Category: Hot Hatchbacks 
Price Range: No data available
Race car looks, Recaro seats, sharp handling, incredible value.
Needs air conditioning, engine needs to be worked hard, lack of steering feel.
The most focused, hardcore, best-driving hot hatch money can buy.
Superminis have come a long way in the last few years. Many now ride and drive as well as cars in the class above and have standard kit that's not out of place in an expensive luxury saloon.
So it comes as something of a shock that cruise control, satellite navigation, climate control and leather-lined opulence isn't included as standard in the newest Clio to spearhead Renault's supermini range.
In fact, in this £15,000 supermini, even electric door mirrors are too much of an ask and, if you get a bit hot under the collar, lowering a window is the best way to cool off.
So as this is no plush family runabout, why the premium price? Simple: this is a car with serious sporting intentions.
Renaultsport - the French brand's equivalent of Vauxhall's VXR or Ford's RS - has been very busy with the new Clio Cup. Basing it on the standard 197, the Renaultsport department has stripped the Clio of everything it feels is unnecessary for a truly sporting machine. Controversially, such determination to shed the pounds and improve performance and handling has seen even the curtain bags getting the chop.
As well as the putting the 197 on the equivalent of the Atkins diet, Renault's performance division has also developed a new lower and stiffer Cup chassis (£400) that will be available on the regular 197. So at only £1,000 cheaper than the standard car, is it really worth sacrificing safety and comfort for a bit of weight saving?
Latest Readers' Drives About the Renault Clio RenaultSport
wrote on 28 08 2007