Ever since we got our hands on a Sport 172 back in 1999, Renaultsport’s piping-hot front-drive Clio has been a firm favourite at Autocar. Prodigious speed, bags of grip and an adjustable chassis gave it a place in our hearts alongside the Peugeot 205 GTi. And we liked the stripped-out Cup version even more – enough to pick it over the £1500 costlier Mini Cooper S.
Delve a little more deeply into tradition, and it's not difficult to find hot Clios of worthy mettle. The Clio Williams line included a succession of hot hatches leading back to a 1993 original that was blisteringly quick, handled sweetly, and with its gold alloys and blue dials, was a superb-looking car to boot. If you're insurance broker baulked at the prospect of a group 17 rating, there was also the less-well-known Clio 16v - a more ordinarily-styled hatch that would run the hotter Williams surprisingly close on performance.
Look below that, and you'd find a 1.8-litre Clio RSi that, for its slightly tamer pace, still proved a real livewire; we rated it more higly than better known rivals like the Ford Fiesta XR2i, Peugeot 106 XSi, Citroën AX GTi and Vauxhall Corsa GSi.


From the outside, the 182 is identifiable by a new front bumper, centre tailpipes and eight-spoke, 16in alloys. The test car also came with optional stripes, which either add or detract from the looks, depending on your point of view.
Power is from the familiar 1998cc dohc four, with power fed to the front wheels through a five-speed gearbox. The extra 10bhp, taking the total to 180bhp (182ps), comes courtesy of changes to the exhaust manifold and a new metallic catalyst. Torque is unchanged at 148lb ft, but arrives 150rpm lower at 5250rpm.
The suspension retains the 172’s MacPherson strut front/beam axle rear set-up but, in an effort to make it even more sure-footed, Renault has widened the tracks (by 12mm at the front and 16mm at the rear), lengthened the wheelbase by 13mm, revised and strengthened the front suspension, added stiffer springs and anti-roll bars and a set of Michelin Exalto 2 tyres developed specially for the 182. Opt for the £200 Cup suspension fitted to our car and you get a lower ride height – a whole 3mm lower – even firmer springs and a tasty gunmetal finish to the alloys, which feature the same tyres but with stiffer sidewalls.




Clio 182 gets stripes from 60s Renault Gordini
Despite weighing 111kg more than the Cup, the 1090kg 182’s extra traction helps it scorch to 60mph in 6.3sec, 0.2sec quicker, and at 17.0sec to 100mph, it trails the Cup by a mere 0.1sec. More importantly, that means it blitzes the Mini Cooper S (7.6/21.9sec) and even shades the £18k Cooper S Works (6.8/17.2sec).
It’s the same story from 30-70mph, which the Clio dispatches in just 5.8sec – 1.4sec quicker than the Cooper S. These figures are on a par with the now defunct Ford Focus RS, and the only front-drive hatches that will out-pace the little Clio are the 250bhp, £22,750, Alfa Romeo 147 GTA and the 182’s big brother, the 222bhp, £19,500 Mégane RS, which goes on sale in May.
The biggest joy is how the power is delivered, with all the classic fizz-bang of hot hatches of old. Eighty per cent of the car's torque is available from 2000rpm; on the move it’s hugely flexible, pulling from 50-70mph in fourth gear in 5.6sec – nearly 2.0sec quicker than the Cooper S – and you rarely need to change from fifth on the motorway.
Fine go is accompanied by equally fine stoppers, which haul the Clio from 70-0mph in 48.6m and offer good feel and exceptional resistance to fade.
Renault has increased castor angle (up to the same three degrees as in the Cup) which gives better steering feel, and the combination of stiffer front suspension mountings and those new tyres endow the 182 with breathtakingly sharp turn-in. The hydraulic power steering is well-weighted and provides substantially more feel than the electric systems that are becoming the supermini norm.
In the dry, front-end grip is vast and understeer all but non-existent – the Clio’s playful chassis allowing you to adjust its attitude almost entirely on the throttle. In the wet, the previously unobtrusive ESP becomes rather more noticeable as it fights to keep the front wheels from spinning away the power.


Unfortunately, the performance is not matched by Mini-like refinement. At idle the motor is lumpy and at speed things get really noisy, with a combination of ringing from the tyres and the booming engine – this is a car that cries out for a slick six-speed ’box.
Inside, Renault has worked hard to make the cabin a classy place. It lacks the Mini’s charm, but the soft-touch plastics, handsome leather and Alcantara trim and smattering of Renaultsport logos give an appropriately sporty flavour. Extra trim can’t, however, disguise the ageing Clio’s roots and poor detailing. The small buttons on the optional sat-nav, weak sound-deadening and relays that click loudly every time you use the windows or wipers are unimpressive in a £15k car.
Even worse, the driving position – long a Clio failing – remains poor. With the wheel angled away from the driver and a lofty seating position with insufficient back support, it’s difficult to get comfortable, and that can rob you of confidence when driving quickly.



At the same £14,613 as the outgoing 172, the 182 is competitively priced and pitched directly at the £14,605 Cooper S. While the Mini has the cachet, the edge on build quality and arguably greater desirability, the Clio has the pace to leave the Cooper in its wake and offers a wealth of kit. The standard climate control, CD player, leather trim and alarm would set you back an extra £2070 on the Mini.
But perhaps most importantly, the Clio offers more fun. It may lack refinement, not to mention a decent driving position, but this is a hot hatch in the classic vein, mating diminutive proportions and agility with sports-car shaming grip and performance.