Renault is trying to build hype around its future attempt at breaking the eight-minute time barrier on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and snag back the (front-wheel drive) lap record from SEAT’s Leon Cupra. It’s a distinction that the diamond-badged manufacturer has always wanted to keep for itself and it’s been throwing teasers our way to let us know they’re actively working on it at the moment.
However, we now have additional information to add over what was officially confirmed.
Cardisiac says it has insider rumors that suggest the hotter Megane RS they are working on specifically for the record would be called the RS275R, with the R designation hinting at the possibility of a lightweight factory track special along the lines of the old R26R – that one had plastic rear windows, less soundproofing and fewer airbags in order to keep weight down.
Unlike the old R, though, this new one will be slightly more powerful than the regular RS. Its name suggests a ten-horse boost, which coupled with all the other mods it’s expected to have will probably help it shed the time needed to become the record holder yet again.
The same French source suggests that Renault is actually aiming at a laptime of 7:45, which would equate to a 23-second difference over the previous 8:07.97 record set by the Megane RS265 Trophy back in 2011; it’s posted below in HD video form.
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO