200. That’s a mighty big number for such a tiny car, but it’s the horsepower figure that Renaultsport’s latest hot hatch packs beneath its bonnet. And while it may be only three measley horses more than the 197 version on which it’s based and replaces, Renault’s performance and motorsport division has worked to improve [...]
Is this the next Renault Clio? A spy shot forum has posted grainy black-and-white renderings of what could be the basis of the 2011 hatchback. While the protruding nostrils raise eyebrows, from the front and rear 3/4-view the car has an engaging line, the Mazda-like upswept creases moving nicely from stem to stern, wavelike. From [...]
The FIA International Court of Appeal has just ruled that the “Diffuser 3″ can continue on with their current shapely backsides, much to the chagrin of Formula 1 competitor Ferrari (among others). The Court had met in Paris to respond to a challenge issued by Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault, which questioned whether or not [...]
Amidst a wave of reshuffles at several automakers’ design departments recently (including Hyundai, Volvo, Ford and BMW), Laurens van den Acker’s departure from Mazda earlier this month caught people by surprise. The talented Dutch designer, only 43, had steered Mazda’s distinctive styling language for the past several years, after having designed for Ford in Dearborn, [...]
Reports of Renault’s plan to relaunch the decades-old Gordini moniker just got a lot more interesting. The first model from the French automaker is due in 2010 and will be based on the Twingo hatchback, with the Gordini version slotting just above the already available Renaultsport model. Following closely thereafter will be performance-oriented versions of [...]
Nissan appears to feel the electricity in the air, and has said it is open to selling its EV to retail consumers two years ahead of schedule. That doesn’t mean it will go on sale everywhere — said a Nissan rep, “if a market is ready for it, we’ll go ahead earlier.” When it does [...]
Pretty soon, it seems like the start of Nürburgring lap time season will take its place on motorsports calendars the same way you find with Formula 1 and NASCAR. The ‘Ring season officially began last week, and the title card pitted the 2009 Ford Focus RS against the Renaultsport Megane R26.R. The Ford’s numbers are [...]
If Britain follows Germany’s lead and adopts a scrap-your-old-car incentive, it looks like the first company to pounce will could be Romania’s Dacia. Renault, which owns Dacia, had planned to launch its brand in the U.K. last summer, but then backtracked.
Thankfully, the bargain brand’s fortunes improved when Germany’s car scrapping incentive took effect yielding an [...]