The Forgotten Renault Sport!

[avenger286]

Don't really know where to start with this project ! I have owned this Twingo 1?? for over 4 years now with her doing a good daily runabout until I started needing 5 seats and as we know the Twingo has 4 seats . She has mainly been garaged for around the last 12months. This time 2 years ago the car needed a Cambelt change so went to get that dun at a local ish Motorsport company . Some time before this I had managed to get a set of new cat cams and a full exhaust system including manifold for less than 500 notes . So she went and had the belts changed cams and exhaust installed along with being live mapped hence the 1?? as it was live mapped on the road so has never been on a rolling road.



So the plan is to make it into a rally car to replace my Ford Puma. The way I look at it is to make it as light as possible as in my opinion it is going to be the best way to make the car competitive as in the 1600 class I will be running against cars with 220bhp with sequential boxes but a lot of these are homologated cars that have to run a minimum weight the Twingo r² is 1030kg for example .
A standard 133 is 1050kg there are no recorded weights for a 133 cup but I am guessing it's more around 1010kg at most as you save 27kg by just having a bench seat in the back rather than the 2 indervidual seats that are in a non cup . The cup also doesn't have aircon, rear speakers ect .



I am going to list all the parts and there weights and just see how light we can get it as I would love to be at 900kg with the cage in place.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Good fun cars, like a top heavy Clio 172.

Mate rolled his into a ball at Spa Francorchamps.

[avenger286]

Few more pictures if anyone is interested.

[Krikkit]

Looks really good! As a benchmark a 106 (similar size) with the 1.6 GTI engine can get down to about 850-900 with cage depending on how many panels are replaced for composites. Obviously rallying limits you a little.

[ECG1000]

Awesome! Hurry up and update this please...

[Alex_225]

Look forward to seeing some updates on this.

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Good fun cars, like a top heavy Clio 172.

I've owned both and I think the 133 handles better/sharper than the 172s I've owned. For the road though the non-Cup suspension is more pliant where the Cup suspension feels quite crashy.

[Ranger 6]

Judging by the rally plates and Mull recce sticker you've done this before....

[avenger286]

Ranger 6 said:

Judging by the rally plates and Mull recce sticker you've done this before....

No not the first time lol.
We took the car up to recce last year just to see what we needed to do to get the car up to Mull spec! You will of seen us on the rally the past few year's in the wee Puma. The Twingo will be a lot lighter and the engine is something else compared to the Puma also. Just have to now see what 2018 holds for the "best rally in the world"

[Ranger 6]

Yes, I'm keeping everything crossed for a successful outcome now the FAI result has been published.

Watching the build with interest. Looking forward to seeing the finished result up there.

[mrtwisty]

Quite keen on the idea of a 133 as a town/short commute car myself - much fun to be had on the b-roads methinks?

Hmmm, I've been thinking of a holiday in Scotland for the last couple of years.... Quick synopsis of the Mull rally please gents! (Dates, locations, best viewing points etc).






(Not sure the missus will be quite so keen on the idea of driving several hundred miles to see home-made rally cars thrashing over rural Scottish roads, but then again she won't know about it till we get there )

[Pig benis]

I had one of these as a company car when I was younger and it was epic! I absolutely loved the car and was gutted when I had to hand it back. I would love to see what yours is like with the extra power, I bet it is a laugh and a half

[avenger286]

mrtwisty said:

Quite keen on the idea of a 133 as a town/short commute car myself - much fun to be had on the b-roads methinks?

Hmmm, I've been thinking of a holiday in Scotland for the last couple of years.... Quick synopsis of the Mull rally please gents! (Dates, locations, best viewing points etc).






(Not sure the missus will be quite so keen on the idea of driving several hundred miles to see home-made rally cars thrashing over rural Scottish roads, but then again she won't know about it till we get there )

Every second weekend in October for over 30 years the annual pilgrimage to a small windswept rugged island on the west coast of Scotland. Usually started by a 5 hour drive from home up to Oban for the ferry over to Mull. I think my love for the island comes from my dad my first memory being on his shoulders watching the rally on the old road before Salen with the likes of Beecroft,MacKinnon and Pattison
Escorts,Sunbeams and Mini's flying by. The sounds of bda's and lotus twincams echoing of the hills the Cibie Oscar's lighting up the darkness waiting for the cars on Loch na keal you can hear the stags up in the hills until you see the lights weaving in and out of the loch screaming engine notes as the drivers occasionally let off for the crests and bridges. I can remember being late to set up our control in Craignure and following the closing car down the Glen road my dad driving our old red Manta (GUM 289Y) by the end of the Glen with the brakes stinking and a half inch scrubbed off the bottom of the towbar I knew then that one day I will get on that entry list.

Mull is harsh and very Unforgiving on both machinery and people. Having grown up on the west coast on a little island called Seil I have a good understanding of what the weather can be like but to people who have never been to the west coast you are in for a shock! Mull in October has it all sun,rain, gale force winds and snow and that's just in a day.
One side of the island can be lovely and dry the other as wet as an otters pocket.
The roads are harsh at best with crests,rocks, bridges and don't forget the deer!
If you get it wrong on Mull you will be very luck if you don't get away without damage. Large drops from the edges of the newly laid tarmac, rocks close to edge of the stage can puncture a tyre in an instant or worse. Drops strait into the sea round half of the stages. Ditches, bogs Mull has it all.

Brian Molyneux wrote a book called The Best Rally In The World all about the rally, Colin McRae regularly visited Mull when the rally was on before his tragic accident.
Imagine a cup final at Wembley that's what Tobermory is like during rally week.
The best thing to do regarding viewing is go a few days early and just look for your self as there are so many places to watch just make sure you are parked up and in a safe place with warm gear and coffee!
We are still waiting to see if the 2018 will run and in what format we should find out in January.
You would need to book accommodation straight away as the whole island gets full very quickly!
Do a search on Mull rally on YouTube to get a feel of what the roads are like.

The Puma that the Twingo is replacing. Pic was taken on Mull.

[Ranger 6]

snap....



I would add that we weren't competing, doing the job of sweeper car. The numbers were required by the organisers as spectators tended to drive out behind us thinking we were the Road Opening car.

[avenger286]

Still not finished yet but this is what's gone so far.

Front seats 38kg
Rear seat 15.5kg
Parcel shelf 1kg
Rear cards 2kg
Boot carpet and plastic 1kg
Rear belts and fixings 4kg
Spare wheel 13kg
Wheel brace and tools 2kg
Radio 1kg
Sun visors 1kg
Front belts and fixings 4kg
Plastic door surround 1k
Front mats and floor sound proofing 5kg
Head lining 2kg
Carpet 3kg
Front airbags 5.5kg
Rear wiper motor 2.5kg
Behind dash sound proofing 11kg
Floor sound proofing 4kg

Total 116 kg

Still got loads to go.

[fel71]

avenger286 said:

Few more pictures if anyone is interested.

Keep the pictures coming, really interested to see how this turns out. Epic little car that reminds me of my old 205 Gti, ours seems a little underpowered for the really well sorted chassis, so the weight loss and mild tuning you've done should sort that out. I think it's Renault Sport's best kept secret.

[Ranger 6]

I like the weight loss reduction numbers.

Are you able to make much of the R2 parts from Renault?

[cat with a hat]

This thread got me inspired to look at twingos..

I came across this lively little twingo on youtube with a clio rs engine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6s2FBjX31U

[avenger286]

The twingo should handle better than a 205 and be better on the limit and if I can get the kg's down it should be fairly competitive as long as the driver is not to bad lol.

I could use r2 parts but I don't have r2 money unfortunately.

He has just taken that twingo over to America with him as he now lives over there he was also a ring instructor!
There is also a megane turbo powered cat just in the final stages of being built!

[avenger286]

Went up to the car today and took some brackets out of the rear and the front seat mounts ready to put my own in. Will also weigh them at some point.

Edited by avenger286 on Thursday 28th December 17:12

[Quhet]

Love these little Twingos, they look a right laugh!