Renault ushered in a new era in Grand Prix racing with their Turbocharged 1.5 litre Formula One cars. First seen in the latter half of the 1970's, by 1980 Renault had become a race winner with these cars. From the late 60's up to the early 80's, the 3 litre normally aspirated Ford Cosworth DFV was the dominant engine in Formula One. The only engine which gave it any sort of competition was Ferrari's flat 12's.
The rules governing engine type had last been laid out in 1966 and permitted 3 litre normally aspirated engines, or 1.5 litre "supercharged" engines. Renault felt that Turbocharging was one way to break the dominance of the Cosworth engined cars, as all one had to do to increase the power output of a Turbo engine was increase the boost pressure and ensure the engine is strong enough to take it. Also, the smaller 1.5 litre four cylinder Turbo engines were smaller than the larger 3 litre eight cylinder normally aspirated engines, and therefore lighter.
In 1979, a Renault became the first Turbo engined car to win a Grand Prix. The above car is the one driven by French driver Jean Pierre Jabouille in the 1980 French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France. As it happened, neither he or his team-mate, fellow Frenchman Rene Arnoux finished the race. However, Renault did score 3 race wins that year (1 for Jabouille and 2 for Arnoux). The Championship that year went to the Australian driver Alan Jones in what was to become the first of many Championships for the Williams team. Renault never did win a Championship (either the Driver's or the Constructors) with their Turbo engined cars, although they enjoyed several championship wins as an engine supplier (this time a normally aspirated V-10) for the Williams and Benetton teams in the 1990's. Interestingly, Renault in 2000 purchased the Benetton team (which was in the doldrums since it lost Michael Schumacher to Ferrari in 1996) and renamed the team Renault and thereby returned to GP racing both an engine supplier and chassis maker.
The first team to win a Championship with a Turbo engined car was Ferrari in 1982 (with a V6 Turbocharged car) winning the constructors championship but not the drivers, which was won by Keke Rosberg in a Cosworth engined Williams. The following year, 1983, saw Nelson Piquet win the first drivers championship in a turbo engined car, with his BMW engined Brabham. From them until 1988, Turbo's reigned supreme, but were banned from 1989 on due to concerns about safety because of the wildly escalating power outputs of these engines. The first Turbo's such as this Renault, produced approximately 500bhp in race tune, but by the mid-80's these engines were putting out over 1000bhp for qualifying and nearly 900bhp in race tune.
Another feature of the RE-20 is it's ground effect aerodynamics. The chassis has two lengthwise channels either side of the central chassis tub which channel air from the front to the rear at high speed. It also has sliding rubber "skirts" which form a seal between the underside of the car and the ground, thereby creating a low pressure effect which literally sucked the car down on the track, greatly increasing downforce and therefore cornering speed as a result. Lotus pioneered this form of race car technology with their Lotus 79 in the late 1970's. The use of a shaped underbody with sliding skirts was banned early on in the 80's, again due to safety concerns with rising speeds, and today, Formula One cars must have a flat undertray.
Exoto are known for producing good quality models and this one is no exception. Amazingly it has been out now for over 6 years (I got it when it was new in 1999). The fit and finish are fantastic and the upper body comes off to reveal a highly detailed interior. The "Renault-Gordini" Turbo engine is nicely detailed, with it's spark plug leads, exhausts and twin turbochargers all accurately replicated. The drivers compartment too has an abundance of detail, with realistic seat belts, steering wheel and gauges all represented. The wheels too have the genuine look of the racing slicks of the period. Overall, an excellent model.
