Renault Clio RS 200 2010 Review

Renault Clio RS 200

Road Test

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges):
$38,990
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): Nil
Crash rating: five-star
Fuel: 95 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 8.2
CO2 emissions (g/km): 195
Also consider: Mini Cooper S JCW, Peugeot 207 GTI, Polo GTI (when it arrives)

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.5/5.0
X-factor: 3.0/5.0

About our ratings

For most car brands, hot hatches are usually the halo models -- the high performance variants. This is not the case with the Renault Clio RS 200.

The Clio is unique in the Australian marketplace for having no 'lesser' siblings. It is both the entry and top-level model in the range. As well as being an only child, it's also one of the best hot hatches in Australia, providing the driver with the sorts of sensations that normally only come in much more expensive packages.

We raced the previous model Renault Clio RS 197 in the New South Wales round of the 2009 Australian Tarmac Challenge and humbled more fancied (and expensive) vehicles. As such this driver was anticipating much from the latest French fast four.

Getting into the Renault Clio RS 200 Trophée is no mean feat. The doors are fairly long but it's the Recaro seats with their tall lateral squab bolsters that make ingress complicated. Once seated things get a little easier, as the proximity key-card means you just need to thumb the starter button on the centre console for the 147kW four-cylinder engine to spark into life.

The interior is a nice place to be, but is par for the course in its segment. It's certainly not class leading (hello Ford Fiesta). Soft touch dash plastics are a pleasant addition and faux carbonfibre trim adds a bit of sportiness to proceedings. The switchgear works well and most controls are intelligently placed, such as the audio control fob behind the steering wheel.

Renault's road racer also has all the mod cons you'd want, such as climate control, USB and AUX audio inputs for the CD stereo, a beautifully chunky steering wheel, electric windows and mirrors and sat nav can be optioned. Strangely though, it only gets tilt-adjust on the steering wheel...

The Recaros are very good once you're settled in and though the yellow tachometer and coloured band at 12 o'clock on the steering wheel might not be to everyone's taste, they remind you that this compact runabout was created for the racetrack, not the suburbs.

On a familiar piece of asphalt spaghetti that wound its way through the hills for a good 30km stretch, the compact Renault completely blew me away with its cornering capabilities. So much so I repeated the journey... Three times over.

The Clio RS 200 Trophée is one of the best handling hot hatches in existence. It's as simple as that.

Though it did feel a little lacking in the torque department at times (you really have to stay on top of your gearchanges for maximum velocity) there's very few negatives to report.

Powertrain vital statistics show 147kW at 7100rpm and 215Nm at 5400rpm, but out in the real world the engine doesn't deliver much sizzle below 4500rpm, despite Renault's claims that 95 per cent of its peak torque hits at 3000rpm. But keep the tach pegged above 5000rpm and the Clio really starts to dance.

Not only is the Renault Clio RS 200 Trophee unerringly agile, it has an ability to maintain the kinds of mid-corner speed that make your heart beat really, really fast.

This impressive talent is a combination of excellent tyre grip from the very sticky 215/45 R17 Continental Sport Contact tyres fitted to our test car, wrapped around 17x7.5-inch alloy rims, and also a chassis that just won't quit (to quote Homer Simpson). After my first 10 minutes of white-knuckled, full throttle driving through an empty forest somewhere in the Victorian Alps, the driver was flabbergasted.

Even when the road quality deteriorated the hot hatch didn't waver, sticking to the blacktop like a heavy-duty magnet on a dented fridge door. Indeed, the kind of mid-corner bumps that often upset tightly sprung performance cars caused very little kickback through the steering wheel and virtually no directional deviation, leaving the driver to keep the throttle nailed and just push the car deeper into corners.

A chunky leather steering wheel and a direct steering ratio that is 7.5 per cent faster than its predecessor (the Clio RS 197 Cup) translates to excellent directional response, so it goes where you want it. Think go-kart-like changes of direction and you'll get an idea of how easily this vehicle carves through esses.

This supernatural front-end composure is likely the result of the double-axis front suspension setup and some of the best rebound and compression damping settings on the planet. Renault might be winning accolades for its F1 engines in 2010, dominating the podium at Monaco, but the company's chassis engineers are obviously equally as skilled.

Unlike a MacPherson strut front end, the double-axis suspension rig is lighter (by 7.5kg) and this could explain the extraordinarily sure-footed front-end, able to track cleanly through rutted corners. The system also separates the dampers from the steering axis which explains the lack of kickback and torque steer.

The car has a very firm ride. But too firm? It will be for some, but not for this driver.

Deceleration is taken care of by big Brembo calipers at the front end, and the anchors were nothing but rock solid, even after a few hours of extended punishment. The brake pedal is not too sensitive (the first few degrees are light) so they're still good for everyday use and won't see you slamming to a halt.

Gearshift? Relatively good with light clutch weighting. The Renault Clio RS 200 makes use of a short throw six-speed manual cog-swapper -- though it could be argued there's a bit of sponginess to the way it feels.

However, you will rarely hit the rev limit in this angry little hatchback as there are visual and audio warnings that alert the driver when the revs are about to go critical. This was a really pragmatic feature, as you don't have to take your eyes off the road for even a millisecond -- just slam the throttle and wait for the beep!

There aren't too many things to complain about in the Renault, though after commuting to work for a week in the fiery Frenchie it is safe to say that it's not ideally suited to the daily grind in peak hour...

At the end of the day, the Renault Clio RS 200 is an amazingly accomplished hot hatch, boasting a chassis tune that will bring tears to your eyes for both its brilliance through a corner and its unforgiving ride around town.

Arguably one of the best handling cars money can buy, the Clio RS is faster through corners than the VW Golf GTI, and more fun than a MINI Cooper S (but not as quick as either in straight line). I'd pick the French pocket rocket over both.

Simply put, this is one of the most compelling hot hatches ever created.

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