Clio Renaultsport 200 Cup (From York Press)

Clio Renaultsport 200 Cup

11:52am Friday 13th November 2009 in

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Here’s a little car with big presence. If the colours don’t grab your attention – my test car’s bodywork was in Alien Green, complemented by 17-inch wheels in white with red brake callipers poking through – then the engine sound will.

It’s the soundtrack of a two-litre normally aspirated petrol unit generating 200bhp, and Renaultsport’s engineers have created a signature engine note appropriate to the 200’s pedigree.

It is present virtually all the time, from a discreet pitch at low revs to a growl as it progresses through the rev range. Then, as the 7,100rpm red line approaches, it barks.

In addition, there’s the F1-inspired aerodynamic package, including front blade, side extractor vents and rear air diffuser.

You can see where all this is going… straight into the fast lane.

The Clio Renaultsport Cup looks like a piece of military hardware rather than a car, designed with single-minded purpose.

There are two versions of the Clio Renaultsport available – the regular offering and the Cup version tested here.

And with its highly developed Cup chassis it provides a driving experience you would not have thought possible in a car costing about £16,000.

There’s a choice of four body colours – the aforementioned Alien Green, plus Glacier White, Nimbus and Racing Blue – that give the 200 Cup a profile to match its performance. You will also find some expected touches such as Renaultsport badging, drilled aluminium pedals, black side mouldings and twin exhaust pipes.

You can also pay £850 more and get Recaro bucket seats, which are fabulous and really demonstrate what this Clio is all about. Vault over the high seat bolsters, slot yourself in and it’s hard not to feel in the mood.

Start it up and the 2.0-litre four cylinder unit fires with a rasp from the exhaust, hinting at what lies beneath.

It pushes out a more- than- generous 200bhp (hence the car’s name), but unlike some of the turbocharged competition, it’s delivered in a race-car fashion at the top of the rev range. For those raised on a diet of diesels and low-end torque, this could come as a bit of a shock.

The six forward ratios in the gearbox are closely packed, and details hinting at the high performance on offer include a yellow rev counter with a gearchange indicator light and audible warning as the driver approaches the red line.

Arguably, the Renaultsport Cup is even happier spearing through corners than it is blasting down straights.

The stiffer suspension, which inevitably transmits more bumps into the cabin, pays off handsomely in those conditions. There’s not an inch of slack in this car – it responds instantly and accurately to inputs, seemingly always ready to play.

It offers low ride height and stiffer springs and dampers, along with the best power-toweight ratio in its class.

The flip side of this is that you have to live with its slightly frenetic nature. It’s still a Clio of course – well screwed together and refined, but it’s noisier and less comfortable than the standard car.

But then the standard car won’t run rings around more expensive machinery, blitz a sequence of hairpins and rev past the point where ordinary cars would go pop.

This is the beauty of the Cup. Most people will think it too much like hard work, but everyone else will revel in a performance car without compromise.

Clio Renaultsport 200 Cup

Price: From £16,115.

Engine: Four-cylinder, two-litre petrol, generating 200bhp.

Transmission: Six-speed manual.

Performance: 0 to 62mph in 6.9 seconds; maximum speed 141mph.

Economy: 34.4mpg combined.

CO2 emissions: 195 g/km.