The Renault Sport skunkworks is best known for its super hot RS variants of the Twingo, Clio and Megane, but the division had a go at building a limited-run racing car recently. Known as the RS 01, this Batman-inspired machine will compete in its own racing series - the Renault Sport Trophy.
Scheduled for 2015, this series will act as an exotic springboard for the professional GT and Endurance championships. Even though it made its debut back in August at the Moscow Motor Show, Renault Sport is still working on the final touches of the RS 01.
That's why the engineering team and a pretty ballsy test driver took the French racing car to Italy's most famous circuit. It's unknown what the Renault boys were fine tuning on this instance, but we suspect it has something to do with the RS 01's suspension.
Powered by a centrally-mounted 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 lifted from the Nissan GT-R Nismo, the Renault Sport RS 01 provides a heck of an aural experience when you give it the beans in full-attack mode.
It was named in tribute to Renault’s very first Formula 1 car
There are little chirps on upshifts and the overrun barks when you lift off the loud pedal. So not only does it look like it came out of Gotham city, but the RS 01 also sounds like some sort of hellhound with a carbon fiber body and an appetite to shrug rubber off its wheels.
What F1 four-time champion Alain Prost described as "a spectacular racing car" is also a pretty expensive proposition to go racing for the most of us. To buy the car and your entry in the racing series, Renault Sport charges a hefty £282,000 ($468,000) for the RS 01.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News