Renault 4 1982
Cecelia Seiner
After the team used the RE20 for the first five races of the 1981 World Championship, the RE30 made its debut at the Monaco Grand Prix. At the team's home race in France, Ren Arnoux put the car on pole position, before team-mate Alain Prost took his first Grand Prix victory. The car then took pole in each of the next five races (Arnoux three times and Prost twice), with Prost winning again in Holland and finishing second in Germany, and Arnoux finishing second in Austria. Prost then took a third win in Italy, before rounding off the year with another second place at Caesars Palace. Prost thus finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship with Arnoux ninth, while the team took third in the Constructors' Championship.
For 1982, the car was updated and modified with a redesigned nose section that featured separate left and right front wings and a new rear wing, becoming RE30 in "B" specification. Advances in ground effect meant that the cars frequently ran without the front wings attached. The engine was further developed to give around 590 bhp. Prost made a strong start to the season and won in Brazil and South Africa, to underline his intention to win the championship that season. However, those would be his only victories of the year, as Ferrari, Williams and McLaren overtook Renault in the technology race. The RE30B was a formidable qualifying car, with Prost or Arnoux on pole for the majority of the races, but reliability was suspect for both drivers, mostly due to problems with the new and rather experimental electronic fuel injection which failed repeatedly during the races. Corporate politics at Renault effectively forced the team to use the system throughout the season. It was a shame, because the RE30B was probably the most competitive car that season, having the best compromise on outright performance - with a good chassis and aerodynamics - and a powerful enough engine. The car was quick around all kinds of different circuits - even around even tight, slow circuits like Monaco, Detroit, Zolder and Long Beach - where the other cars with turbo-charged engines (Ferrari, Brabham-BMW, and less competitively Toleman-Hart) lacked in performance, due to the heavier weight and poor engine pickup, thanks to massive turbo lag, so the cars with the less powerful naturally aspirated engines were able to capitalize by being able to get more power more quickly out of slow corners. Arnoux took two wins during the latter half of the year, but only finished four races during the whole season. Prost was in sight of victory at Monaco, Austria and Dijon but had problems during the final laps of all three races. He eventually salvaged fourth in the championship, whilst Renault finished third in the constructors' championship.
The RE30 was further updated to "C" specification for the start of the 1983 season, before the new RE40 became available. Prost and new team-mate Eddie Cheever both drove the RE30C at the season opener in Brazil, with Cheever then driving the car again at Long Beach. The RE30C complied with the "flat bottom" rules enacted that year, with a much larger rear wing and revised front wings.
Moteur V-6 90, 1 492 cm3, 560 ch, deux turbocompresseurs KKK avec intercooler, injection mcanique Bosch, bote Renault type 30/Hewland cinq rapports, suspension avant et arrire balanciers et triangles infrieurs, ressorts inboard, freins disques ventils sur les quatre roues, assistance hydraulique. Empattement: 2 730 mm.
Following a long absence in international motor racing, Renault entered Formula One in 1977. The first two years proved to be focused on development, as their first win came on home turf at the 1979 Dijon Grand Prix, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille driving. The following year, Renault secured two victories with driver Ren Arnoux, who was in his first year with the team. Alain Prost secured three wins for the team in 1981, and by 1982, the team was ready to be even more competitive.
The formidable driver pairing of Prost and Arnoux would stay on with Renault for 1982, and Renault presented a much improved version of the RE30, renaming the car RE30B. The car featured a redesigned nose and a new rear wing for better aerodynamics, and engineers coaxed an additional 20 horsepower from the 1.5-litre twin-turbocharged engine. However, the field definitely became more hotly contested, as Ferrari, Toleman, Brabham, and Alfa Romeo teams all introduced cars with turbocharged 1.5-litre engines for the new season.
In 1987, RB30B, chassis B7, was sold directly from Renault Sport to former team manager Jean Sage, who commissioned Dominique Bachard to fully rebuild the engine some years later in 1996. Subsequently, it has passed through just three private owners, including noted Brazilian collector Abraham Kogan, and it has been a frequent sight at historic racing events. More recently, the current owner, a regular historic racer himself, commissioned Geoff Page Racing to install an electrical management system, which makes starting and running the car much easier at events. It has most recently been looked after by Matt Faults, of Tour-de-Force Power Engineering.
A la suite d'une longue absence de la scne sportive internationale, Renault s'engageait en 1977 au Championnat du monde de Formule 1. Les deux premires annes taient consacres la mise au point, la premire victoire tant signe dans le pays du constructeur, au Grand Prix de Dijon 1979, par Jean-Pierre Jabouille. L'anne suivante, Renault remportait deux victoires avec Ren Arnoux dont c'tait la premire saison dans l'quipe. Alain Prost signait trois autres victoires en 1981 et, en 1982, l'quipe Renault tait devenue vraiment comptitive.
Le formidable tandem Prost et Arnoux allait rester chez Renault en 1982 et le constructeur prsentait une version trs amliore de la RE30, renomme RE30 B. La voiture comportait un avant redessin et un aileron arrire modifi pour amliorer l'arodynamique, et les ingnieurs avaient russi tirer 20 ch de plus du moteur turbo 1,5 litre. Cette nouvelle saison voyait toutefois la concurrence se durcir, les quipes Ferrari, Toleman, Brabham et Alfa Romeo tant toutes prsentes avec de nouveaux moteurs 1,5 litre turbo.
La voiture que nous proposons ici, chssis RE30B/F1 B7, a t utilise par Ren Arnoux depuis le Grand Prix du Brsil jusqu' celui de Zandvoort, participant huit courses. Lors de ces preuves, le meilleur rsultat remport par Arnoux sera une dixime place Detroit, o il ralisait une performance impressionnante tant en qualification que pendant la course. Par ailleurs, il signait la pole position Imola, Monaco et Zandvoort.
Le Grand Prix de Monaco de cette anne-l a sans doute t tmoin de la meilleure performance d'Arnoux au volant de cette voiture. Aprs avoir ralis le meilleur temps en qualifications, Arnoux plaait sa monoplace en pole position sur la grille de dpart du circuit de Monaco, le 23 mai 1982. Un moment probablement mmorable dans une carrire de pilote. Arnoux prenait la tte ds le dpart, russissant un excellent premier tour et laissant derrire lui quelques-uns des meilleurs pilotes de l'poque. Arnoux va conserver le commandement jusqu'au 15e tour o, victime d'un tte--queue, il verra son coquipier Alain Prost prendre la tte. Au cours de cette saison, Renault a sign 10 fois la pole positon, sur un total de 16 preuves.
En 1987, la RB30 B, chssis B7, tait cde directement Jean Sage, directeur sportif de Renault Sport jusqu' 1986. Quelques annes plus tard, en 1996, il a demand Dominique Bachard de refaire le moteur. Par la suite, la voiture est passe entre les mains de trois propritaires privs, dont le collectionneur brsilien reconnu Abraham Kogan, et elle a t vue souvent lors de comptitions historiques. Plus rcemment, l'actuel propritaire, lui-mme pilote en courses historiques, a demand Geoff Page Racing d'installer un systme de gestion lectronique du moteur, ce qui rend nettement plus facile le dmarrage et le fonctionnement de la voiture. Celle-ci a t rcemment contrle par Matt Faults, de Tour-de-Force Power Engineering.
La RE30 B est sans doute la Renault de Formule 1 la plus dsirable de l'poque des turbos, et cet exemplaire est probablement le seul de son type qui soit prt prendre la piste. Il se prsente magnifiquement dans la livre sportive spcifique de Renault l'poque, et il est tout fait de circonstance que cette monoplace, qui a couru sur le circuit de Monaco, soit propose ici mme, pendant le week-end fantastique du Grand Prix Historique.
The models use a transverse front-wheel drive engine configuration, and feature four wheel independent suspension. They were chosen as the European Car of the Year in 1982, as well as the Car of the Year by Motor Trend and one of the 10Best by Car and Driver in 1983.
There were three facelifts given to the Renault 9 and two facelifts to the Renault 11 during their careers. When released in 1983, the Renault 11 was equipped with double headlights, different from the Renault 9. In 1985 the Renault 9 was given a facelift, giving it the same front look and double headlights as the Renault 11 but only in GTS, GTD, TSE, TDE, TXE, and GTX levels. The lower end C, TC, GTC, TL, GTL, and TD models retained the phase 1 front. The later Renault 9 Broadway series also had the 4 headlight front of the phase 1 Renault 11. The more aerodynamic Phase 2 appeared in 1987 and the 9 and 11 now only differed at the rear of the cars.
Finally, the Phase 3, which was not sold in most of Europe, was released in Turkey in 1997. This final revision had more rounded head and tail lights, as well as ovoid body cladding around the bumpers and boot lid, which aimed to give the car a more modern look. The front design was originally developed for the 1993 facelift model assembled in Taiwan under the name "Renault Luxmore." These later Turkish-made cars carried a "Broadway" badge as well as the Renault 9 designation, but note that "Broadway" had already been used on special editions of the earlier phase models.
Both had been developed under the Renault code name L42, and were designed by Robert Opron.[2] Renault had begun the conception of the Renault 9 in 1977, as a "four metre" model (referring to its length) to fit between the Renault 5 and the Renault 14.
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