Red-blooded Clio Sport is strictly for fellas, girls

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

It's been called "wild and wonderful," and "deliciously bold." It's the Renault Clio Sport, a 240 km/h pocket-rocket which will go on sale in New Zealand mid-year for $33,990.

The car was developed by Renault Sport, the high-performance arm of the French company, and its 2.0-litre, 16-valve four-cylinder engine develops 124kW at 6250 rpm and 200Nm of pulling power at 5400 rpm.

The Clio Sport's engine is considerably more refined than that of the 110kW Clio Williams, the high-performance benchmark at Renault only a couple of years ago.

Renault has a history of building lickety-split hatchbacks that set new standards for seat-of-the-pants action. The Turbo 5 was one example, which was certainly a fun drive, despite the torque steer.

There is plenty of torque steer in the Clio Sport, too, but Renault said it built the car for red-blooded blokes ... "it aims to reach an essentially male customer base, fast moving, on the lookout for a powerful, exclusively positioned vehicle," said the company.

The car gets to 100 km/h in just over six seconds.

Not since the 1.9-litre Peugeot 205 GTi has there been a hot hatch which promises so much. Why, it doesn't even have a turbocharger.

The 2.0-litre powerplant belongs to Renault's "F" family of engines, the 1.4-, 1.6- and 1.8-litre models.

The Renault Sport engineers borrowed from motorsport technology to give the engine more oomph.

It improved the air flow, used competition valves with variable timing, increased the length of the inlet manifold, changed the profile of the cylinder heads and added a tubular exhaust manifold.

The changes ensured that 85 per cent the Clio Sport's 200Nm of torque was available between 2500 to 6500 rpm and that 95 per cent of its maximum power of 124kW kicked in at 5800 rpm, with little power loss beyond 6250 rpm - 750 rpm short of the 7000 rpm red line.

The power goes to the front wheels through a close ratio, Laguna-sourced five-speed gearbox, which is good for 100 km/h in second, 150 km/h in third, 195 km/h in fourth and close to 240 km/h in fifth.

The suspension has been reworked and stiffened to help the car and its low-profile 15-inch tyres stay in touch with the road.

The brakes, too, have been designed to stand up to intensive use, the front discs at 280mm and the rear ones at 228mm. The system is the latest ABS anti-lock unit using proportional braking for greater efficiency.

The Clio Sport, like all Renault models these days, will be very well equipped, with air-conditioning and four airbags as standard.

British magazine Autocar summed up the new Renault: "What we have here is a hot hatch that is capable of scaring you in a straight line. A vehicle that certain types might well disapprove of.

"What makes it so delicious is its unashamedly bold combination of thrusting dynamics and aggressive styling.

"In an era that is increasingly obsessed with protecting us from ourselves, the Renault Sport Clio is more than just a breath of fresh air, it's a blast right up both nostrils."