I absolutely adore Hot Hatchbacks. As a general rule, anything that is quick enough to tingle my senses, and turn me into a human tripod is a winner. But for me, a hot hatch is something a whole lot more than that. The combination of practicality, price and sheer fun factor will always have my heart.
As a general rule, I HATE French cars. To put it bluntly, they are shit. They ALL have a certain feel about them that feels inadequate. The buttons feel as though they are (and often do) fall off if you so much as greet them with a glance. The steering is always vague, and the gear change is-lets be polite here and say ‘woolly’. And then there is the rather dark issue of reliability. Or lack of it. French cars don’t really suffer with big problems; it’s usually 3,579 little ones. And that’s worse.
Now as a nation, the French aren’t very good at very much. Its rubbish in a war and it’s even worse when it comes to the matter of innovation. However the one thing the French are good at is making small cars-that go like stink. This brings me to the 2nd generation Renault Clio.
In Standard form, there is much to hate about the Renault Clio. It feels-well umm typically French. It isn’t the most spacious in its class; it has a range of engines that all perform badly, it lacks equipment levels and it will almost certainly fall apart. As an all rounder then, I would rather eat your toenails, than own one.
Against my best advice, my brother decided on a 1.2 Renault Clio for his first car. Guess what? It was shit. I hoped and prayed and thankfully, he crashed it, and it went away. Then he came to me and said: wait for it… He wanted another one. I tried everything, to steer him towards a logical BMW 3 Series. But, because he’s more stubborn than me, it was of course to no avail. I spent many sleepless nights, wishing he would see sense. Failing that, I hoped he wouldn’t be too hurt in the crash that I hoped would make it go away. But then came a bombshell. He was talking about the Clio with the big willy; The Renault Clio Renaultsport 172-Which is a masterpiece.
This car is properly good. I don’t mean good like having sex with Kate Winslett good. I mean like having sex with Naomi Campbell good. Out the box, 0-60 is dealt with in 6.7 seconds and 172 BHP-as the name suggests, pulls it all the way to 140 mph-Trust me on that figure. That’s impressive, but that isn’t this cars party piece. I kid you not, this car stick to the road like shit to a shovel. You get that sense that you can attack any corner, at any speed. Even in the wet. If you do choose bravery, you get a hint of understeer. This is promptly cured with a boot full of power, and the little cracker just grips, and it sling shoots you out the other end. And the brakes are sharp, but trust me they are bloody good.
Of course it has its fair share of problems. The equipment is sparse, and whilst the seats are very supportive whilst driving aggressively; their odd shape, makes them uncomfortable. Then, there is the rather crucial and completely annoying aspect of the driving experience. At low speeds, the car feels like a jumpy Jack Russell dog. I hate driving it at normal speeds. If anything, it feels even worse than most Frenchies do. It doesn’t stop there however. This car follows Road Camber in a rather dangerous fashion. Coupled with a rather alarming amount of Torque steer, it would be a complete understatement to stay this is a twitchy little bugger. And then we get to the danger zone; The potential for this car to Lift-Off Oversteer is ever present. Lift-Off Oversteer is a little confusing to explain, but rather easy to achieve in the 172-if you’re not concentrating. Lift-Off Oversteer is when you back off the accelerator in a fast corner, and simply, the back tries to overtake the front. On a racetrack this is always fun. On a roundabout this is not. The 172 has a tendency to lure you into believing that you can confidently attack a roundabout at 100 mph-which you will. Then you notice midway through the roundabout that you are in fact about to understeer into the pavement-and naturally you back off-causing you to face Fiesta ST that you were racing only moments earlier-who has just locked up- and ‘shat’ himself-and has subsequently missed you by an inch. This is scary. And you should refrain from this-as the crash that will result, will make your insurance premiums become an un-funny joke. I have found myself in this situation on; ahem more than one occasion.
But when you switch it to Warp Factor 9, this car NEVER fails to disappoint. Seriously, a country road blast makes you forgive all its shortcomings. Every drive makes you love it more. To sum up then; The Renault Clio Renaultsport 172, is a car that I adore. It’s bonkers, uncomfortable, badly made and at times dangerous. I want one immediately and so should you. Guess what? You can put a 2003 ‘53’ plate 79,000 miler example on your driveway today for £2350. That I think is what is known as a bloody fantastic bargain.
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