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The new Renault Clio RS 200 is available in Europe and thus far it has received a number of mixed reactions from the public.

Aesthetically most agree that the car looks great however the point of departure for most has to do with the engine and the gearbox. The two aspects which gave rise to the cult status of the Renault Clio Renault Sport.

The engine is now turbocharged and the manual gearbox makes way for a paddle shit setup.

These two video’s give two different perspectives of the ability of the Renault Clio RS 200.

Renault has announced that the current Clio III will live on despite the introduction of the newer Clio IV. The third generation Renault Clio will be sold as the Clio Collection in Europe.

In Europe the Renault Clio Collection will be sold in two model variants, the Alizé or Business, and will also be available in a choice of two engines, the petrol 1.2L 16V 75 and the diesel dci 75.

The REnault Clio Collection Alize and Business variant equipment levels are more or less the same with the Business being the higher specified version. With the Business having and Tom Tom navigation unit, higher powered sound system (80W s opposed to 40W) with bluetooth connectivity, USB port and jack socket, Cruise control, fog lights, electric door mirrors, height adjustable driver seat and three headrests on the rear seats.

We have seen companies like VW and Ford take the previous generation Polo and Fiesta and rebadged them as the Vivo and Figo, respectively. However in these cases both manufacturers did not really have vehicles in their line-ups which would see them effectively compete in the entry level market. Thus the introduction of the Vivo and Figo made sense.

The presence of the Renault Twingo in Renault’s line-up locally, may make it a bit more of a tough call for Renault South Africa to introduce the Renault Clio collection locally, especially if there is a possibility that the Clio collection would cannibalise on sales of the Clio Twingo.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

The premier of the Renault Clio RS 200 Turbo at the Paris Motor Show was eagerly awaited by fans and those who appreciate the Renault Sport badge.

If you have frequented our website over the last few weeks you will notice a number of articles on the new Renault Clio IV as well some more intriguing articles about the Renault Clio Gordini RS as well as the Renault Megane 265 Trophy.

We are by no means sponsored by Renault or for that fact die hard fans of Renault but we have to confess that we have been rather amused by the Renault Sport offering of late; perhaps a true testament to the hard work Renault has put in rebuilding its brand. We eagerly await having one of these units to drive.

Nonetheless let’s have a gander at the new Renault Clio RS 200 Turbo.

The Renault Clio RS 200 Turbo is powered by a 1.6 litre 147kW and 240Nm turbocharged engine mated to a six-speed Efficient Double Clutch (EDC) System. The use of the EDC transmission which enables gearchanges to be executed in just 150 milliseconds as well as other technological improvement will lead to a claimed 25% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the outgoing Renault III Clio RS. It seems Renault is very keen to make waves in the small hot hatch segement.

Simply put and quoting Patrice Ratti Managing Director, Renault Sport Technologies, the  “New Clio Renaultsport 200 Turbo proclaims loud and clear the values of Renault Sport: beautiful and fast, it has everything that’s needed to make it the benchmark car in the high-performance sports hatchback class – just like its predecessors. The introduction of a very high performance turbocharged engine, with plenty of torque at low revs and coupled to the EDC dual clutch transmission (Efficient Double Clutch) developed by Renault Sport engineers, results in a car that raises the performance driving experience to a new level. The expertise of Renault Sport Technologies is reinforced by long-term programmes in the most demanding types of motorsport, including racing and rallying. It is this experience which makes us so passionate about handling feedback, and you can feel this the moment you drive any of the Renault performance derivatives we have developed. We’re also proud to be producing the Renaultsport in Dieppe, home of Alpine, and delighted to be using the EDC gearbox in a Renaultsport version for the first time.”

Exterior features which distinguish the new Clio RS 200 Turbo from other Renault Clio derivatives include; the unique grille and spoiler, the F1-style front blade on the lower bumper which recalls Renault’s success in Formula One, the rear diffuser and spoiler which generate 80 per cent and 20 per cent extra downforce respectively, wide-set LED daytime running lights, sill extensions and 17-inch wheels, with 18- inch rims available as an option. All these elements combine to make it a genuine attention grabber. A dual-tailpipe exhaust system and a sporty sound signature round off this exclusive package.

The interior also receives a level of attention providing a sporting ambience with red being the dominant colour. A steering wheel flanked by two gearshift paddles (a first for Renault), a dedicated instrument pack and aluminium-capped pedals all spell performance and passion.. The Clio RS 200 Turbo comes fitted with bucket seats, with leather upholstery optional, which provide extra lateral.

Other than the standard offerings the new Clio RS 200 Turbo will be offered with a specific Renault Sport exterior personalisation programme.

The new Renault Clio RS 200 Turbo will be available with either the Sport chassis or the Cup Chassis, with the Cup Chassis heavily biased towards track day enthusiasts. The Cup Chassis will offer 15% mnore stiffness relative to the Sport Chassis and a ride height 5mm lower.

Another innovative feature on the Clio RS 200 Turbo include the R.S Drive button which when pressed modifies the engine and gearbox mapping, ESC settings, steering feeling and throttle pedal response. It works in three modes (‘Normal’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Race’) and gives the new model an attractive, multi-dimensional sporty character.

The only feature we are not too sure about is the R-Sound Effect which simulates the engine noise of one of a range of iconic engines through the car’s speakers, tuning it to the speed and acceleration of the car. It feels a bit too gimmicky, a true enthusiast will we believe want to enjoy the aural experience from the engine with the sound system switched off.

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The new Renault Clio 4 recently achieved a five start Euro NCAP safety rating, receiving an  85 percent overall score. It’s important to not that it received top ratings for child protection, pedestrian protection and safety equipment. This is according to Renault is an impressive  improvement over its predecessor. You can read more on the Renault Clio here.

Below are two videos taken during the Euro NCAP  tests on the Renault Clio.

The first video shows footage taken during the Renault Clio crash test.

The second video shows footage taken during the Renault Clio Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system tests.

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There are several things that we have to get sorted out before we start this review of the Renault Clio Gordini RS (Renault Sport) that I am about to type up. The car we are reviewing is very good, so much so that I sincerely do not know how to best portray my emotions and judgments about it. This car is so good that we had a professional drive it while I sat shotgun. I simply do not possess the skill to drive it as it was driven. Not yet anyway. Lastly, this car is so good that the echoes of its engine note followed me into the next car that we reviewed back to back.

It’s Friday evening and I am heading home. I pop into Renault Cape Town and ask the manager if I can review one of their performance cars. He is more than willing to assist and at the end of the day we have two very unique reviews and yet quite similar. But first, a bit of a history lesson on the Gordini name.

In 1964 the Renault R8 Gordini was born. It was a simple yet effective performance car. It was renowned for its legendary blue colour streaked with two white stripes across its body. The Gordini marque went on to partake in the 24-hour Le Mans and in 1979 the winning Alpine Renault engine bore the Gordini hallmark. Fast forward to the present and Renault has revived the Gordini brand. Currently only the Clio and Twingo RS have the Gordini nameplate.

ACT 1: ‘ENTER ,THE RENAULT CLIO GORDINI RS’

The biggest difference externally this car has to a normal Clio RS is the colour scheme. It looks brilliant. It accentuates the beauty of simple physics applied in mechanical genius. The front splitter has a distinct white colour that sets it apart from the standard Clio RS. A front splitter helps to provide downforce preventing the front of the car from lifting at high speeds. It helps direct fast flowing air underneath the car creating a low pressure point beneath the car. Air that moves over the car is slower thus is at a higher pressure pressing the car close to the ground. If you have driven a 90s Toyota sedan am sure you agree that they could benefit greatly from one. Behind the front wheel arches there are also slits which aid in this process. The Clio Gordini RS also has a rear diffuser which helps to add to the 40kg of down-force generated at high speeds.

There are twin exhausts chromed at the tips which unlike the Lexus IS-F are indeed real (see pictures).The only thing missing from our test car are the famous twin white-stripes from the original R8 Gordini. I used to think Renaults are hideous. The Renault Espace was and is hideous but the Gordini is indeed pretty, look through our photo gallery to see if you agree. Red Brembo brake callipers come as standard in both the front and rear.

Moving to the interior the Gordini colour theme continues. The leather bucket seats have a two-tone colour finish, blue and black. The gear knob doesn’t have any numbers on it like conventional gear knobs. Instead it is also colour coded (blue and silver) with Gordini written on its centre. The rear seats have two head rests rather than three but that is probably because this is a small car.

The quality of plastics used inside on the dash, the doors, etc is exceptionally good not any different from what you’ll find on a present generation Mercedes-Benz C-class. The steering wheel has twin racing stripes at dead centre to suggest to the driver that one has to have good aim while driving. There is a Renault Sports monitor which comes as standard which I sincerely prefer over any GPS device, more on this later.

ACT 2:’EAT MY EXHAUSTS!’

Now for the drive, enter, Merchand Nortier, sales executive Renault Cape Town. A remarkable driver as I am about to find out and a man with experience driving this car. No need for an ignition key, just step on the brake and push the start button and this futuristic horseless carriage(as noble men in the 1920s would probably have remarked) is good to go.

The first thing I notice is the Renault Sports display, a tiny display screen on the central dashboard area. This displays things such as how many g’s one generates while going sideways, throttle input and response, power being used, torque at hand and optimal gear changes. I love that. The last bit especially. Optimal gear change points, a small beep in race mode alerts one as to when it is ideal to shift up.(There are six forward gears of course.)I am not aware of any cars with manual gear boxes that do that, especially in this category. So to the VW Polo Gti owners, sorry on that one, in fact the whole lot (g force graphs and things).Nope you don’t find that in any hatch except the RS hatches, of the Renault type of course. This machine does 0-100kph in a claimed 6.9s and what better way to verify all this than on the Sports display which shows all of this, even lap times.

I believe at this point I should mention that the Clio Gordini RS has a two litre naturally aspirated engine which churns out 147.5 kw of power at 7100 revs and a respectable 215nm of torque at 5400 revs. The VW Polo Gti trumps it here though with 250nm between 2000-4500revs.This is possible in the Polo because of a turbo charged 1.4 litre engine.

The ride in the Clio Gordini RS is rather firm which is a good thing for tackling corners. It isn’t too harsh that one becomes uncomfortable but we didn’t go off road so much can’t be said about that.
This car loves to rev and that is explained by the redline at just after 7100 revs on the rev counter. The problem with most cars at high revs is that they sound horrible. This is absolutely brilliant all through and it doesn’t sound as if the engine’s about to explode a point I am quick to point out to Merchand as we drive along the route to Camps Bay off Kloof Nek. The noise coming from this thing is just incredible and frankly no turbo charged car can sound this good, I hate the whistling from turbo chargers by the way, so this is a big plus, this only comes from a naturally aspirated engine. The seats have excellent support as well as we go hurtling through corners generating point something of a g (lateral acceleration expressed in m/s2). I could tell that the throttle response was brutal as well from how I kept being thrown back into my seat and tossed from side to side as corners disappeared as fast as they appeared.

One of the reasons that the Clio Gordini RS is so great is that one doesn’t expect this kind of performance from such a tiny hatch. It stands out from the usual crowd of VW Polo’s and Ford Fiestas every other person is driving. This I think is a great bonus to a great car. Price wise it is just about the same with a VW Polo Gti for about R280,000 with the Polo Gti coming in as standard for R272,200. I reckon the Renault Clio Gordini RS is better value for money because you get the brilliant CUP chassis and Brembo brake callipers as standard.

At the end of the run I was sincerely impressed, I was I smiling from ear to ear. Sadly, after this drive, we got into another performance car from Renault Sport, a limited edition Megane RS Trophy. So it is with great difficulty that I wrote this article. The Megane is just better than the Clio Gordini RS in nearly everyway. It makes the Gordini seem tame, but more of that in the next review.

Special thanks to Renault Cape Town for all the help and for letting us review two very special cars.

The original Renault Clio was launched in 1990, since then over 11.5 millions Clio’s have been sold globally. During that time there have been a number of memorable Clio derivatives which have amassed a cult following such as the 2000 Renault Clio Renault Sport (RS) which was equipped with a mid-engined 169kW 3.0litre V6 engine; however the styling has always been a bit lacking and most recently the Clio Gordini RS.

The new Renault Clio is the first production model to give full expression to the Renault design renaissance inspired by Laurens van den Acker, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Design. The result of which is a more stylish looking car which is altogether more exciting.

The Renault Clio will only be offered as a 5 door hatchback with no plans for a 3 door version at a later stage.

The key exterior styling features are; the Renault logo sits which prominently on the Clio’s front end, the sporty silhouette accentuated by integrated rear door handles concealed close to the rear quarter lights, LED running daytime running lights.

Judging from the pictures the interior also seems to have received a welcome update. The dashboard seems to have a modern and more user friendly feel.

The Renault Clio will come fitted with a optimally positioned Renault R-Link multimedia system which is connected both to the vehicle systems as well as the internet. However we are not sure whether this will come standard as it seems there will be a range of different.

As with a number of newer vehicles in this hotly contested segment the Renault Clio will offer a range of personalisation both exterior and interior. Customers will be able to customise the exterior through a selection of door mirror housings, grille bars, rear panel skirts, lower door protectors and wheel finishes, as well as a choice of roof graphics. Whereas in the interior items which will be customisable will include the dashboard, door panels, steering wheel, grab handles, gear lever surround, air vent surrounds, upholstery materials and optional floor mats.

The Renault Clio will be launched with a range of both petrol and diesel engines. The two petrol engines (Energy TCe 90 and TCe 120) are said to combine very low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions with responsive performance and mid-range acceleration. At launch the dCi 90 engine will be available and at a later stage a dCi 75 engine will be released, both of these engines according to Renault will offer record-breaking fuel economy for the same driving pleasure.

More information on the Clio will be available in September at the international media road test as well as the Paris motor show the following month.

At least one thing we are guaranteed is that there will be a Renault Clio Renault Sport(RS). The Renault Clio RS will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. Let’s hope it remains the feisty little fun car we have come to love.

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