#under8 is definitely the buzz hashtag with French car enthusiasts across the internet right now, after Renault announced it was aggressively targeting a new lap record for front-wheel drive production cars well under the 8-minute mark.
Having just received word from Renault Sport enthusiasts that the “Nurburgring lap record has been broken with a time 7:45” rumor was spreading like wildfire, we knew we had the perfect story to bring our hot hatch loving folks this weekend.
Since we know the new Megane RS special isn’t ready until this summer, this was a bit surprising to our ears. We did a bit of checking and found the rumor is actually a bit of a fisherman’s tale. What’s actually happening is engineers have let slip that they are targeting a time of 7 minutes and 45 seconds. At least two French website are scooping the story, with Caradisiac saying that the car is called the RS275R.
If Renault does manage to complete a hot lap in just 7:45, they will have beaten the rival SEAT Leon Curpa 280 by 13 seconds.
Now here comes the scary part. With that time, the RS275R will be as fast as an R8 V10 plus, faster than a Gallardo Superleggera or a BMW M3 GTS. We know they use good tires and a radical racing suspension, but how much weight did they take out of the car to make it faster than V10 supercars? Is this a racing car win number plates now?
If the rumors turn out to be true, we could be looking at a remake of the legendary R26.R that came out in 2008. The radical track tool had a roll cage, no seats in the back, no soundproofing and plexiglass windows.
Since we know the new Megane RS special isn’t ready until this summer, this was a bit surprising to our ears. We did a bit of checking and found the rumor is actually a bit of a fisherman’s tale. What’s actually happening is engineers have let slip that they are targeting a time of 7 minutes and 45 seconds. At least two French website are scooping the story, with Caradisiac saying that the car is called the RS275R.
If Renault does manage to complete a hot lap in just 7:45, they will have beaten the rival SEAT Leon Curpa 280 by 13 seconds.
Now here comes the scary part. With that time, the RS275R will be as fast as an R8 V10 plus, faster than a Gallardo Superleggera or a BMW M3 GTS. We know they use good tires and a radical racing suspension, but how much weight did they take out of the car to make it faster than V10 supercars? Is this a racing car win number plates now?
If the rumors turn out to be true, we could be looking at a remake of the legendary R26.R that came out in 2008. The radical track tool had a roll cage, no seats in the back, no soundproofing and plexiglass windows.