One of Europe’s finest hot hatches is about to get better as Renault is readying a new edition of the Megane RS that will be unveiled to the world on June 17, 2011. The French carmaker released a teaser video of the car from the test runs at the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany.
However, that’s about all Renault is willing to reveal for now so we’ll have to wait and see what kind of upgrades the car will feature and if a power boost and / or a weight reduction and chassis enhancements are part of the package.
Selling a car through advertising isn’t as easy as you might think. What good is it showing your product nimbly taking on Alpine twists and turns when your competitors are doing the same thing? Here are two ads that don’t really break the mould, but try something a little different.Read more »
Race car drivers are a funny bunch. In this video, we see Brazilian Formula 1 driver and the nephew of the late three-time Formula One world champ Ayrton Senna, Bruno Senna, behind the wheel of the new Renault R30 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. “Oh,” you say in your most jaded tone, “How interesting.” Well it is interesting, as Senna is driving this 2,400 cc (146.5 cu in) single-handed while filming the action with a camera phone.Read more »
It was only a matter of time before someone edited a video of Vitaly Petrov’s spectacular exit from last week’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The Russian pilot of the LotusRenault F1 team ran too wide at a turn near the end of the race and as he tried to get inside the track again, he hit a bump on the grass that launched the race car high into the air.
The maker of the video thought the scene with the F1 car going airborne looked a lot like something you’d see in The Dukes of Hazzard, hence the audio background. For Petrov, the incident wasn’t as funny as the impact resulted in a broken steering column mount that forced him to retire from the race. Enjoy the clip after the break.
Evidently, the new Captur small crossover with the removable hardtop we told you about last week won't be the only concept model from Renault to hit the showroom floors of the Geneva Salon in less than two weeks time. A Youtube user managed to scoop a completely undisguised Renault study for a rather sporty looking compact MPV in Lisbon, Portugal. Judging by the black SUV with the camera hooked above the car, it was probably there for a photo shoot. Read more »
What woman wouldn’t falsely seduce another to steal her shirt? No, this isn’t another one of my sexist rants: it’s a (legitimate?) question posed by a Renault ad that has been banned in Italy.
The ad features two women – who I’ll refer to as the blonde and the brunette – who sneak off together for some hanky-panky bedroom fun. The brunette undresses; the blonde blindfolds her and steals her pink top, later comparing it to the color of her Renault Twingo Miss Sixty.
The automotive industry has seen many flops during its century-long existence, most of them due to poor thinking and execution. Every once in a while, though, some truly innovative vehicles receive the axe simply because they were ahead of their time.
Renault’s Avantime is one such an example. Built in cooperation with Matra, the coupe-MPV was unlike anything else on the road when it was launched in 2001. Unfortunately, buyers weren’t ready to embrace such a radical vehicle. Ironically, a decade later, oddities like the BMW X6 and Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet are on the verge of becoming trendsetters.
I don’t have children, but I bet school runs can become pretty boring. However, if parents could get their hands on a Renault Espace F1, I’m sure they'd sing to a different tune when they'd return back from school... Unveiled in 1995, this über-Espace was not your typical soccer-mom transporter. Created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the French MPV and Renault’s decade-long involvement in Formula 1, the concept was literally an F1 racer in disguise. Read more »
Former Russian President and now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is doing his best to remain in the spotlight. After his country decided to back the Renault F1 team, by branding it with Lada advertisements, Mr. Putin was invited to drive the R30 Formula One racer at a special event held in St. Petersburg. Video after the break. Read more »
In this latest promotional video, Renault shows us how the new 2010 Megane CC quickly transforms from a coupe to a convertible. As with the previous model, the new Megane CC features a large, two-piece retractable glass roof that folds away in the boot. Read more »
In a world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show on March 2, Renault will unveil its brand-new coupe-roadster, the Wind, and this here is the first video of that car. Even though its shares its underpinnings with the Twingo hatch, the Wind is 200mm longer and gets its own unique styling, and will be marketed separately.
The highlight of the small roadster is of course its novel electric roof that pivots open in 12 seconds, without having any effect on luggage space. You can watch the roof top in action in the video after the jump.
While not as insanely extreme as the Citroen 2CV - Ferrari F355 hybrid that we showed you back in May, this special creation from French custom car and motorcycle builder Lazareth is one helluva creation. Evidently inspired by the competition Renault Megane Trophy and the Clio V6 Renault Sport, the Twingo Trophy is one of those cars that you'd be tempted to take for a spin even though it doesn't make much sense.
The French tuner took a base first-generation Twingo mini and turned it into a track-racer by throwing out the puny, front-mounted stock engine and installing a Range-Rover-sourced 3.5-liter V8 with 180 horsepower behind the front seats. Power is transferred to the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual gearbox.
Of course, transforming a city car into a mid-engined sports car isn't that simple as Lazareth had to modify the Twingo's chassis by adding a rear tubular subframe, replacing the suspension and brakes and widening the front and rear tracks just to mention a few of the changes. It also rides on 18-inch Toora alloy wheels wrapped in Yokohama slick tires size 230 up front and... 320 at the back.
Other highlights include the matte gray exterior paint finish and the 'sported-up' interior that boasts a pair of MOMO bucket seats, sport steering wheel and new digital gauges. And the price for all this? Well, according to Lazareth's site, the Twingo Trophy V8 could be yours for €70,000 or about $105,000 US. Who said that grown mens toys come cheap...
