China-based Techrules has adopted the Geneva auto show as its home stage. It showed its GT96 and AT96 concepts here in 2016, launched the Ren supercar last year, and has another new vehicle for the 2018 show. This time, it’s a variant of the Ren called the Ren RS, a stripped-down, track-focused model that uses Techrules’ turbine-hybrid powertrain and has a single-seat cockpit.
The Giugiaro-designed Ren had a three-seat configuration, with a center-mounted driver’s seat up front flanked by two set-back passenger seats. Each had an individual bubble as part of a large glass canopy that raised up and shifted to the rear in one motion. For this RS track model, the Ren underwent a fairly major reskin, with the help of L.M. Gianetti. It now has a narrow cockpit and a racing-spec roll cage, but it again uses a single-piece roof that opens as a canopy. Techrules also made the front air intakes larger for better cooling, added aero gills above the front and rear wheels, redesigned the rear diffuser, and replaced the dorsal fin with an enormous rear wing. The exposed woven carbon-fiber body is left unpainted, with only a few white-lettered decals. In addition to the carbon body, the Ren RS uses a carbon-fiber monocoque and claims a 4087-pound dry weight.
The suspension is via control arms in both the front and rear, with horizontally mounted KW three-way-adjustable coil-overs. Fifteen-inch carbon-ceramic discs with six-piston calipers do the stopping up front, while at the rear are 14-inch discs and four-piston calipers. The car sits on 21-inch wheels.
The company envisions offering multiple variants of the Ren RS, depending on how many electric motors and what size turbines the car uses in the Turbine-Recharging Electric Vehicle (TREV) setup. The most potent version will use six axial-flux liquid-cooled electric motors to produce a claimed 1287 horsepower and 1726 lb-ft of torque. Each front wheel has its own motor; each rear wheel has two motors. The lower-powered model has just four motors, one for each wheel, and makes a claimed 858 horsepower and 1151 lb-ft. Both use a single-gear transmission. Customers can choose either a 40-hp turbine range extender or two 107-hp turbines. Both systems use 28.4-kWh high-density lithium-ion battery packs. In its top configuration, the Ren RS can supposedly drive 727 miles on about 21 gallons of diesel fuel, which equates to about 35 mpg. It also is said to sprint from zero to 62 mph in 3.0 seconds, with a top speed of 205 mph.
The Techrules books are open for orders, and the company said the cars will be delivered within two years to an “exclusive band of customers.” Techrules said it hopes eventually to source its turbine technology to other automakers for their vehicles and possibly to incorporate it into other forms of transportation. We expect another update at the 2019 Geneva show.
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