Test Driven: The 2013 Renaultsport 200 Turbo

The latest RS Clio brings comfort to hot motoring with a dual-clutch automatic gearbox and two extra doors. But does this mean the new Renaultsport 200 Turbo lacks its predecessor’s ‘Va Va Voom’?

Climbing into the surprisingly well-finished cabin of the 200 Turbo, as you become surrounded by RS logos, red stitching and orange details, that sports-car style start button urges you to press it. You’re in the latest generation of hot Clio you see, a car that is part of a family widely regarded as reaching hot hatch perfection with its outgoing 200 Cup model. But this is the latest member and it approaches the market at a completely different angle, so the only way to find out if it can live up to its family’s name is to take it for a spin.

Sliding into the leather seats, you notice that Renaultsport finally have a car that offers a low and purposeful driving position. Thanks to a reach and rake adjustment, it’s easy to place the steering wheel exactly where you want it. But without a conventional gearstick to the left, you’re faced with two silver paddles behind the wheel, connecting fingertips to Renaultsport’s latest EDC semi-automatic transmission. It’s time to see if this semi-auto can really live up to the job.

Orange details and RS badges hint at sporting pedigree

Unfortunately, it can’t. Not at low speed anyway, as gear-changes are delayed and the gearbox unresponsive. Renault's suggestions are to toggle the gearbox back into full auto mode at this point, and this feels like your only choice because at low speed the manual shifts feel cumbersome. But when left to its own devices and allowed to make the decisions, the auto box does a perfectly good job at being an auto box. It feels slightly joltier than old autos, but perfectly fine to comfortably pull you to your destination. Added to the soft touch dash, piano black centre console and roomy interior, there’s little doubt that the 200 Turbo would be a pleasant and practical place to be on the daily commute.

But this being the Renaultsport model, it is more than likely that owners would want to occasionally leave the traffic jams and find an exciting road to sprint along. So when you do manage to venture onto a country road, you can happily click the gear lever into manual and press the RS button located just behind it, switching the car into ‘Sport’ mode. The dash’s Renaultsport changes into yellow, and then, then nothing. Until you touch the accelerator.

RS button engages 'Sport' mode

There’s no doubting it, this thing is fast. With a 0-62 time of just 6.7 seconds, this is the fastest production Clio to leave Dieppe since the 255bhp V6. And boy do you feel it, all 177lb-ft of torque seeming almost instantly available thanks to the 1.6-litre engine’s turbocharger, pushing you back into your seat with its 197bhp, forcing you to speed through the gears faster than you would expect. It’s here that the dual-clutch gearbox feels quick and purposeful, giving you the ability to maintain full focus on the road ahead and maximise steering inputs with both hands planted on the wheel. As you click through the six gears the engine’s momentum is maintained, meaning acceleration feels endless and harsh. Would you miss a gearstick at this point? Probably not.

It’s not until you approach something that requires you to stamp on the left pedal, the EDC gearbox’s ability to frantically rush down the gears still leaves you feeling like your left foot is a little wasted. The exhaust does let out a racing car like snort as it passes each cog, but it’s definitely not as satisfying as knowing your inputs have directly created this dirty orchestra. Nevertheless, when you open up the steering and press hard on the throttle it does become clear that without having to worry about shoving a stick back and forth, you can really commit to driving fast, utilising the cars e-diff to effectively drag you out of the corners.

Longer wheelbase enables greater stability

The Clio’s forced induction woosh is addictive too, whilst this model’s Cup suspension keeps everything planted and its electric steering, although lacking in natural feel, provides just about enough weight to enable precise inputs. Overall grip is phenomenal, with this car’s optional 18-inch alloys being wrapped in performance spec Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres, which bite well on the sun-heated tarmac in all the situations you can ‘legally’ throw at them. Sprint along British B-roads like this and the Clio will barely break sweat, and its lengthy 2,589mm wheelbase helps the chassis absorb the broken surfaces of Britain’s roads without too much upset either.

Of course with this being Britain the B-road will come to an end and you will arrive back in a queue of traffic. But before the car gets a chance to stumble on changes, you can easily flick the gearbox back into full auto and click the RS button back to select ‘Normal’ mode. Suddenly the car feels less urgent, quiet and fairly smooth again. To be honest it’s like an entirely different car. Renault claim that in this mode the car can achieve an impressive combined 44.8mpg, emitting as low as 144g of CO2/km. This means the 1.6-litre unit is far cheaper to tax than the old, dirtier, naturally aspirated Renaultsport’s, as well as requiring fewer trips to the petrol station; as long as you stay out of the boost zone that is.

Cheaper tax, lower emissions, but a less involving drive

The 200 Turbo is therefore a completely different animal to older generations. At speed it’s a real weapon; something that would be a force to be reckoned with on track. But on the road it is almost too effective, requiring its driver to push beyond what would be sane before offering any of that light movement and pointy front end its predecessors were famous for. In town it becomes comfortable, offering a less hot and more conventional hatchback experience that its siblings were never able to do. It therefore manages to shift away from being purely an enthusiast’s pocket-rocket, to a much wider market position of attracting those seeking affordable thrills without compromising practicality.

That’s not to say that people won’t like the cheaper tax, better fuel efficiency and increased cabin space, there’s no doubt that more people are interested in these things than out and out raw driving characteristics. The 2013 Renaultsport Clio would certainly be a mature choice for a buyer looking for practical thrills under £20,000, but unfortunately it probably can’t quite meet the expectations of more enthusiastic drivers. Even with its aggressive styling and race-style gearbox, the car lacks the overall involvement many drivers would have expected after driving the marque’s older cars. So despite the fact it is the quickest of the bunch, this car could be the first to see Renaultsport lose the hardcore hot hatch crown.

Specs

Engine turbocharged 1618cc, 4cyl, FWD

Gearbox EDC 6-speed, dual-clutch, semi-automatic

Power 197bhp

Torque 177lb-ft

CO2 144g/km

Top speed 143mph

0-62 mph 6.7secs

Combined mpg 44.8

Manufacturer’s OTR price £19,995 (for LUX model as tested here)

Tyres Tyres Tyres: Has F1 Gone Too Far?

Formula 1 of late seems a far cry from the Schumacher dominated days of yesteryear. Instead of the multi million Pound  precession of cars we were once faced  with, racing today is far less predictable and overtaking is plentiful. Yet this seemingly vast improvement in racing, is often overshadowed by a significant factor in modern F1: tyres. F1 tyres have taken a leading role in determining the finishing order in races of late. Drivers and cars that are able to preserve their tyres are rewarded with far fewer visits to the pits. But has this damaged what many visualise as the World's fastest sport? Have F1's tyre issues pushed the sport too far from its roots?

The slick tyres used by today's current crop of F1 teams, are made solely by Pirelli. Pirelli were instructed by the FIA, F1's governing body, to create tyres that provided good grip for a short period of time. The intention was to create a challenge for teams with races requiring 2-3 pit stops. However the weekend's race at Barcelona showed how too much tyre wear means drivers are forced to run well within their limits in order to lengthen tyre life. The tyres have become a significant challenge, requiring continual management.

Jody Sheckter had to manage his innovative P34 in 1976

Nevertheless, if we look back over the past 60 years of Formula 1 racing, it is clear to see that racing drivers have rarely been flat out all Sunday long. Generally there has always been a factor that required managing, whether it be gearbox, engine or brake related. Drivers are not just there to push to the limits, but also ensure their machinery can carry them to the finish. In the 50s and 60s the main limiting factor tended to be mechanical, with a lengthy list of racers who 'Did Not Finish' often falling victim to engine and gearbox failures. Through the decades reliability improved, but high performance turbo engines in the 80s were still fragile beasts that needed heavy management over a weekend - they ran up to 600hp less during races than qualifying in order to just survive.

Today however, reliability is so good that races see few mechanical failures with engines competing in 3 to 4 races per season before requiring any rebuilding. Engines and gearboxes require very little management from drivers as a result, with simple engine mapping adjustments providing teams with confidence their cars will see out the distance.

Locking wheels can destroy a tyre in seconds

Especially from the fan's point of view, tyres are the main factors that require management. Many have voiced their disgust, and even 3 times F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel explained that his Red Bull RB9 could go far quicker over the course of a race if the tyres weren't such a limiting factor.

These issues do not seem to exist because something requires heavy management. Instead it's the fact it results in drivers circulating tracks 10 seconds off their potential pace. We even notice teams instructing drivers to "not fight" against others due to focusing entirely on their own race stint. Most of Barcelona's overtaking came in the form of DRS assisted straight line passes, whilst both Button and Vettel showed little flare when defending positions from attack. This meant despite the number of overtakes being sufficient, each was far less dramatic than many F1 fans would hope.

DRS assisted passes are often less dramatic

The Australian and Bahrain races were thankfully far better and so we can only hope that future races will be closer to them, but Barcelona should certainly serve as a lesson of what we don't want. F1 is the pinnacle of Motorsport, both in terms of drivers and car technology, so the last thing we want is a formula where neither of these things are being pushed to the limits.