The Praga R1R is a

mid-engined In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle. History The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout of ...

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

produced by

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...

. The R1R represents the first road car made by Praga in 68 years. Because of the 68-year long term hiatus, Praga decided to only make 68 units of the car. The car is based on the

Praga R1 The Praga R1 is a sportscar made by Czech car manufacturer Praga Racing. The cars raced on the Supercar Challenge and the Britcar Endurance Championship. Development The first Praga R1 was built in 2012. Official Praga testdriver Dann ...

, a race car by Praga that races in the

Dutch Supercar Challenge The Supercar Challenge is a motor racing series centered on the Benelux. A special feature is that touring cars, GTs and Sportscars can all participate on an equal basis within the same class, enabled by very open regulations. The championship was ...

and

Britcar Britcar is an endurance sports car racing and touring car racing series in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1997, as a result of a discussion in a Nürburgring bar between Willie Moore and James Tucker. Folklore has it that James Tucker and J ...

sports car racing.

Specifications

The car is powered by a

Renault Sport Renault Sport () or Renaultsport, was the motorsport, performance and special vehicles division for Renault-badged cars. Renault Sport was officially established in 1976 as a merger between the Alpine and Gordini competition departments. It wa ...

-sourced 2.0-liter F4R

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

inline-four A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

, which produces , the power being dependent on the customer's setup. The power is delivered to the rear wheels by a

Hewland Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...

-built 6-speed

semi-automatic transmission A semi-automatic transmission is a "theoretical" multiple-speed transmission where part of its operation is automated (typically the actuation of the clutch), but the driver's input would be required to launch the vehicle from a standstill and to ...

, and also making the R1R rear-wheel drive. The transmission also uses a centrifugal clutch. The car has a tendency to backfire constantly when making up-shifts and downshifts. The car has a measurement in curb weight, making the car extremely lightweight, thanks to the use of

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

. The body also features a subframe back at the rear for the engine. The R1R also uses inboard suspension both front and rear, which also features inboard pushrod-operated Koni dampers. The car is able to create more downforce than its own curb weight. The R1R is also reported to have a much higher safety level than the race car.

Design

The overall design of the car is very similar to the R1 race car. Notable differences are that the headlights and tail lights form two bulbs instead of a longer straightened variant, the rear wing shape is smaller and is placed in a different position, and the top air tunnel is shaped differently. The R1R is smaller in wheelbase, and smaller in length than that the race car. The interior is also similar to the R1. The seats have been changed to conform to road regulations and to give the driver (and passenger, if in a two-seat configuration) more comfort.

Reception

'' Evo'' tested the R1R on August 15, 2016, with Jethro Bovingdon and gave the car a 4/5 rating. According to Evo, the 2.0-liter Renault Sport engine has big character, the R1R has massive downforce, and is very capable on the track. One downside they gave it, however, is that because of how the car is based on a race car and how it is similar to it, it doesn't make the car good for the road, and the seating positions, whether it is single-seat or two-seat, are difficult.

Jon Olsson Jon Anders Olsson Delér (born 17 August 1982) is a professional freeskier and alpine ski racer from Sweden. Born in Mora, Olsson Delér started his career as a ski racer but at age 16 he switched his race skis for twin tips and quit ski racing. ...

, a professional freeskier and alpine ski racer, gave the car a 9/10 rating on his vlog with the R1R where he laps the car in Ascari Race Resort. In another vlog, where he drives the car from

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, he mentioned the car was absolutely incredible, and is best driven if the driver is a person who loves the driving experience, and the drawback being that the car is not for everyone.

References

{{reflist

External links

The Praga R1R at pragaglobal.com
Praga vehicles Cars introduced in 2015 Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles