Renault’s next Renaultsport Clio has been confirmed to have a turbo 1.6 litre engine rather than the current 2.0 litre unit. Surprisingly it will only come in 5 door form but will have the option of a dual-clutch gearbox as well as the standard manual. For more information please follow this link for Renaultsport insurance.
The new car has been shown off in heavily disguised form and we will have to wait until the Paris Motor show to see the car in its full glory. We have been told that the car will be almost coupe like in appearance even though it has 5 doors, with a falling roof-line and hidden door handles.
The demise of the 3 door version is purely economic as 5 doors outsell 3 by a huge margin in the European markets. The engine though will certainly be at least match or beat the current 200 bhp from the current car. This will mean a sub 7 second 0-60 but with the added benefit of far better fuel consumption. Bearing in mind this engine in the Nissan Juke achieves over 40 mpg the Clio should top that.
The price isn’t expected to shift much from the £18,135 it costs now, but initially anyway there won’t be the Cup version to shave some cost by deleting some of the kit. We are sure a Cup version will be available in the future but Renault will leave us to guess.
There’s a lot riding on the launch next year. The Renaultsport Clio has built up a loyal following ever since the 172 version was first seen in 1999 and crucially, unlike Peugeot with the GTI, it has so far managed to retain that magic in subsequent versions.
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