Renault reveals ‘Ayrton Senna homage’ Sandero RS Grand Prix concept car

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15th November 2016, 17:5020th October 2023, 17:36 | Written by Keith Collantine

Renault has revealed a concept car styled in homage to Formula One driver Ayrton Senna.

Renault powered Senna to his first F1 win

The Sandero is sold as a Renault in South America and under the budget Dacia brand in Europe. However the performance-tuned Sandero RS is only available in the South American market at present.

The original Sandero RS is powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with 143bhp. Renault has not yet provided details of any performance upgrades on the Ayrton Senna edition.

However the car shares some visual cues with Senna’s Renault-powered Lotus F1 cars from 1985 and 1986. They include the black paint job with gold trim, evocative of the team’s John Player Special livery, and number 12 logos.

Senna scored the first four of his 41 wins in a Renault-powered Lotus car, beginning with the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix. He also drove a Renault-powered Williams in his final season.

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39 comments on “Renault reveals ‘Ayrton Senna homage’ Sandero RS Grand Prix concept car”

pSynrg (@psynrg)
15th November 2016, 17:56

OMG, I’m a Renaultsport fanatic. I have owned several over the 15 years. Clio’s, Megane’s etc.

THIS is an utter travesty and RS should stop right now or the RS brand is permanently ruined, never mind the Clio 200T debacle!
1. Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
  15th November 2016, 18:20
  
  @psynrg don’t forget that this Sandero is the only Renault hatchback sold in South America right now. We never got the Clio Mk III or Mk IV. It’s all we can get around here…
  
  Still, the price is ridiculous for a car like this, RS or not. It’s also ridiculous to make a sporty version of a very tall urban car. But I guess they see a market for it…
  1. Carlitox (@carlitox)
    16th November 2016, 3:59
    
    I second that. Sporty hatchbacks is the best we can get here. The 208 GTI, an awesome hot hatch BTW, is around USD 35k. The Sandero in my country costs USD 20k so if this version makes it through (I doubt it’ll get out from Brazil, maybe Argentina will get it too), it’s gonna set us Uruguayans back for USD 35-40k.
2. bobec
  15th November 2016, 23:25
  
  Not just the RS brand. A Dacia as a homage to Ayrton Senna? Really?
  1. Chrisz
    16th November 2016, 1:37
    
    Yes really!
3. Steve74
  16th November 2016, 10:57
  
  RS was ruined when they partnered with Akrapovic
Leggacy (@leggacy)
15th November 2016, 18:29

I think James May will like this.
1. Patrickl (@patrickl)
  15th November 2016, 18:46
  
  Ha, ha, yeah.
2. Telvee32 (@telvee32)
  15th November 2016, 22:05
  
  It’s such a shame Top Gear doesn’t really exist anymore. I could just imagine it, the news segment, Clarkson does his “I went on the internet and I found this” routine, and a couple of minutes later he and May are in hysterics.
  1. petebaldwin (@)
    16th November 2016, 8:51
    
    @telvee32 Grand Tour starts in 2 days!
MikeeCZ
15th November 2016, 18:45

Turning in grave
Adam (@rocketpanda)
15th November 2016, 19:23

Dunno if Senna would have appreciated being associated with a car that looks that bland.
1. Mike (@mike)
  16th November 2016, 11:39
  
  Nor would he likely approve of using dead people’s names to sell cars.
  1. Mike (@mike)
    16th November 2016, 11:41
    
    I’ll drop all my objections if the entire profit generated from sales is donated to helping the poor.
Andy (@andybantam)
15th November 2016, 20:06

It’s a Dacia to us in the UK.

I can’t see there being much of a market here for a tuned budget vehicle.

I have no idea if these are built in the same factory as the UK bound vehicles. The Dacias are just so cheap feeling. That’s not a criticism, because it’s a really cheap car here. Ergo, this car will have to be cheap too.
1. Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
  15th November 2016, 21:02
  
  @andybantam they are build locallyand it’s also a piece of junk here, a cheap car.
  
  BUT, Renault is the only manufacturer around here that offers a “hot” version of their cars. They have 3 RS models now, this one, the fluence and the megane.
  
  The engines here are very old and outdated. 4 cyl petrol, no turbos and pitiful performance and fuel economy. There are no proper city cars like the peugeot 107 or things like that.
  
  It’s all south America can do, although Brazil at least has the benefit of ethanol.
  1. Andy (@andybantam)
    15th November 2016, 23:08
    
    I think our Dacias are made in Romania.
    
    Either way, I feel sorry for you if your local car market doesn’t offer a ‘hot’ car, but the last thing we want is a ‘hot’ Dacia.
    
    My latest company car has a 1.6 Diesel engine. I was expecting it to be properly slow, but, you know, it isn’t too bad at all! Not fast but pretty brisk. It’s a Vauxhall (Opel) Insignia Sports Tourer (estate). I’m quite impressed!
    1. CarWars (@maxv)
      16th November 2016, 11:35
      
      Renault made the dacia with less parts, it turned out to be better then Renault, less rattles. They had to re-engineer some bad parts into it, otherwise it would destroy Renault market.
      
      j/k
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
15th November 2016, 20:11

Sacrilege!
jeansilva02
15th November 2016, 20:27

The Sandero that we have here in Brazil is a popular car … very cheap to produce … very bad in terms of quality … very old mechanics compared to european cars …..

The last time it went to a crash test in LAtinNcap it got 1 star …

And this senna version is expensive for brazilian market … is cost 58 thousand reais ( 17 thousand dollars )… our minimun here in brazil is just 800 reais (300 dollars) … so it is a small fortune for us …

The ideia of offer bad cars for huge amounts of money is ruining the car makers here …

In 2013 we had 3.4 milions of units sold … this yeas is will be around 2.2 milions ….
Joao (@johnmilk)
15th November 2016, 20:40

Burn it, burn it with fire.
Isn’t this considered a crime?
dubsix (@dubsix)
15th November 2016, 20:44

John Players Company tips hat for free livery.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
15th November 2016, 20:57

When was the last time I thought about Senna and made a link to Renault?
1. pSynrg (@psynrg)
  15th November 2016, 21:07
  
  @xtwl Indeed, quite possibly the most wasted years in all of F1. Senna in the Lotus Renault, and I’m a Renault fan.
  1. pSynrg (@psynrg)
    15th November 2016, 21:13
    
    Actually, saying that, I guess it was this difficult and temperamental car engine combination which allowed everyone to see just how special Senna was. 15 pole positions in two seasons, but only 4 wins, I think?
2. David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
  16th November 2016, 14:24
  
  @xtwl Senna – Lotus – Enstone – Renault.
  
  They decided that it’s close enough.
  
  (was Williams using Renault in 1994?)
  1. pSynrg (@psynrg)
    16th November 2016, 16:51
    
    @davidnotcoulthard While I’m not happy with the connection, it was a Renault powered Lotus (see above, in the article, and F1 history in general).
    1. David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
      17th November 2016, 22:46
      
      @psynrg Whoops, I thought Lotus were using Honda engines for the whole duration in which Senna drove for them. My bad.
Wesley (@)
15th November 2016, 22:02

This is really sad.
Bart
15th November 2016, 22:15

It would do as a homage to Mr. Bean.
bpacman (@bpacman)
15th November 2016, 23:25

Wait, this is a tribute to Senna?
mfreire
16th November 2016, 0:29

The words “Dacia Sandero” and “Ayrton Senna” should never officially be in the same sentence.
1. sm
  17th November 2016, 14:21
  
  I see what you (unintentionally) did there…
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
16th November 2016, 0:40

I would have appreciated the homage to Senna if they had, at least, versioned THIS car with the JPS livery:
Aussie 1
16th November 2016, 11:21

Is it a early April fools day joke.??
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
16th November 2016, 13:44

Man, living in Europe you forget how good we have it compared to most of the rest of the world. You just assume that hot hatches are ubiquitous and anyone anywhere could go and buy a hot Clio or a Fiesta ST.
Duncan Snowden
16th November 2016, 14:06

Just wait for their Schumacher tribute: a Kangoo in Mild Seven blue. Classy.

(Seriously, I get the point that the South American market is different and if they’d intended it for Europe it would probably have been a hot Clio or something, but it’s a long way from the likes of the VW SP2.)
1. David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
  17th November 2016, 22:48
  
  That’d be Alonso’s tribute car.
  
  Schumacher’s would be a remastered edition of the Fiat Multipla
Doug
16th November 2016, 14:18

This is just a CONCEPT CAR, its not going to the market….

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39 comments on “Renault reveals ‘Ayrton Senna homage’ Sandero RS Grand Prix concept car”