New Renault Duster for South America Debuts at Buenos Aires Motor Show

The Renault-Nissan Alliance’s low-cost Dacia Duster SUV has lost its Romanian badges to cater to the needs of the South American market where it will be sold under the Renault brand.

Redesigned for the local market, the Renault Duster SUV makes its regional debut at this week’s Buenos Aires Motor Show. It will first launch in Argentina and Brazil during the last quarter of the year, with more countries to follow after. Production will take place at Renault’s Curitiba plant in Brazil.

The logo change also brought some minor modifications to the Duster including a new front grille, different wheels painted in dark gray and a latest-generation four-wheel-drive system. In addition, Renault upgraded the interior with a restyled dashboard.

Commenting on the presentation of the Renault Dacia, Steve Norman, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, Renault, said:

“Renault Duster is really adapted to Latin American markets. It surprises with its dimensions, larger than those of the competition, and its excellent abilities. This special version, with exclusively designed interiors, new colour schemes and a new grille, will make 4x4s affordable for more and more customers in Brazil and Argentina. For Renault, in America, we can really say that there will be a before and an after Duster.”

Alongside the Duster, Renault is also introducing a phase 2 versions of the Dacia-based Sandero and Sandero Stepway, together with the pure electric Fluence sedan.

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Eibach and Giacuzzo Design Take on the Dacia Duster

Following in the footsteps of Elia, German aftermarket specialists at Eibach and Giacuzzo Design teamed up to create a tuning package for the Dacia Duster SUV. The two companies opted for light modifications in order to stick to the basic character of the Duster and to make sure the price of the tuning package would remain affordable for the car's target group.

An expert in suspensions, Eibach fitted the car with its Pro-Kit Performance Springs, which lower the ride height by 30 mm to improve handling and provide a more aggressive stance. Giacuzzo Design then took over and fitted the Dacia with 20-inch Shark wheels made by Alutec. The rims are painted in black and white and are shod in wide Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires (245/35R20). The tuner takes great pride in the fact that the wheel-tire combination is one of the largest ever seen on the Duster. However, we're not convinced they are the right choice for this type of car, but tastes differ.

Moving on to the front end of the car, there's a bull bar made of polished stainless steel with the company claiming it's "constructed to provide optimum pedestrian protection". We can’t vouch for that, but it surely fits the car's off-road character. Similar bars are fitted to the rocket panels, while the lower part of the rear bumper has been modified to accommodate a double-end rear muffler made of polished stainless steel.

By Dan Mihalascu

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Renault 4 Celebrates its Golden Anniversary with Design Competition

Renault’s eminent 4 is turning 50 this year, and in recognition the French automaker and website Designboom are holding a special competition to see who can design the best Nouveau Quatrelle. Anyone can enter, though registration is mandatory, and the top prize is a 1965 Renault 4L driven by ex-F1 driver Michel Leclère in the 2011 Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo. Works can be submitted through June 20, 2011, with the winner to be announced in July 2011.

More than eight million Renault 4’s were sold over a thirty-one year period, starting in 1961 and ending in 1992. Renault’s approach was to offer a functional, minimalist “everyman’s car” with low running costs and a sturdy five-door body. Think of it as a Gallic precursor to Toyota’s indestructibility mantra of the 1980s and ‘90s.

The Renault 4 is credited with popularising the front-wheel-drive four-door with top-hinged tailgate bodystyle – what we’d now call a hatchback. There were numerous other versions (of course) including the 4x4 Sinpar, Plein-Air convertible and Fourgonnette bread van.

We don’t have any competition entries available to show you just yet, but we'll bring you the concept designs as soon as they come out.

By Tristan Hankins

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Renault's French Dealers Offering 45 Percent Discounts on Clio to Offset Plummeting Sales

The Renault brand’s sales are down 35 percent since May 1 in France and this has forced local dealers to offer hefty discounts to customers on certain models, a French radio station reported. According to the BFM radio station quoted by Reuters, dealers are offering discounts as high as 45 percent on some versions of the Clio supermini. For instance, certain dealers are selling the Clio for €7,990 ($11,400), even though the factory sticker is €14,100 ($20,120).

Renault admitted that the French car market remained on a downward trend, but refused to comment the report according to which its sales were down 35 percent. "We cannot communicate on May data before early June...The market for May in France seems down," a Renault spokesman said. He added that decreasing sales were partly due to the end of a car scrappage scheme.

France's successful car incentive program was terminated in December 2010, but drivers who bought cars as part of the program could register them until the end of March.

Renault was one of the hardest hit carmakers in Europe in April recording a 13 percent drop in sales compared to last year with 105,799 units. In the same month, car sales in France declined by 11 percent, according to ACEA, the European automakers association.

Europe's car market shrank for the third consecutive year, falling to 13.8 million vehicles in 2010 from 16 million in 2007, the last year in which it recorded a sales growth.

By Dan Mihalascu

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Renault’s Dacia Duster “No Limit” Racer gets 850HP V6 Sourced from the Nissan GT-R!

Following an early reveal on racing driver Jean-Philippe Dayraut's website, Renault today released official photos of its PikesPeak contender, the 850HP Dacia Duster “No Limit”. The name comes from the “Unlimited” class of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which imposes no restrictions on the size or power output of the engine, maximum power or torque. In addition, there are no restrictions concerning the transmission or the aerodynamic characteristics. Looking at the size of the Duster's rear wing, it is obvious the car competes in the “Unlimited” class.

The one-off prototype was built by Tork Engineering (which handled the design, production, assembly and development) and Sodemo (engine), in association with Renault Sport Technologies, which supplied certain components.

Under the glass-fiber skin (the car weighs 950 kg or 2,094 pounds), the Duster “No Limit” features a 3.8-liter V6 engine specially built by Sodemo and based on the Nissan GT-R's VR 38 DETT powerplant. However, instead of the GT-R's 530HP, the six-cylinder unit has been tuned to deliver no less than 850 horses at 7,000 rpm and 900 Nm (663.8 lb-ft) of torque at 5,000 rpm. The engine is linked to a six-speed sequential gearbox specially developed by Sadev.

The man that will drive the monster up the hill is Jean-Philippe Dayraut, three-time Andros Trophy winner and six times French champion in single-seater and touring car racing. He convinced Renault to take part in this endeavour, with the team aiming for a win on June 26, despite the fact that both the car and the driver are facing their first Pikes Peak event.

"The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is the only event where you get to keep a monster like this in check while drifting at speeds of 200 km/h on a course which features a mix of asphalt and dirt," said Jean-Philippe Dayraut. "I can't think of any other form of motorsport where such cars are authorised," he added.

By Dan Mihalascu

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