Renault Clio R.S. 200

So, my long term Clio has gone. The nice man from Renault picked it up and I watched it drive off up the road for the last time. It’s always a mixture of emotions when you see a car you’ve lived with go, but I was genuinely sorry to see the Liquid Yellow RS leave.

But it didn't start out that way. My first drive of the new Clio left me a bit cold. I didn't get on with the twin clutch auto gearbox and I thought the front end looked a bit too soft. I suppose part of it was that I loved the previous RS 200. The wider arches, the crisp manual ’box, and the lively 2-litre lump not forgetting that pin-sharp handling. So I’ll be the first to admit that I was slightly biased. I allowed the fact that the new car has five doors and came without a manual gearbox to influence my judgement. But this was all in the first few days.

The great thing about running a car long term, is that you get to know it. You get a feel for it in lots of different conditions. You can really get under the skin and allow the car to reveal its true character and that’s exactly what happened with the Clio 200.

Let’s start with the styling. Since the 200 was unveiled, the large badge has been seen on the face-lifted Megane and it’s fine. I’ve got used to it. And when combined with the lower bumper assembly, including daytime LEDs and cool looking intakes, it all works well. From the side, the Clio looks sporty and purposeful and I have to say the rear doors are well hidden. I particularly like the sculpted side skirts, although they’re a bugger to clean! The rear end works best of all in my eyes,
with the cool lights and neat twin exhaust mounted in a lower diffuser. For me, the Liquid Yellow paint is a no brainer I love it! But I’ve also seen other RSs in white, red and black, which look equally good. The black alloys may be a bit fussy for some, but they looked great in gloss black. There’s not much tyre coverage to the edge of the rim though, so little protection should you nick a kerb when parking. Physically it’s a fair amount larger than the old Clio, but it hides this well when driven.

Inside, everything feels much higher quality than the previous Clio. The dash materials are nicer and there’s a cool infotainment module, with touchscreen. The test car came with black leather seats and they were firm and supportive, although I did get back ache on long journeys. It would be nice to see some Recaro sports seats as an option. The one interior part that did frustrate me was the gear selector. It felt large and cumbersome and the button very rattly. It reminded me of a 1980s computer joystick. That said, the steering column mounted paddle shifters felt good, although it’s a shame they don’t turn with the wheel.

With the optional Cup pack and 18in wheels with low-profile tyres, the Clio could crash over bumps and feel quite harsh at times. But once you get it on a fast flowing road, the firmer ride becomes a bonus and the ride is sure-footed and planted with minimal body roll. There’s less throttle adjustability than a Clio 3 RS, but if you push it, the rear end can be coaxed into action. The brakes are always strong and progressive.

The drop in capacity from 2-litres to a 1.6 sounds pretty disappointing on paper, but in reality, you actually get a more usable engine with much more low to mid-range power. It’s not the sweetest sounding unit around, but then neither are any of the rivals from other manufacturers. We all
know the lower capacity forced induction engines are to keep emissions down and maximise MPG, without sacrificing performance. On paper the figures aren’t significantly better than the Clio 3, but on the road the Clio 4 is quicker. An early morning blast down the A420 on the way to Silverstone for Trax, showed just how much fun the EDC twin-clutch gearbox could be. With a mix of twisty
single lane roads, followed by faster dual carriageways, punctuated by roundabouts and a stretch on the M40, the Clio just ate it all up. Banging down from 6th, to 3rd to enter a roundabout is just a blip of the paddle shifter then accelerate away as the front end digs in, and a ‘whump’ sound from the exhaust as you back off. It made the trip fun and memorable.

Be in no doubt, the Clio handles fantastically maybe not as pin-sharp at the front end as the Clio 3 RS, but the lack of a mechanical diff probably accounts for that. I think the thing to bear in mind with the Clio 4 is that it’s a very different character to the Clio 3. You need to adapt a different mindset when you drive it and forget about the other car. Once you do that and accept that things are a bit different, you can actually get on with exploiting the RSs good points and enjoying yourself. Personally I feel it would be improved with a remapped gearbox to deliver faster up-shifts. I’d also like it if it remained in Sport or Race mode when you turned the engine off. But as a rapid, great handling daily driver that you can just jump into and go for a blast it ticked all the boxes. And with various tuners already producing upgrades such as exhausts, induction kits and remaps, it’s clear
that the Clio 4 RS has bags of potential from a tuning point of view. I wonder if Renaultsport has a Clio 200 Trophy or RS-R model up its sleeve, because that’s the kind of thing that could ignite the passion for what is undoubtably a good car.

So, to answer the original question yes I will miss the Clio 200 RS. It was an easy car to live with a practical five-door fast when you need it and packed with cool features (launch control was always a giggle). It also attracted a lot of attention, with positive comments from Renault enthusiasts and non-car people. I look forward to seeing how the model develops, because knowing Renaultsport, I’m sure there’s a lot more to come! Surely a lighter, more track focussed Clio RS would make sense?