Renault

The boys are back! After their LOCHdown special, which aired back in July, this year’s next Grand Tour Special, which is also their Christmas Special dubbed Carnage A Trois, dwells a little deeper into French cars. Owing to the lockdowns which would have been in place when this film was made, the Grand Tour team really couldn’t venture far to some exotic locales like Brazil or Namibia. So instead, they had to stick within the confines of the U.K. Nevertheless, the trailer does look pretty darn exciting.

James May is at it again, this time taking us on a tour of yet another one, of his quirky cars, that the man owns. This one is a classic MAY Review that we have come to enjoy over the years. He goes over his Alpine A110 S, giving his unique perspective, highlighting details about the car that you might otherwise miss.

Being the ideal model for Renault’s “Drive the Future” plan, the Captur is one of the best-selling small-SUV across Europe after its first launch in 2013. The new Captur arrives with revised mechanics, updated looks, and it is more practical and tech-heavy. But should you consider it over the Kia Niro and Mazda CX-3? Let’s find out.

Renault unveiled the 2021 Mégane E-Tech at the IAA in Munich. It is the French brand’s very first all-electric crossover with a range of up to 292 miles. Is it a big first step forward or does it leave more to be desired?

The trend of Retro modding has really taken off over the past few years. It was only last week that we got you a story on the Gemballa Marsien, designed by Alan Derosier. Well, Alan has now worked his magic on yet another icon. This car is one of the most celebrated Class B rally cars of not just the ’80s, but of all time. The Renault R5 Turbo. Renault themselves are yet to give us a successor to the Turbo 2 from the 80s. However, until that happens, Alan has co-founded his company, Legende Automobiles to give us the unofficial successor to that 80s rally icon. Feast your eyes on the R5 Turbo 3.

Renault is in the midst of rebranding its performance vehicles. It has already announced that Renault Sport is becoming Alpine and all of its future performance cars will bear the Alpine name. Alpine currently offers one model – the A110, which is powered by a 1.8-liter turbocharged inline-four with up to 288 horsepower. We already know that an EV version of the A110 is in the making and it’s going to be joined by at least two other models. Back in January, we were, once again, teased by Renault with three future Alpine EV models.

Renault recently revealed the 5 Prototype – the car that will eventually revive the Renault 5 name. Before that, however, Renault revealed the Megane eVision concept, which not only served as a visual representation of the company’s future plans but as a basis for the new prototype that you see here: The Renault Megane E-Tech or Renault MeagneE for short. It’s not a production model just yet, but one of 30 prototypes that Renault is putting into the testing phase as it prepares for (hopefully) a 2022 launch.

It is official. The performance division of Renault will no longer be called Renault Sport but Alpine. The Renault Sport name will no longer be present on the Formula One grid, as the team is becoming a part of the “Alpine Business Unit”. Since the entity incorporates all performance and motorsport aspects of the Renault brand, this means that the performance versions of Renault, like the Megane RS, will be under the Alpine name going forward.

Hot hatchbacks are arguably the most popular performance cars, because of their balance between sport and practicality. One of Europe’s most notable representatives of the segment is the Renault Megane RS. The version has enjoyed a substantial fan base, for three generations now, and being co-developed with Renault Williams means it can take some punishment on racetracks. There’s a reason why the Megane RS is one of the main car choices for race driver schools, across Europe.

A digital artist has created a modernized rendering of the Renault Espace F1, and it’s got us itching for one. The rendering is based on the concept model that Renault unveiled at the 1994 Paris Motor Show to celebrate the nameplate’s 10th anniversary and the French automaker’s involvement in Formula One. Nothing came out of the Espace F1, but 27 years later, it’s still fondly remembered as one of the gnarliest minivan concept vehicles ever showcased at an auto show.

The 2021 Renault 5 Prototype is a concept car that the French automaker unveiled during the presentation of its "Renaulution" strategic plan in January 2021. A modern tribute to the iconic Renault 5 produced from 1972 to 1996, the Renault 5 Prototype previews a production model that will arrive by 2025. The modern Renault 5 will be one of seven all-electric vehicles that the French brand wants to launch over the next four years, but apparently it won’t replace the Zoe or the Clio. What makes the Renault 5 Prototype special and how much of it will go into production? Let’s find out in the review below.

Rumors claiming that Renault will turn Alpine into an all-electric brand have been confirmed today. The French automaker announced that the marque most famous for the A110 sports will focus on EV vehicles for the future. Renault also released a teaser image that previews three upcoming Alpine models, a small hatchback, a compact crossover, and a brand-new sports car. All are connected to charging stations, so all three will feature battery-powered electric motors. But the French also announced that the sports car will be co-developed with Lotus.

There are moments when a carmaker’s ambitions go way beyond its financial or technological powers. But in pursuing said ambitions, only a select few companies managed to overcome any difficulties and deliver amazing car.

Take Renault, for example. Back in the late 70s and early 80s, the French firm simply couldn’t afford to fully develop a rally race car from the ground up. So it had to work with what it had, in this case the humble Renault 5, which through massive modding gave the raucous Renault R5 Turbo.

Renault is outlining its EV mobility plan with a sleek-looking concept called eVision which heralds the use of a new battery pack, “one of the thinnest on the market.” The production model derived from the concept will sit on the CMF-EV platform, but it’ll take at least one year before we see it in the metal.

Germany is setting a new standard when it comes to encouraging people into cleaner cars and the distribution of EV grant money. The government is currently offering a €6,000 grant for the purchase of a new EV and, thanks to the way things are set up, this means you can lease a brand new Renault Zoe without paying a penny. Here’s how it works.

Renault, like all other automakers, were forced to skip the Geneva Motor Show, but that sure didn’t stop it from unveiling what will probably be written in history as the weirdest futuristic concept of 2020. The Morphoz is, essentially, a vehicle that can transform based on range need, from a shorter, city car to a longer travel car. It sounds like the Morphoz will be a city car by default and would require you to stop by a station and swap to a larger battery if you plan to take a longer trip. The batteries, whether in the car or not, will be used to power infrastructure when not in use. I tend to speak too soon about a lot of things, but I’m going to come right out and say that this thing will never see production, but it could represent the future of automobiles, so here’s what you need to know about it.

Revealed at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, the current-generation Renault Megane R.S. is due for its mid-life nip and tuck. The coming of such a revamped model is backed up by a set of photos sent it by our spy photographers, who caught the French hot hatch completely free of camouflage during what looks a lot like a pre-production test run.

In all fairness, we don’t expect Renault to operate a lot of changes on the facelifted Megane R.S., which is already a mature model both in terms of exterior design and drivetrain. The cockpit, however, does leave some room for improvement especially in the technology and material quality areas. Renault knows this all too well and is surely working to tweak things in this regard, but take a closer look at the spy shots and you’ll spot a couple of other cosmetic changes as well. Let’s check them out.

Powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder that’s good for 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, the Megane R.S. Trophy-R is, hands down, the most hardcore Megane ever created. It features unique styling outside like the new hood, body wrap, and red accenting but also has a few interior upgrades as well, sans the requirement that you stick with the smaller infotainment screen. More importantly, Renault managed to shed some 130 kilo off the weight of the standard Megane R.S., so it’s capable of springing to 62.1 mph or 100 kph in as little as 5.4 seconds before topping out at 262 kph or 163 mph. Since we didn’t give the R.S. Trophy-R that much attention, we decided to make it our wallpaper of the day. We’ve added our favorite below, but there’s a whole gallery at the bottom for you to choose from too!

Renault radically changed the formula for its third-generation Twingo city runabout. The first- and second-gen Twingos were front-engined, front-wheel drive, three-door cars (and the second one even had a proper hot hatch variant). For its third generation, though, Renault completely changed things around, making the Twingo a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive, five-door model.

Further differentiating it from its predecessors was its design. Whereas the two previous Twingo incarnations were styled to look as modern and fresh as possible, the current Twingo has a retro-inspired look that owes everything to the iconic Renault 5. And it really works - the Twingo is cute, tasteful and, even though there are other retro-inspired cars out there, it’s among the most successful from a visual standpoint.

But it too isn’t especially new, as it was launched back in 2015 and was recently given its mid-lifecycle refresh. Renault didn’t change anything major, though; the refresh has changed the front and rear bumpers, the headlights, as well as added some extra interior customization options. One of the engines available for the Twingo also gets a power boost courtesy of the facelift and some extra tech has been added too.

But overall, it’s still the same fresh looking car that attracted a lot of attention back when it was launched. That attention didn’t really translate into it becoming a sales hit, yet you still see a fair few of them scuttling around Europe’s major cities (the Fiat 500 is still king in this respect and the Twingo didn’t manage to dethrone it).

Renault unveiled an all-new generation of its Captur crossover at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, but it wasn’t really on many people’s radar, even though the previous generation model sold over 1.5 million units since its introduction. So the new Captur is a really rather important model for Renault; it’s not terribly exciting for automotive journos or enthusiasts, but as a car people are actually going to buy, it is quite significant.

Renault has been selling the current Megane unchanged since the current generation was launched back in 2016. Then, it attracted a lot of attention with its bold LED daytime running lights, wrap-around rear light clusters (that almost created a full-width light bar) and upmarket-feeling interior with its large portrait-style touchscreen infotainment screen.

Now, the manufacturer has brought the Megane in for its midlife makeover, in order to keep it looking fresh and to bring its look in line with that of newer models in the range (like the all-new generation Clio subcompact). The facelifted Megane features redesigned headlights (with a different but equally bold LED signature), a revised grille and front bumper, as well as a new rear light cluster design; the rear bumper may also be different, but if so, then the difference is so subtle we can’t really spot it.

Its interior has also been updated, but the biggest change can be found under the revised Megane’s hood. Hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains will be offered for the first time, as Renault continues the quest to electrify as much of its range as possible - this was to be expected, though, since the new Clio can also be had as a hybrid, so electrifying the Megane was a logical next step.

The 2019 Renault Megane R.S. Trophy-R is about as close as it gets to being the cap stone for the front-wheel drive hot hatch pyramid. It is the most extreme version of the current Megane RenaultSport and it makes the regular model look tame and watered down by comparison.

It is the even more extreme version of the Megane R.S. 300 Trophy, which, in turn, is more hardcore than the base Megane RenaultSport. The 300 Trophy already has plenty of go-faster mods, such as a standard Torsen limited-slop differential, a stiffer suspension setup complete with trick dampers that feature a hydraulic bumptstop, as well as bigger brakes and extra power extracted out of its 1.8-liter turbo four-cylinder.

The Trophy-R takes things a step further: most of its performance gain comes from the weight shedding of 130 kilograms (286 pounds) and some enhanced aero. Renault engineers also removed the 4Control four-wheel steering system not only to make the car lighter, but to also give it a more consistent feel when driven quickly around a track. This and other mods result is a car that currently holds the front-wheel drive lap record around the Nurburgring Nordschleife, which is no surprise, because that’s what it was designed to do (and also be the quickest and most focused vehicle of its type).

It’s also definitely got future classic written all over it. Only 500 examples will be made, all with a manual six-speed gearbox, stripped out interior (with a deleted back seat) and unique graphics. The high asking price might put some off it, but for those hardcore enthusiasts who are willing to spend more than 50 percent more on a Trophy-R than they would on the regular RenaultSport Megane (in order for the car to come fitted with the Nürburgring Record Pack), the difference will be worth it.

The Renault Megane has a rich history and purists love this car for its performance-oriented drivetrain and that it can be chucked around corners with ease. The latest iteration is the Megane R.S. Trophy-R. This little pocket-rocket recently added a badge to its accolades by becoming the fastest ever front-wheel-drive production car to have lapped the Mecca of circuits - the Nurburgring - in 7 minutes and 40.1 seconds. For your information, this is a limited-edition car and only 500 of the same will be produced. Need we say anything more?