Renault’s latest Clio RS brings a party along everywhere it goes

Photos by Azfar Hashim & Joel Tam

Let us begin first by pointing out that the Clio RS, despite the yellow livery here, is not all that perfect. It has its quirks, there are major imperfections and last but not least, a love it or loathe it exterior.

A usual hot-hatch, which was obviously designed for enthusiastic driving, would welcome you with a snug-fit chair, nicely-sized steering wheel and last but not least, controls that face the driver. Unfortunately, this Clio RS is not all that — the driving position is more upright compared to a, say, Polo GTi. In fact, the first two hours of my time with the car, I was constantly adjusting the position of both the steering wheel and chair; nothing felt right at all. Either the chair is too far away from the pedals, or the steering wheel it to high up; really, nothing feels right. In the end, I had to adjust my body to the cockpit: which should have been the other way around.

After succumbing to that, I had to brace myself for the overly colourful interior. The French must have been wayyyyy too happy while rendering the entire cabin. There are the red seatbelts, red stitching on the steering wheel, black with red chairs and carpets... Then suddenly you get orange inserts at the door panels, air-con vents, (again) steering wheel, and gear shifter. After that, you get a piano black centre console that also has shiny chrome outline. Now seriously Renault, there are too many things going on in there.

BUT thankfully though, build quality remains solid: well, with what must be 60 percent of the cabin covered in hard plastic - door panels even - you cannot seem to call it anything else. Perhaps the word ‘utilitarian’ sounds rather apt too. I'm sorry Clio RS, the cheaper Suzuki Swift Sport has a far more appealing interior.

All that niggles (ok, ‘feedback’ sounds more politically correct) aside, the Clio RS remains highly practical. It is a five door now, so you can actually bring two other mates back there with ease; both head and legrooms are rather respectable here. The boot is equally useful, and even folds 60:40. Buttons for the climate control are tactile and solid, obviously something Renault has learnt from the Germans. Other goodies include a multimedia head-unit that also comes with TomTom GPS, an auxiliary input for your iWhatever, engine start/stop button, a rather cool tacho/digital speedo display and last but not least, a pair of paddles-shifters taken off the Nissan GTR. So, it’s not that bad after all…

Renault has gone the extra mile this time around at providing additional sound effect for this little hot-hatch. An in-car app allows you to select and simulate different engine sounds; there’s a choice of the Renault Clio V6 and even Nissan GTR, just to name a few. This little function remains questionable, yes, but some form of entertainment wouldn’t hurt, eh?

You may continue grimacing about the interior, but once you start driving the Clio RS the way it should be, you instantly forget all about it. Under the bonnet lies a 1.6-litre turbocharged (replacing the high-revving 2.0-litre of its predecessor) lump that is mated to Renault’s 6-speed dual-clutch transmission. Here are the important digits: 200 bhp (@ 6,000 rpm) and a maximum 240 Nm of torque that kicks in from as low as 1,750 rpm. It takes only 6.7 seconds to get from 0 to 100 km/h, and maxes out at 230 km/h.

This car is fast along the straights, responsive while overtaking and eager when darting between slow traffic. This is one car that can conquer Singapore’s traffic effortlessly, you wonder where the hell on earth was it all this while; all that while in ‘Normal’ mode, mind you. Things do get more interesting when you swap to ‘Sport’ mode via the R.S. Drive button though: the exhaust note gets more audible, throttle response is sharper and it transforms into something rather sensational to drive, begging the question “why should I pay more when this car has it all”.

But the dual-clutch transmission, a first attempt by RenaultSport, does prefer to be swapped manually via the paddle-shifter. While letting it work on it’s own, the ‘box was caught several times taking longer than expected to respond. Then again, could this be a deliberate engineering flaw to encourage the driver to change the gears on his own? Perhaps…

The exhaust lets out a ‘baarp!’ as you change gears at higher revs. Oh, and if you’re the sort who drives like The Italian Job on a daily basis, ‘Race’ mode will be your thang: all safety nannies are fully turned off (except for ABS and EBD) and you can just happily yank the handbrake at every opportunity you enter or exit a corner (#justsaying) for added drama. The short wheelbase makes the stunt driving antics effortless (heh… heh… heh).

Handling wise? This Clio R.S shines, giving even the pricier Golf GTI and Cooper S something to think about. Although some would appreciate a weightier helm here, feedback is positive and spot-on, with the car heading exactly where you want it to with almost non-existent understeer. Body movements during sudden lane changes are equally well controlled, and while attacking a series of corners, this Renault remains firm and encouraging.

Out on the expressway, there’s a surprisingly good degree of comfort; this despite the car running on Renault’s revered sporty Cup chassis. And no, it will not cause passengers to barf over road irregularities.

So here is the verdict then. The Renault Clio RS Cup is one highly entertaining hot-hatch that, once again, proves why Renault is king in this game despite the many other competitors claiming to be class-leaders. Ok, so the cockpit is not the most perfect, but the driving sensation it delivers for every dollar spent on this car makes you forgive all the flaw, the typical French quirk, and want to just drive it.

If the previous sporty Clio did not make it well locally because it was only available in manual transmission, this iteration here should be able to steer more fans in it’s direction.