Renault 20/30
Encyclopedia : R : RE : REN : Renault 20/30
The Renault 20 and Renault 30 were automobiles designed and built by French manufacturer Renault between 1975 and 1983. The most upmarket and expensive Renaults of their time, the two cars were effectively identical; the 30 was the larger engined and more expensive of the two. Aesthetically, the pair could easily be distinguished between each other from the differing headlight configuration - the R20 had two single square headlights whereas the R30 had four circular headlights. The R20 and R30 were produced in Sandouville, Le Havre, France. Over 622,000 R20s and R30s were produced.
Launched in March 1975, the R30 was the first Renault with an engine larger than four cylinders since before World War II. It was one of the first cars to use the new 2.7 L PRV V6 developed in collaboration with Peugeot and Volvo; the PRV produced 131 hp and could power the R30 to a top speed of 185 km/h. The vehicle's hatchback styling was highly derivative of the extremely successful Renault 16. The more affordable Renault 20 used this same body, and was launched eight months after the R30 with a 1.7 L engine rated at 90 hp. This engine was sourced from the R16 TX. However, the R20 and R30 barely differed beyond the engines, trim levels, the differing headlights and the R30 using drum brakes as opposed to the R20's disc brakes; the two cars were effectively two different specifications of the same car despite their separate numeric classification. The R20 and R30 were ahead of their time in terms of safety, featuring front and rear crumple zones as well as side impact protection.
The cars were highly regarded for their comfort, handling, and low levels of engine and road noise. However, reliability issues plagued the R20 and R30 throughout their lifetimes, and in their first few years, the engines of both cars were criticised for being sluggish and underpowered. In response to this, a brand new 2.0 L engine was developed for the R20 in 1977, the car with the new unit being sold as the 20 TS. The new engine was universally regarded as a big improvement (the same unit was also used in the Citroën CX and Peugeot 505). The R20 and R30 engine ranges continued to be tinkered with until the car ceased production in 1983 to make way for the Renault 25; among the new engines added were a fuel-injected engine, a turbodiesel for the R30 and a 116 hp 2.2 L engine for the R20.
In the mid-1980s, the then-nationalized Romanian manufacturer Dacia produced a small number of Renault 20s under the name Dacia 2000, reserved entirely for the dignatries and secret police of the Communist government led by Nicolae Ceauşescu.
R20/R30 in motorsport
A specially prepared Renault 20 Turbo 4x4 won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1982 in the hands of Bernard Marreau.Timeline
- March 1975 -The R30 is launched. It has only one specification, the 2.7 TS, which uses the 2.7 L V6.
- November 1975 - The R20 is launched, and all trim specifications use a 1.7 L engine.
- R20L (no hubcaps)
- R20TL (can specify automatic transmission)
- R20GTL (Power windows, power steering, central locking)
| Renault car timeline, 1940s-1980s - ||align=center colspan=5|
|-
|align=center rowspan=2 width=17% bgcolor=#EFEFEF|Type
|align=center colspan=5 width=17% bgcolor=#EFEFEF|1940s
|align=center colspan=10 width=17% bgcolor=#EFEFEF|1950s
|align=center colspan=10 width=17% bgcolor=#EFEFEF|1960s
|align=center colspan=10 width=17% bgcolor=#EFEFEF|1970s
|align=center colspan=10 width=17% bgcolor=#EFEFEF|1980s
|- align=center bgcolor=#EFEFEF
|width=4%|5||width=4%|6||width=4%|7||width=4%|8||width=4%|9
|width=4%|0||width=4%|1||width=4%|2||width=4%|3||width=4%|4||width=4%|5||width=4%|6||width=4%|7||width=4%|8||width=4%|9
|width=4%|0||width=4%|1||width=4%|2||width=4%|3||width=4%|4||width=4%|5||width=4%|6||width=4%|7||width=4%|8||width=4%|9
|width=4%|0||width=4%|1||width=4%|2||width=4%|3||width=4%|4||width=4%|5||width=4%|6||width=4%|7||width=4%|8||width=4%|9
|width=4%|0||width=4%|1||width=4%|2||width=4%|3||width=4%|4||width=4%|5||width=4%|6||width=4%|7||width=4%|8||width=4%|9
|- align=center
|bgcolor=#EFEFEF rowspan=1| Supermini
|colspan=5 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=1 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=11 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |3 / 4
|colspan=13 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |5 / 7
|colspan=5 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Super 5
|- align=center
|bgcolor=#EFEFEF rowspan=1| Small family car
|colspan=1 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |4CV
|colspan=6 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Dauphine
|colspan=6 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |8/10
|colspan=8 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |6
|colspan=6 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |14
|colspan=6 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |9/11
|colspan=2 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|- align=center
|bgcolor=#EFEFEF rowspan=1| Large family car
|colspan=9 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Juvaquatre
|colspan=6 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=8 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |12
|colspan=8 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |18
|colspan=4 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|- align=center
|bgcolor=#EFEFEF rowspan=1| Executive car
|colspan=5 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=5 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |16
|colspan=8 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |20 / 30
|colspan=7 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |25
|- align=center
|bgcolor=#EFEFEF rowspan=1| Luxury car
|colspan=5 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=1 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Frégate
|colspan=9 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|-
|bgcolor=#EFEFEF|
|- align=center
|bgcolor=#EFEFEF rowspan=1| Coupé
|colspan=5 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=1 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=9 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |15/17
|colspan=10 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Fuego
|- align=center
|bgcolor=#EFEFEF rowspan=1| Roadster
|colspan=5 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=8 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|colspan=11 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Caravelle
|colspan=12 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Rodeo 4/6
|colspan=6 bgcolor=#C0C0C0 |Rodeo
|colspan=3 bgcolor=#E0E0E0|
|}
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating. |