Renault Clio Renaultsport 200 Cup
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- Written by Rory White
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IT'S HARD TO know where to start with this car. Perhaps I’ll begin at the start. I’m 17, I’m sat in the passenger seat of some god-awful learner-car beaming from ear to ear. I’ve just passed my driving test, and although I know my mother’s horrible 1.2-litre Renault Clio is waiting for me when I get back, I’m foaming at the mouth for the keys to it.
• From £16,930 (test car £19,280)
• 200bhp 2.0-litre petrol
• 151lb ft torque
• 6-speed manual
• Claimed MPG: 34.4mpg
• Our MPG: 29mpg
• 0-60mph: 6.9 secs
• Top Speed: 141mph
• Weight: 1204kg
It packed a dizzying 75bhp, took 13 seconds to buzz its way to 60mph, and once there, was a horrifically scary ton-and-a-bit of metal and plastic to be strapped in to. But I was 17, which meant it was quicker than a push-bike and a set of car keys always looked cooler than a south-Dorset bus travel pass – even if I had to present them back to mother as the sun dipped beneath the horizon.
For more pictures, click here!
The 197 Renault Sport of the previous-generation Clio was a world away from this gurning, bright-eyed idiot. With my arm propped on the open driver window and the cabin smelling of whatever fragrance was on offer at Superdrug that month, I used to wonder what 0.8-litres more engine and nearly 125 more horsepower would feel like.
Well now I know. And I can confirm, it still involves gurning, there’s still a foaming mouth and the windows are most definitely still open.
Quite a bit has changed on the latest car, however. For a start, the 2.0-litre engine squeezed into the little Clio now produces 200bhp and 158lb-ft of torque. Then there’s the choice of the standard, more comfortable, more luxurious spec, or the stiffer, sharper ‘Cup’ option. Our test car had had the ‘Cup’ treatment, meaning stiffer dampers, stiffer springs, less kit to save weight inside and optional Recaro seats screwed in.
Climbing behind the wheel for the first time, it was business as usual. I half expected to open the glove box and find my history coursework or glance left to be met with the disapproving glare of Mrs. White. You still get acres of grey plastics, flimsy door handles and Reanult had programmed the radio with the exact same station shortcuts I’d chosen in 2005. Nice touch.
But with so much nostalgia clouding the air, I was in danger of awarding the Clio top marks before giving it a proper drive.
Naturally I headed for the country lanes of Dorset, but the first few miles of stop-start London traffic had me concerned. At 1240kg the Clio had no problems shifting its weight from stand still, but there was no drama, no in-your-face hot hatchery from the exhausts. With paint, wheels, seats and Cup chassis ticked, you couldn’t help but stare at yourself in shop windows. But asking you to part with just over £19,000 for it seemed cheeky.
For twenty whole minutes I struggled to understand the appeal. The car crashed about on uneven city streets, I couldn’t get comfortable and the clutch was unforgiving at low revs. I was grumpy. And then something changed, and so, instantly, did my opinion.
What changed was the road and subsequently the legal limit. Before me opened up a slip road to the M3 and with that, a down-change and a kick of the go-pedal, everything about this car made sense.
Its power delivery is unlike anything I’ve experienced. It begins pulling instantly, and as the revs build and pass 4000rpm, the Clio just gets louder and louder until at 7000rpm, its pull is strongest and it’s flashing and beeping at you to stop. The power band is so wide that you’re really only ever one gear change away from some serious pace.
Thanks to that sixth gear, Hampshire came and went, and before long the trees were a lot closer together, the smell of silage was in the air and it was time to find out why Renault has such a rich hot hatch pedigree.
The Renault Sport 200 comes with F1-inspired aerodynamics including a front blade, side extractor vents and rear diffuser, helping to push the car against the road and deal with the barrage of oncoming air at speed. 312mm ventilated Brembo brakes take care of the stopping, and the whole car has been lowered by 15mm and lengthened by 10mm. This adds up to a squat, purpose-built road-racer that doesn’t just talk the talk. It quite confidently walks the walk, too.
The car is best at high revs, it lives to be pushed, and the chassis and steering are more than up to the task of dealing with that 200bhp being channelled to the front wheels. This is quite probably the most fun you’ll have for under £20,000 of new car.
The Skoda Fabia VRS we drove a while back had me stunned. But this Renault has me reaching for the Tip-Ex.
