Renault R25 Baccara
Gaston Juchet & Robert Opron
When it was introduced in 1984, the Renault R25 represented a significant improvement in all aspects compared to its predecessors, the R20 and R30. Its features and overall performance where quite competitive, with the turbocharged V6 versions even holding their own against the Mercedes-Benz 200-300 and BMW 5 Series.
Thanks to the excellent aerodynamics – and in stark contrasts to this photo-series, showing the car only in front of gas stations – the gas consumption is among the lowest in the top models. Well-designed rolling trains, cured by the excessive flexibility of R20 and R30, offer lively and healthy road behaviour, barely tempered by a slight tendency to understeer and by net torque effects on turbo V6.
The 1988 restyling (new front, new rear lights, new interior materials, slightly revised front axle) and the arrival of more powerful engines will allow the Renault R25 to withstand the arrival of the Peugeot 605 and Citroen XM in 1989. Often associated with the socialist government of the 1980s, the R25 was indeed the favourite car of the French politicians of the left of this period. At the time, the “R25 gang” was sometimes referred to the french socialist leaders. Nevertheless, it was appreciated by political personalities of different coleurs as well.
