Fifth Gear—yes, that’s still going—has come up with a 21st century Prost v Senna battle by getting Nico Prost and Bruno Senna to race each other in a hot hatch track test. It’s son of Alain in the Renault Megane RS275 Trophy R and nephew of Ayrton in the Audi S3. The track is Snetteron and this is what happens…
[Thanks to Tim for the tip]
The all-new Honda Civic Type R had an extremely long development cycle. It’s now been launched and has to go about living up to the hype Honda has generated.
Here Steve Sutcliffe from Auto Express takes the Type R to the tight Llandow Circuit in Wales to see how it compared with the Seat Leon Cupra 280 and the Renault Megane RS275 Trophy.
That’s all well and good, nobody would be surprised if the Type R was the quickest of that trio. But what if the Audi RS3 and BMW M3 are added to the list?
[Thanks to John for the tip]
Renault is bringing the Megane RS275 to Australia and we’re getting a fair whack of the limited edition model, too. Out of the 250 to be sold worldwide, 50 will be coming down under—Australia is one of the highest selling markets for Megane hot hatches.
As the image above suggests this car has lapped the Nürburgring Norschleife in under 8 minutes and lays claim to being the fastest front-wheel drive production car around the famed track money can buy. And to buy it in Australia you’ll need 61,990 monies.
For those monies you’ll get one RS275 Trophy R, with its race-tuned Ohlins suspension, super sticky Michelin rubber, crackly Akrapovic exhaust system and the weight saving benefits of throwing out the rear seat. Yep, the Trophy R is an out and out two-seater.
Also included in the asking price is the Nürburgring Accessory Kit, of which a Brembo brake kit, lightweight lithium-ion battery and six-point harness belts are the most notable items.
Australian deliveries of the RS275 Trophy R are scheduled for January 2015, so best get down to your local Froggie dealer soon if you want to be one of the 50 coolest hot hatch kids on the block.
This video showcasing eight seven of the best hot hatches money can buy is not perfect, but it is pretty cool. The clip was published by the Goodwood Road & Racing YouTube channel and features French racer Nic Minassian behind the wheel of four old and four new hot hatches, listed below:
Save for the GTD that makes for a very impressive line up of cars, all of which we would love to drive. And driving them all on the same day, on the same road, well, that would be a great day out.
Just don’t expect this clip to wow you with performance stats or hard data.
Renault’s latest limited edition example of the Megane hot hatch, the RS275, is now on sale in Australia and it will set you back $52,990. For those playing at home, that’s just $3,090 more than an Audi S1.
In exchange for your money Renault will oblige you with a finely tuned Megane riding on a Cup chassis and now with 202kW on tap from its 2.0 litre turbocharged four pot. You’ll be able to impress your mates by bragging about your Akrapovic exhaust, that’s if they don’t hear you coming first. It’s a Renault, so you get lots of in your face decals too. It must be fast, right, just look at all the pretty stickers!
Only 100 of these RS275 Trophy models will be offered for sale in Australia. It’s okay, though, if you miss out just wait until next year when the next limited edition hot Megane is up for grabs.
Less than 1100kg and 500hp+ with 600Nm+ thanks to a mid-mounted 3.8 litre twin turbo V6. They’re the headline stats from this fearsome looking Renault Sport RS01. It was revealed at the Moscow Motor Show a few days ago.
Based on the spectacular Alpine A110-50 the RS01 will be used for the track only and from 2015 will compete in the Renault Sport Trophy, as part of the World Series by Renault program.
Formula 1 legend and four-time world champion Alain Prost thinks the RS01 is tops, and that’s good enough for us. We think it’s tops too!
“Renault Sport RS01 is a spectacular racing car, in the purest tradition of GT,” said Prost. “With its high-level sporting capacities, Renault Sport RS01 illustrates the rich expertise of Renault Sport, and its ability to develop the racing cars that will reveal future GT or Endurance champions.”
The latest track battle from Evo is totally pointless, but that’s precisely what makes it compulsory viewing! Dicke Meaden, no stranger to a racetrack, pairs up the awesome Audi R8 V10 plus with the fesity little Renault Clio Cup racecar.
Taking a quick view at the basic specs of each the ingredients of the script are pretty self-explanatory. We’ve got a 540hp+ mid-engined supercar weighing in at around 1500kg, plus driver, against a 220hp race-prepped hot hatch tipping the scales at 1200kg, including driver, with the added benefit of competition-spec slick tyres.
Whatever happens, even if it goes to the script you’ve formulated already, this is just a cool video. What a great day at work it would have been for Meaden. Jealous much!
After one of his team’s most lack lustre grands prix in some time Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner made it clear where he thinks the blame rests for the under performing RB10.
Horner is clearly unhappy with the reliability of the Renault power unit. “It’s frustrating that we’re in the situation that we are,” he said, speaking to Autosport.
“We’ve won all the races and all the championships that we’ve achieved with Renault power. But the situation just isn’t improving at the moment.
“The reliability is unacceptable. The performance is unacceptable. There needs to be change at Renault. It can’t continue like this. It’s not good for Renault and it’s not good for Red Bull.
“We need to work together as partners. There will not be another engine in the back of the car next year, but we want to be competitive and we want to run at the front.”
For their part, Renault isn’t shying away from its responsibilities.
“The anxiety that Christian feels, and the frustration he feels after a result that is not at the full potential of the performance of car and power unit, is completely understandable and shared by us,” acknowledged Renault deputy managing director Rob White.
“But we are completely committed to making progress as fast as we possibly can and I think we have shown signs of progress before now. This is a process that is completely shared with Red Bull, and the objectives are known and understood.”
[Source: Autosport | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Renault has revealed details for its Nürburgring conquering Megane RS275 Trophy-R. This is the #UNDER8 car the French hot hatch masters have been preparing ever since Seat stole its front-wheel drive Nürburgring record.
Like the R26.R before it this Trophy-R sheds weight in the chase for performance. At 1297kg it is 79kg lighter than the regular RS275 Trophy. Weight loss has been achieved by chucking out the back seats altogether and replacing the fronts with lightweight Recaro racing numbers. A lithium-ion battery sheds 16kg, while model specific Brembo brakes save a further 3kg.
Other standard features for the Trophy-R include the noted Cup chassis, a limited-slip differential), an Akrapovic exhaust, Öhlins Road&Track adjustable dampers with composite springs and sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.
Power comes from the 2.0 litre turbo found in the Trophy and as the model name suggests provides 275hp (202kW).
Put all that together with a French bloke named Laurent Hurgon (Renault Sport test driver) and you can lap the Ring in 7 minutes 54.36 seconds. That’s four seconds quicker than that pesky Seat and an impressive 14 seconds faster than the RS265.
Only 250 Trophy-Rs will be made, with reports suggesting 50 will come to Australia at a price of around $65,000 each. That’s a fair allocation and testament to this country’s proven love of Renault Sport product.
More pics, detailed press material and, of course, video of the Trophy-R in action can be found below.
What do you do if some Spanish upstarts take away your Nürburgring record? You start a hashtag revolution and raid the aftermarket parts bins from some of the world’s best automotive suppliers, that’s what!
The net result is this new Renault Megane RS275 Trophy. As its name suggests it has 10 more horsepower than its RS265 donor car. If you like the 21st century there’s 202kW on tap. The addition of a titanium exhaust from Akrapovic has no doubt freed both power and decibels from the 2.0 litre turbo.
From here it starts to get a bit murkier. The goal is for the RS275 Trophy to lap the Nürburgring in #UNDER8 minutes. Or more specifically, faster than the 7:58.44 lap time set by the Seat Leon Cupra 280.
To help reach that target a few “optional” extra can be ticked when ordering your RS275. They include adjustable Ohlins suspension, lightweight Speedline 19″ alloys and super sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.
All through the press release we keep getting told this will be an exclusive limited edition model. However is not it stated what limited means. Limited to what they can sell, or limited to 200 cars as perhaps indicated on the photo of the model-specific door sills?
As to that lap record, we’ll have to wait until the middle of next month to see what this RS275 Trophy can do. And if you want to by one you won’t be getting your new car until at least October. It will be offered in Australia, although we suspect 2015 will be well and truly under way by the time that happens.
We’re just two races into the 2014 F1 season and already it’s clear that the Renault V6 power unit is the third of the three engine options available. And when you’ve got four constructors’ championship behind you you’re used to being the best. Right now Red Bull is not happy with its lot in this new V6 power unit era.
Predictably, then, Helmut Marko is throwing his weight around demanding Renault lifts its game, or else!
“If there is no noticeable improvement in two or three months, we will definitely be talking about an alternative,” Marko revealed in an interview with German publication Bild.
At this stage that’s a clear nod towards the Mercedes-Benz PU 106 A Hybrid which has so far proved to be the weapon of choice in 2014.
In order to try and fast track Renault’s work on its V6 power unit Red Bull has sent a representative each from Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso inside the French manufacturer’s F1 factory at Viry.
Red Bull has been using Renault engines since 2007.
[Source: The F1 Times | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Here’s your second batch of photos from the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, that makes it 155 photos in all. We start part 2 with the very cool Maserati Alfieri concept and end with the very cool Volvo Concept Estate. Cool!