This Renault Twingo Will Race At The Nürburgring 24 Hours

We’ve all been there, in the pub one night with our mates. “Why don’t we build X car into a track car?”, followed by a little Facebook Marketplace browsing and then never speaking of it again.

What happens when you actually follow up on that idea, though? And instead of just making it a track car, you plan to enter it in one of the world’s toughest endurance races? Well, meet Rauh Racing’s new project.

The German-based, family-run outfit has acted on some slightly bonkers thoughts and is in the process of turning an original Renault Twingo into a race car that’ll compete at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, starting in 2026. Yes, the same race that’s headlined by GT3 race cars.

This Twingo will take on the N24 in 2026

But why? “If we want to get into racing, we needed a car that is firstly cheap, and secondly, popular, so that we can attract a big audience and maybe sponsors as well,” Felix Rauh, one of the minds behind Rauh Racing, told us, “and if this project is not going to work, at least we have a Twingo.”

Granted, there’s so much more at play here than simply putting a roll cage in a Twingo and doing it for the meme. Pretty much all of the oily bits of the original car are in the process of being swapped out for those from a Renaultsport Clio 172.

That particular idea, Filip Rauh jumps in to tell us, came from a 15-year-old forum post of someone swapping that engine into a Twingo. A dive into the rule books revealed that engine swaps were allowed, provided the new power unit comes from the same manufacturer as the car.

A Clio 172 served as a parts donor car

The engine could handle up to 238bhp without a turbocharger, although the brothers are aiming to get the 2.0-litre four-cylinder unit to around 200 for the sake of reliability.

With Rauh Racing starting from scratch, and with the 2026 N24 in their crosshairs, there’s still work to be done to be allowed on the grid. They’ll need their ‘Ring-specific racing licences, which will need to be earned through competing in the NLS series.

As we spoke with the brothers, the Twingo has its engine in place but still requires some finishing touches before it can be driven, let alone raced. Those include the fitment of its custom-made suspension, as well as exhaust components.

Until the Twingo is ready, Rauh will run this 330d in the NLS

So, until the Twingo can take to the track, the team will be running a race-ready E46 BMW 330d. As soon as the Renault is ready though, it’ll be swapped over and the E46 sold – worth keeping in mind if you’re in the market for something to take to the N24 yourself…

There’s work to be done until we see this Renault Twingo hit the Nordschleife, but this will only be the start for Rauh Racing. Filip Rauh tells us: “The Twingo is our brand for now, but we want to turn obscure cars into motorsport legends.”

The pair are clearly brimming with ideas of how to do that. Ideas mentioned in our short call included a Fiat Multipla, a tribute to the NFS Most Wanted E46 M3 GTR and on a similar line, the Nissan 350Z cover car of Underground 2.

The 172’s engine in its new home

Fan engagement is something the Rauh brothers are hoping to build further. As well as its current Instagram page, the team has just started its own subreddit.

Although Rauh Racing is seeking sponsors right now, the pair are considering ways to have a community represented on the car. One idea touted is to have the roof painted black and allow fans to donate “a couple of bucks” to have a space to showcase whatever they like, be it a picture, a logo or a meme.

In case you’re as excited as us to see the Twingo take on the N24, stay tuned with Rauh Racing across its socials as the project progresses and it continues to offer in-depth updates on the build. We’ll be watching very closely.