Renault’s recreational cars – Car-Motor have traveled the cold pole of the Earth

Renault’s Russian dealer definitely wants to prove to local buyers that its cars not only look fashionable, but can withstand local conditions. That’s why he organized a seven-day expedition to Siberia in mid-winter with Renault Kaptur (not to be confused with the Captur we sell – it looks like, but uses Duster technology) and Renault Arkana recreational cars, both with the 1.3-liter 150-horsepower turbocharged engine with X-Tronic continuously variable transmission. The accompanying car was a Renault Duster.

During the tour, dubbed the “Great Northern Adventure,” the cars covered about 2,700 km on the Yakutsk – Khandyga – Ojmjakon – Tomtor – Ust-Nera – Kadykchan – Susuman – Magadan route. The temperature was -37 ° C on mild days, the coldest was -58 ° C and they visited the Ojmjakon weather station, which is one of the coldest points on our planet.

The Renault Start function, which allows remote starting on Russian models, has a point where the car starts and tempers itself from time to time at an outside temperature of -20 ° C, so there was never a problem with starting. At one of the Arkansas, it was tested to deactivate this function and the car started without any problems after 8 hours – all at a temperature of -52 ° C!

Minimal modifications were made to the cars, the radiator grille was covered with a tarpaulin to prevent cold air from entering the radiators, and the factory charge was replaced with Castrol EDGE 0W-40 RN 17 RSA engine oil recommended by Renault for temperatures below -30 ° C. In addition to seat and steering wheel heating, the life of the drivers on the tour was also made easier by an electric heating element that quickly raised the temperature of the passenger compartment.