It has been rumoured for years that Renault may be looking at introducing a car in the spirit of “Le Car”, the popular R5 of the ’80s. Although Renault has confirmed that the Twin’Run previews the look of its future city compact, you shouldn’t get too excited just yet. For now the Twin’Run is a pure flight-of-fancy concept, with real racing car genes, including a tubular chassis and a 240 kW mid-mounted V6 from the Mégane Trophy. Suitably, Renault has decided on the Monaco GP for the launch venue…
Penned by Renault’s highly acclaimed design chief, Laurens van den Acker, the Twin’Run is both modern, with a neat wheels-at-the-corner stance, yet also rekindles the spirit of the original R5 with those squared-off headlights and compact dimensions. The “5” on the doors refers to the R5 Turbo, the iconic wide-hipped rally car of the ’80s.
“Twin’Run embodies the mad genius Renault has been known for over the decades, to the delight of motor sports enthusiasts. No one has forgotten the R5 Turbo and the Clio V6. Twin’Run is the true heir of those racing cars that had so much appeal,” said Axel Breun, Head of Concept Car Design.
Featuring a chassis developed by the experts at Tork Engineering / Poclain Vehicules, a French firm specialising in the preparation competition cars, the Twin’Run is a real racing car. The bodywork is in glass-polyester composite that covers a multi-tube steel chassis and a mid-mounted engine. Carbon fibre is used for the front blade, roof, rear vent and wheel arches.
Powering the Twin’Run is the V4Y engine from the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which is also used for the Laguna, Espace and Latitude but also in competition with the Mégane Trophy. Mounted longitudinally ahead of the rear axle centre-line, the 3,5-litre V6 delivers around 240 kW at 6 800 r/min and torque of 380 N.m at 4 850 r/min. The engine is mated to a SADEV six-speed sequential gearbox with limited slip differential. The twin metallic clutch is also borrowed directly from competition. Renault claims a 0-100 km/h time of 4,5 seconds and a 250 km/h top speed.
Although a reborn R5 seems increasingly likely to replace the Twingo, one can only hope that this Twin’Run concept actually previews a production car in the spirit of the original R5 Turbo, especially now that Renault appears to have given up on the Clio V6.
