1974
DOUVRIN OPERATIONAL
Renault's need for an engine for its new flagship, the R30, is what accelerated the PRV's development. These are the codes of that lineage: the naturally-aspirated V6s of the Renault 30, 25 and Espace, of the Alpine A310 and GTA — up to the EIA-turbocharged Z7W of the Venturi 260.
At Douvrin, the production lines began to be assembled in summer 1973 and everything was operational by January 1974 — driven by the schedule of the Renault 30, the first Renault to receive the V6. The Z6V opened the account at 131 bhp on carburettors; K-Jetronic injection then took the Z7V to 144 bhp in the 30 TX and the Renault 25.
The family stretched from the family-friendly Espace V6 (Z7W 707) to the mid-engined Alpines — and, reworked by EIA, up to the 260 bhp of the Venturi 260. The turbo era, opened in 1985, has its own file: Z7U.
For Renault's 3.0-litre era — Safrane, Laguna phase 1, Alpine A610, the American Eagles — see the Z7X file.
The Renault 30, first Renault with the PRV, has its own file.