By now, just about anyone would have been familiar with the progress Renault has made in Formula 1 since decades ago, many of which has been contributed by legend Nigel Mansell. More so recently, through close collaboration with Red Bull in 2010 through 2013.
While very small amounts of tech from Formula 1 race engineering ever gets transferred to the real road, likewise with Renault’s production cars, it is still safe to say that many of the best features in RenaultSport’s latest car offerings have been inspired by their involvement in Formula 1.
There is some Formula 1 in every Renault – Laundry
A fine example, their new Turbo Clio RS. We can’t say if the new and boosted 1.6L engine has anything to do with the current generation of Turbo F1 cars, or the new dry double clutch transmission which they call the Efficient Dual Clutch (EDC) mimics how the actual race car is operated. But one thing is for sure, two of these never-before-seen items are new in current RenaultSport Clio.
If these F1-inspired mechanical advancements on their new hot hatch doesn’t get you excited enough, perhaps their updated cockpit toys-for-boys would. The RenaultSport R-Monitor 2.0.
Chris Harris Drives the Renaultsport Clio RS 200 EDC
Just like how the engineers at Formula 1 rely on race telemetry to diagnose or to improve a driver’s or car’s performance on a particular circuit, mere mortals like us can now access similar telemetry on-the-fly with the new Clio RS.
Take for example, your daily commute to the office can now be your very own game of race qualifying. You can track just about anything and almost everything. From acceleration times to lap times, from boost pressures to oil temps, brake pressure to g-force or even transmission health. One attribute at a time or even multiple attributes at once.
There is some Formula 1 in every Renault – Paddock
Nope, it doesn’t just stop there. Take it online through a laptop to monitor and to compare your current progress at say, this morning’s hill drive up Genting Highlands. You can even play back a real-time drive rendering from RenaultSport’s R Monitor online portal. It’s quite mind blowing how they’ve managed to entertain / educate via driving data with precise overlay on google maps to display exact braking points.
There is some Formula 1 in every Renault – Pit Stop
So, is there some Formula 1 in every Renault? we can’t say if there’s any in all Renaults, but the F1 DNA is definitely felt in RenaultSport’s current models!
