Renaults Hot Sedans: 21 Turbo Quadra, Safrane and Laguna Biturbo

First off, let me preface by saying this: as a sheltered American, from the land where the Jetta outsells the Golf by a 9:1 factor, there are things that I find fascinating which Europeans may find... questionable.  As in, "Why is this git going on about some old boxy French shed, again?"  I understand if that's the reaction.

I've always been fascinated by French cars.  Perhaps this is simply a case of wanting what you can't have.  There hasn't been a French car for sale in the states in decades: Peugeot left in the early 90's, Renault went out with a whimper as rebadged AMC's in the 80's, and Citroen was gone in the 70's, so it's unfamiliarity that makes them so interesting.  Even so, I feel like Renault has always been the purveyor of somewhat boring, conventional cars - compared with Peugeot's organic, feline forms and Citroen's willfully bizarre designs.

But reading through a few sources- mainly Piston Head's Shed of the Week column, as well as old scans from Trigger's Retro Road Tests on Flickr has shown me an interesting pattern: Renault made some very Evo/Cossie/STI/Quattro-like conveyances over the years, which are mostly forgotten at this point.  I'm talking about the Renault 21 Turbo Quadra, Safrane Biturbo, and the almost-made-it Laguna Biturbo.

Renault 21 Turbo Quadra

Renault's 21 was a large family car, aimed against competitors like the Ford Sierra/Sapphire, Peugeot 405, etc.  It has the odd distinction of being one of the few cars available with both transverse (sideways) and longitudinal (front-to-back) mounted engines, as well as three different wheelbases.  Smaller-engined 21's (like the 1.7L and low-output diesels) had their engines sideways, but at the time Renault didn't have a transaxle capable of dealing with more powerful engines, so bigger ones went front to back.  The 21 was actually sold in modified form in the US briefly as the Renault Medallion, and again after the Chrysler takeover of AMC as the Eagle Medallion - points if you've ever seen a running one!

Initially, the hottest 21 was the 2L Turbo.  It had the Regie's 2.0L aluminum single-cam 2-valve lump slung over the front wheels in vaguely Saab-like fashion, in what is one of the cooler looking turbo setups out there.  It was twin-intercooled, oddly enough, and used the ubiquitous Garrett T3 turbocharger.  Other neat tech tidbits for the time included hemispherical combustion chambers, sodium-filled exhaust valves, full electronic mapping of the fuel injection curve, and a three-layer heat shield over the turbo inspired by Renault's F1 cars of the time.  It's almost like they designed it that way so your neighbors knew it was boosted while you worked on it...

Anyhow, the 8v motor pushed out a healthy 175bhp and 199lb-ft, with a good wedge of mid-range torque. The issue was traction, of course.  With just about 200lb-ft available low-down, the 21 Turbo was easily capable of pulverizing front tires into oblivion in its lower gears, such that Renault actually limited power output in first - presumably to keep leadfoot drivers from careening into a hedge.  Torque steer and wheelspin aside, the little boosted 2.0L did sound pretty devilish once you opened up the intake side of things.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzMhbPbPsws

Enter the Quadra.  Renault's permanent 4WD system was also available on the non-turbo (12-valve) TX model, but the rarer Turbo Quadra was much more interesting.  It used the same engine as the FWD Turbo, but with the boost restrictions removed from first gear.  The 4WD system was adapted from the Espace MPV, with an epicyclic center differential attached to a viscous coupling which varied torque output to the front and rear wheels.  Static distribution was 65:35 front to rear, but it could shuffle the power where it needed to go in either direction.  Like older Quattro Audis, the Quadra featured a locking rear differential which functioned in 1st and reverse gear, instead of a limited-slip unit.  The Quadra had many bespoke changes over the normal version - the rear trailing arm suspension used coil springs instead of torsion bars, and the entire rear subframe was different, raising the height of the trunk.  Sacrifices must be made for grip, I suppose.

And it was a righteously quick car by the standards of today.  Hell, even by 2012 standards it didn't hang around: thanks to the elimination of tire spinning, the 21 Turbo Quadra could reach 0-60 in 7.1 seconds, 100 in 21.6, and a 30-80 interval of 10.6 seconds.  It also topped out at just under 139mph on Millbrook's banked course.  (All figures from Car magazine, September 1990 issue.)  Sure, it wasn't as quick as the 4WD Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, but it was also a useful £5,200 cheaper to boot.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4_17FgZqJ0

But it did have a distinction which the Cossie did not: for a while, it held the production car speed record on ice, at 240.4km/h (150.25mph).  And that's got to be worth something.  While there are plenty of 2L Turbos to go around, there were only 400 Turbo Quadras made, which makes finding one nearly impossible.  Shame.

Renault Safrane Biturbo

The Safrane was not a replacement for the 21- it succeeded the 25, the 21's larger brother that competed in the luxury market.  The 25 had a performance version of it's own: the V6 Turbo used a 2.5L PRV SOHC V6 with a single turbocharger to generate 182 horsepower.  Not bad for 1986, and it was delightfully unconventional with it's longitudinal FWD layout (like the 21), but nothing to write home about.  When the 25 (and it's equally uncommon US counterpart, the Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco) was replaced by the sleek Renault Safrane in 1992, it carried over many of the same powerplants: the Douvrin 2.0L and 2.2l's came in 8v and 12v form, and the PRV V6 was enlarged out to 3.0L capacity as well.  With 167bhp on tap, the naturally aspirated 3.0L had almost as much power as the outgoing 2.5 Turbo engine, but as power began to escalate in the executive segment in the 90's, more was needed.

Guess which is rarer?  Via Flickr user PhAutomobile

Unusually, Renault turned to outside help to get the results they needed.  Despite the knowledgeable minds at the Renaultsport plant in Dieppe, the modifications for the high-performance Safrane Biturbo were shopped out to Hartge and Irmscher, firms more known for their tweaks to BMW and Opels.  This was because the Biturbo was primarily aimed at German-market bahnstörmers like the Audi 100 S4, BMW 535i, Mercedes Benz E420, etc.  Irmscher handled the final assembly, and Hartge built the twin-turbo engines - fitting for the low production numbers.

The 3.0L 12-valve PRV was upgraded with twin KKK turbochargers, breathing through dual air-to-air intercoolers mounted in the front bumper.  With a boost-friendly 7.6:1 compression ratio and maximum pressure of 0.5 bar (around 8psi), the Biturbo did away with the abrupt power delivery of the old 25 Turbo - while making way more power, up to 262bhp at 5,500rpm.  More important was the 269lb-ft of torque, peaking at a low 2,500rpm - so while it didn't have the cultured multivalve V8 burble of an E420 or 540i, it did have the low-down thrust.  This time around, Renault skipped the torque-steering FWD and went straight for Quadra AWD, with the only option being a 5-speed manual transmission.  Biturbos also had Boge-Sachs adapative air suspension for a smooth ride and flat cornering, as well as all the requisite luxury bells and whistles that were the norm for 1994 - heated leather seats, sunroof, power everything, polished wood... starting to sound a bit like a 3000GT VR-4 with more doors?  It has something in common: a hefty kerb weight of around 3,800lbs put the kibosh on straight-line sprinting.  Despite the musclebound engine, the Safrane Biturbo still couldn't break the 7-second barrier for 0-100km/h, clocking a 7.2s time according to Renault.  Of note: Hartge's original development of the engine yielded over 300bhp, but Renault asked them to dial the power back in an effort to preserve the gearbox.

The Biturbo was only built for 1994 and part of 1995, with production totalling a scant 806 units - easier to find than a Quadra, but still rarer than, let's pick something random here, an F40.  Expensive upkeep, fragile transmissions and clutches, and expensive adaptive suspension have put quite a few off the road.  Still, as the most powerful French sedan made yet, it takes a beating.  Check out that mid-range pull!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyHft8bMnXM

And the one that never was...

As a footnote to this slightly crazy journey into rare turbo Renaults, I must touch on the almost-made-it Laguna Biturbo Hartge.  Even if you're a European who can actually get their hands on a Phase 1 Laguna quite easily, you might not be familiar with it - because it never went into series production.  Information is nonexistant in English (thank goodness for Google Translate!) but some basic info can be found.  The Laguna Biturbo was to follow the Safrane Biturbo, and was also developed by Hartge.  The PRV V6 was put into a higher state of tune- most sources say 280bhp and 294lb-ft (400nM) torque.  The Laguna Biturbo was front-wheel-drive only, which surely would've been a handful - nothing back in 1995 had even remotely that much power going to the front wheels (besides Northstar Cadillacs!  Heyoo!).  The press car was painted a beautiful shade of light blue, and if you recognize those 18" alloys as the wheels from a Bugatti EB110, then you get bonus points.  It's a shame... it would've been the French Viggen.

Performance claims for the Laguna were similar to the Safrane: 0-100km/h in 7.2 seconds, with a top speed of 254 km/h would've wiped the floor with hot hatches of the 90's: this was back when the Golf VR6 with it's 172 horsepower was considered a bit past the edge of reason.  Interestingly, some digging in forums shows that at some point the car was resprayed black, the wheels went back on a Bugatti where they belonged, and it's traded hands a few times.  You'd be tempted to think it's fake until you see the Hartge VIN plate under the hood.

After that, Renault settled down and stopped building bizarre, overly powerful family cars.  Just kidding, they made a street legal go-kart and then stuffed a big V6 in the back seat of a Clio.  Not so boring after all.