[La Résistance] Biting Baccara - Renault Safrane Biturbo

Back in the 1980s, Renault had become the epitome of the ‘French car company’. They made quirky, perhaps what you’d call weird, cars which certainly chased a different sort of buyer as opposed to the contemporary BMW or Audi. They had grown not too fond of this image, and with the turn of the 90s decided to change their game. They brought themselves down a notch, making more reserved-looking cars in a bid to appeal to a wider audience, more sales and ultimately more money. They wanted to show the big German industry leaders what they were truly capable of.

This reformation led to the introduction of the 5-door executive Safrane in 1992. A more subtle car than perhaps expected from the French, although not without its quirks. Its 5-door configuration was less popular in the class in which it competed than the conventional 4-door booted saloon, although this gave the car added practicality due to a larger loading area. This, and many other factors, are proof that they never intended to directly compete with the conventional crowd. Instead, their plan was to provide a similar option with its own positives unseen on other models within the segment, therefore appealing to somebody more familiar with the likes of the 5-series but also to somebody looking for something a little quirkier to stand out from the crowd.

Its predecessor, the 25, was plagued with quality issues and a very floppy chassis. Renault seeked to improve upon these two areas of manufacture in order to please critics, so they did. Early reviews from the car’s initial release told tales of great levels of comfort and sophistication and a very quiet ride (noise insulation was a big selling point for the big Renault), although one issue stood head and shoulders above the good feedback; the car was slow. No matter what engine option you selected, the car simply didn’t have enough power. As a result, the engine had to be pushed hard in order to make any progress, hampering fuel economy immensely.

This gave Renault an idea. Whilst the relatively low power of the existing models would drive off potential customers looking for speed (the 3.0 PRV V6 struggled to peak 170hp and the top of the range 2.5 Iveco diesel made a measly 113hp), buyers more interested in running costs who would seldom drive the car hard would see the wheezy yet economical (when driven at normal, day to day pace) engines as a major bonus. In what was presumably an evening spent in the office with a Safrane, an Alpine and a couple of beers, the decision to create a hot Safrane was made.

The base engine was the trusty Peugeot-Renault-Volvo (PRV) 3.0 V6. This engine was already used in the Safrane but had performance potential locked away, as the company already knew. The twin-KKK turbocharged version of this engine which was fettled by tuning company Hartge had already been doing service in the renowned Alpine A610 and there was very little difference between this powerplant and the one that eventually found its way into the Safrane. This, the ‘Z7X-726’ as it was to be named, made a much more potent 258bhp, a good 90 up from the woefully low output of the naturally aspirated version.

The Safrane was, as with most executive cars of the vintage, a FWD platform, although with 258 raging French ponies under the bonnet this would never suffice. The ‘Quadra’ all-wheel-drive system was employed to put the power down to Earth. In accompaniment, the Hartge-fettled hero got the early Christmas present of trick air suspension to keep the ride smoother than ever and also to aid the already-sufficient handling capabilities. Curiously enough, in 1994, no automatic gearbox was built to fit such a powerful transverse-mounted engine, so manual cogs were all you got. Five gears to choose from, no less. 269 lbs/ft of torque rounded off the package, giving the car very good low-end punch. It came adorned with a handsome bodykit, smart wheels and a subtle exhaust tip on the rear, not giving too much away.

So, it had the firepower and the means with which to properly use it, what’s the catch? Well, the catch was the inherent porkiness of the car. As the Biturbo came only as an option with RXE or Baccara specifications, it was weighed down with luxury gizmos, tipping the balance at over 1700kg/ 3400lbs. As a result, the acceleration and overall performance paid the price. Chubby could only reach 60 in 7.2 seconds, nearly an entire second down on its contemporaries.

While most certainly a left field alternative, the car was too far down on pace to be successful at all. Due to a combination of things (notably, a lack of 8 cylinders), the car failed to appeal to most people and only marginally more than 800 ever fled the showroom.

In 1996, coachbuilder Heuliez presented the Safrane Biturbo ‘Long Cours’. It was a Biturbo with an estate rear end on it, nothing more and nothing less. It was a normal Biturbo under the skin, although it’s a magnificent thing on its own because of the downright unconventionality of the design. Plus, it’s slightly more purple than normal Biturbos. More purple is always a plus. The very same year the disappointing failure that was the Biturbo as a whole was dropped from the range, leaving just the normal Safranes to continue bringing in real profit.

So, in the end the bruised bruiser failed to take off and spread its wings. A very interesting and undeniably cool car, though one not without its deadly flaws. A failed exercise in ability, a niche so small which closed too quickly to grab.

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