As you know, we love going back in time. Just visit our space dedicated to classics and you will realize that the daily life of Razão Automóvel is not just up-to-date and testing the latest models.
Today we decided to go back to 1988 to remember a… record holder. THE Renault 21 Turbo.
It was 1988 when Renault decided that its popular Renault 21 — the French brand's familiar top-of-the-range — would appear in the world's fastest cars book.
Based on the Renault 21 Turbo Quadra, which at the time already had an engine 2.0 Turbo 175 hp and four-wheel drive, prepared a unit to beat the world ice speed record for production cars.
Contrary to what would be expected, the modifications carried out on the original Renault 21 Turbo were not that extensive. The rear-view mirrors were removed, the bottom of the car was covered to reduce aerodynamic friction and the wheels used on the record-breaking model were the same as those on the series model.
At the mechanical level, the modifications were also minimal. The original Turbo replaced a Garrett T03, the cylinder head was rectified to increase the compression ratio, the camshafts were changed and, finally, the electronic management was fine-tuned to meet these new mechanical specifications as well as the negative temperatures.
From the advertised 227 km/h top speed on dry roads, the Renault 21 Turbo has increased to over 250 km/h on… ice!
Finally, the braking. Just as a matter of precaution, Renault decided to equip the Renault 21 Turbo with a parachute system similar to what we find in dragsters.
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After two long days of testing — including a moose crossed on the way (already slowing down) and a scare with a fisherman returning home on a snowmobile — finally, on February 4, 1988, the pilot Jean-Pierre Malcher, reached 250.610 km/h over the ice of Lake Hornavan, Sweden.
Thus, Renault fulfilled its objective: to claim for the Renault 21 the world record of speed on ice for a production car. We had to wait 23 years for this record to fall.
In 2011, Bentley invited one of the biggest living legends of the World Rally Championship, Juha Kankkunen, to set the Renault 21 Turbo record behind the wheel of a Bentley Continental GT Supersports.
The model in charge of the mission was this:
Unsurprisingly, the British luxury car beat the popular French saloon by registering 330.695 km/h of top speed. Despite everything, the Bentley model had more changes than those recommended by Renault at the time. Remarkable, isn't it?
If with this text, nostalgia took hold of your heart, here's the remedy:
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