After having their precious title stolen, Renault's best engineers are out for SEAT blood today, as the re-conquest of the FWD portion of Germany's most famous track is unway. Preparations for operation Barbarossa have been teased today through the use of the Twitter hashtag #Under8. To some, that means absolutely nothing, but to the initiated it's a clear sign of things to come!
After years at the top of FWD leader board, the Renault Megane 265 RS Trophy was taken off its throne in March by a new SEAT Leon Cupra model. Spain's best has claimed the title of "world's fastest FWD production car" and is holding it under lock and key. But a new weapon has been prepared in France and with a Nurburgring lap time of under 8 minutes, it's going to be a deadly track tool.
SEAT's month-old lap record sits at 7:58 and even though Renault won't say this outright, they're gunning for that time, not the 8 minute mark. This would be a significant achievement, considering the 265 Trophy posted its best at 8:08 back in 2011.
The #Under8 team that Renault has assembled includes some real heavy hitters, like Michelin, Akrapovic and Ohlins, BRM also making the list as a timekeeper for the record-breaking attempt. We can only presume that a brand new titanium exhaust and a set of extra-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires have been developed. Ohlins also makes some killer external reservoir dampers, great for everything motorsport related.
With the Astra OPC Extreme and the Civic Type R in the works, It's impossible not to notice World War Hatch is coming.
The video below has taken on March 27th and shows two Megane RS prototypes on the German track. They are gripping to the track very well and the bouncing body denotes a very stiff suspension setup.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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The #Under8 team that Renault has assembled includes some real heavy hitters, like Michelin, Akrapovic and Ohlins, BRM also making the list as a timekeeper for the record-breaking attempt. We can only presume that a brand new titanium exhaust and a set of extra-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires have been developed. Ohlins also makes some killer external reservoir dampers, great for everything motorsport related.
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