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Continuing with the “not a lot of room” theme, you can just barely see into the footwell of the tub here.There is just enough space to make your feet actuate the pedals, and not any more. At my height and with only a size 10 shoe, I’m pretty decently sized to fit in one of these cars. If I was 6’4” with huge size 12 feet or larger, things might be a little tricky.
The front suspension on the Formula Renault is a pretty nifty design. A single inboard double-adjustable shock and coil-over spring is actuated by a pushrod, doing the work for both of the front wheels. The rear suspension also has an inboard setup, although with twin dampers — one for each wheel.
The nose and front wing of the car, in a typical formula style, is a removable unit. Here you can see the dual brake cylinders and clutch cylinder. Brake bias is adjustable from inside the cockpit. Needless to say, I spent my time learning how to drive what they gave me, and not fiddling with settings. The brakes are entirely manual, with no booster assist like on street cars. This meant that brake force was very closely and linearly related to pedal pressure.
The carbon fiber chassis was co-developed and designed by Tatuus and Renault Sport. It is complete with lots of aerodynamic touches. There's just something mesmerizing about the shapes that they make on formula cars.
Engine exhaust? Nope. Even the radiator ducting has an aerodynamic purpose and design. My assumption is that this promotes some kind of scavenging effect of airflow through the side pods.
The front wing is a nice piece, and appears to be very adjustable.
The rear wing is as well.Overall the car likely generated a fair bit of downforce. This was the first time I had ever driven a downforce car. I am sure that I could have pushed the car much harder than I did, utilizing the available extra grip from the wings and other aerodynamic components. But we opted to skip the low-deductible insurance, so I went as fast as I was comfortable. Life- and vehicle-preservation were my predominant concerns on the day.
