Dacia Duster Revealed

Prices haven't been released yet but expect it to be very good value for money.

More great news from the country I live in, Romania, Dacia has revealed their road-going crossover : the Duster. After announcing that they will race it in the Trophee Andros with ace racing driver Alain Prost at the wheel, Dacia has now officially revealed their biggest car yet.

It’s also Dacia’s first ever crossover and a project quite thoroughly developed. Development started with the Duster Concept released earlier this year and then the surprise announcement of it going ice racing. The Duster will be available in two-wheel drive as well as four-wheel drive. You will be able to choose from the 108bhp 1.6-litre 16V petrol engine or 84bhp and 104bhp 1.5-litre diesels. Quite asthmatic indeed but this car isn’t meant to be sporty or fast, it’s just made to give you exactly what you’ve paid for. It’s also quite a big car at 4.31 metres long and 1.82 metres wide but don’t think that it will be rubbish off-road as a result. Dacia say that it’s a genuine off-roader when equiped with 4wd  as it has 20cm of ground clearance, a 30 degree approach angle and a 35 degree departure angle.

Dacia hasn’t said yet if they will send this in the UK as Renault (the company that owns the Dacia brand) decided they won’t ship it to the UK. However, they stated that the fact remains a possibility and if it they were to start selling cars there, they would only offer the Sandero and the Duster, not the Logan.

The Duster surprises us with funky details like this carved boot lid, a thing you don't expect from a car made on a budget.

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Renault Launches Two New Entry Level Models

Renault has launched new entry-level models of the Laguna Coupe and Megane Sport Tourer.

The entry-level model of the Laguna Coupe is called the Laguna Coupe TomTom. It is based on the dCi 150 model, with sat-nav, automatic parking brake and chrome finished centre console now included as standard.

Other standard features include 18-inch alloy wheels, eight airbags, automatic lights and wipers, dual zone climate control and rear parking sensors. It is available to order now (Providing you live anywhere where Renault sells their cars, unlike me) for £19,995 (About 33,000 USD). First deliveries will begin in January.

As for the Megane Sport Tourer, there will be a new Extreme trim. This will be an entry-level trim available on the 1.6 100 and 1.5 dCi 86 models. Standard features will include air conditioning, electric front windows and stability control. This is also available to order now, starting at £14,935 (About 25,000 USD). Deliveries will begin around the same time as the Laguna Coupe TomTom.

I’m just wondering why they’d call an entry-level model “Extreme”. It’s like calling the Tata Nano the Tata SuperSportPlus. It just sounds strange. Though maybe Extreme suggests Extremely Cheap.

Source: Autocar

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Video: Alain Prost Drives the Duster Ice Racer

A few weeks ago I wrote an article on the blog about the Dacia Duster Ice Racer that was set to race in the Trophee Andros cup. Well, the guys have been busy at work testing it, including former Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost . As a result, we are now able to bring you some videos of the thing.

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Great news! Dacia is set to race the Duster

The new Duster racer is quite a beautiful machine.

Well great news indeed (at least for me), as Dacia has announced that it is set to race its Duster model in an ice racing series called Trophee Andros.

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Renault Reveals Plans for Lada

Renault, who has a 25 percent stake in Avtovaz, the parent company of Lada, has revealed its plans for Lada.

It’s plans for a hatchback based on the Concept C (Pictured above) have been canned to focus on improving the current range.

Renault will be trying to improve the quality of the Lada Kalina. Russian cars are known for their lack of quality, so this is a good thing to focus on. New cars will eventually be rolled out, around 2012-2014 according to Renault. There will be cars based on Renault-Nissan platforms. They want to concentrate on the Kalina first.

The Russian government is urging Renault to invest money in Avtovaz, but Renault is resisting and says their contribution is “through technology, equipment, know-how and platforms”.

Avtovaz was hit quite badly by the recession, with new cars sales in Russia down 57 percent and down 75 percent in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are some of Lada’s biggest markets. They were going to sack 27,000 workers to save money, but the Russian government stepped in and provided cash, some of which will go towards developing new models.

Source: Autocar

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The New Fiat Doblo

Fiat Doblo

The latest edition of Fiat’s family bus was launched. And can I first say, although quite embarrassed, that it’s quite a handsome looking thing although not as good as the new Citroen C3 Picasso. But let’s get back to the facts.

When on sale it will be offered with four engines: a 94bhp petrol, and three diesels with 89bhp, 104bhp and 133bhp. It sounds ok for a car like this but 89bhp does sound a bit depressing. But these types of 7-seater cars never seem to be anything other than depressing. Well, I don’t think this is the case here, you see this is made by Italians. I’m not suggesting in any way that it’s passionate or any other thing that some Italian cars are but it’s not as bad as a Renault Espace for example.

Fiat Doblo

The interesting thing is that it will be offered with a dual fuel engine which will work on petrol or methane. There will also be a new diesel later with a paddle shift gearbox. No comment on the dual fuel engine, that sounds ok but a paddle shifter? On a 7-seat family car? Who is going to buy that?  Another good thing for the family oriented motorist is the start-stop system which will come as standard. And it’s ecological too with only 129g/km of CO2.

Unfortunately, Fiat hasn’t announced the prices yet.

Source: Autocar

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Renaultsport To Take Over Renault's GT Range

Renault’s in-house tuner, as well as the division responsible for their Formula 1 team, Renaultsport, has taken up yet another task for their already busy schedule. They will now be responsible for the GT range.

One of the first projects they could be working on include a successor to the Renault Laguna GT. It is currently in production, but it isn’t going through very great success, and some areas of Europe aren’t getting it anymore, so a successor would make sense. Should be interesting to see what GT cars Renaultsport will come up with, they’re capable of some very good stuff.

Source: Autoblog

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