First drive - Clio Renaultsport 200 Cup

Thursday 13 August 2009

Rating = 4 Stars

This stripped-out Clio 200 Cup is agile, nippy and brilliant fun on a track, but it’s compromised and hard to live with.

What is it?

This is the Renaultsport Clio 200 Cup – a lighter, sharper and more aggressive version of the popular Clio 197 with a bit more power.

If Renault were Porsche, this would be the Clio GT3, as the French firm has removed heavy parts such as the air conditioning, electric mirror motors, curtain airbags and any other unnecessary items that weigh too much. The problem is, because the Clio 197 wasn’t particularly heavy in the first place, binning all this equipment has only saved 37kg overall. Load a couple of weekend bags into the boot and the advantage is gone. There’s not a lot more power either: just a couple of bhp more from the already heavily tuned 2.0-litre engine. The namesake 200 refers to PS, so this Clio really has around 198bhp, making it capable of 0-62mph in a thoroughly decent 6.5 seconds.

And the motor’s been reworked to deliver surge sooner too, at 5,450rpm, with first, second and third gears made shorter, endowing the 200 with a much zippier feel off the line than its slightly lethargic 197 counterpart.

What makes the biggest difference, however, is the fitment of uprated Cup suspension, which was first introduced on the top-spec Clio F1 Team R27 last year. This hardcore chassis set-up – in part developed during the Clio Cup Championship – makes the 200 Cup firm but super-sharp.

There’s certainly plenty of similarly priced hot hatch competition out there, not least the raucous VXR Corsa and the newly launched Seat Ibiza Cupra, so how does the Renault stack up?

Is it any good?

Compared with rivals, there’s nothing fancy or refined about this hardcore Clio. The interior is swathed in cheap and shiny (but lightweight) plastics, you adjust the mirrors manually and the radio is rubbish. It feels like a 10-year old car inside: there’s no sense of quality. Rental cars come better equipped than this. Some might say this doesn’t matter because it’s all about the pure driving experience. The thing is, rival manufacturers (Seat, Vauxhall et al) manage to offer fun-to-drive machines that are decent inside and feel more solid than this Clio.

But if you want something to hustle along a fast road or track, this is one of the most satisfying hot hatches on the market. Some will prefer the Vauxhall Corsa VXR – which runs the Renault close for driving and whose garish styling turns more heads – but that car’s rigid, crashy ride hands the win to the Clio 200 Cup in our book. While the uprated (and optional) Cup suspension system is lower and 15% firmer even than the standard 197’s, it is also beautifully damped, lending this hot hatch an unexpected suppleness and dexterity on a decent surface. Life gets uncomfortable if you stray on to ruptured tarmac, though.

Great reserves of grip are available through fast corners, and the 200 Cup is marvellously adjustable on the throttle, thanks to its uncompromising set-up. One flaw is the steering, which is an electric power-assisted system that feels artificially heavy and a little lifeless. It knackers your forearms if you’re driving fast and the wheel isn’t adjustable for reach – which we don’t like.

At least those minor engine tweaks have been worthwhile, making the Clio 200 much zestier and more enthusiastic than the standard 197. The motor hunts for the redline in a way it doesn’t in the basic car. And, like many other hot hatches, the Clio 200 packs in lots of performance but is economical to run, returning 34.5mpg fuel economy figure and relatively low emissions of 195g/km of CO2.

This is a focused little hot hatch but it doesn’t offer the same blend of talents you’ll get with something softer – it’s terrible around town, for example. For those who are after a pure and athletic hot-hatch toy, though, it’s perfect.

Should i give it garage space?

Maybe.

We’d have a normal Clio 197, keep the equipment, and pay extra for the Cup suspension. But if this hardcore model becomes a bit of an icon – like the Clio Williams of the early 90s – it will be very desirable in years to come.

Specifications

Model: Renault Clio Cup 200 Price: £15,750 Engine: 1998cc four cylinder turbo Power: 198bhp at 7100rpm Torque: 159lb ft at 5400rpm Performance: 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds, 141 mph top speed Fuel economy: 34.4mpg (combined) CO2 emissions: 195g/km On sale: Now