Fans of the hot hatch faced a winter of discontent last year when the undisputed class-leading Clio Renaultsport 182 ceased production to make way for the much-acclaimed all-New Clio.
Well the good news is the wait for its successor is already over - only six months after the launch of the New Clio as the Clio Renaultsport 197 is now available to order prior to its launch day of 18th July - the opening day of the British Motor Show.
Ordering opens on Monday 8th May exclusively for registered members of the www.renaultsport.co.uk community before anyone else, priced at £15,995 and an insurance group of 15E.
This has not been the normal two or three year wait for the hot version while the engineers set to work modifying the standard car because at Renault, they have a separate company, Renault Sport Technologies, who develop all the high performance road and race track cars. They have been developing the Clio Renaultsport 197 side-by-side with the normal model for the last three-years.
Renault has a rich heritage in performance sport hot hatches, and Renault's New Clio Renaultsport 197 is no exception. With best in class power, an impressive level of standard equipment, the Clio Renaultsport 197 ensures it is a very worthy successor to its predecessors.
With a 2.0-litre engine producing 197hp at 7,250rpm and 215 Nm of torque at 5,550, a new six-speed gearbox, this results in 0-62mph in just 6.9 seconds and a top speed of 134mph, customers would need to go up a class and pay thousands more to find a car that matches New Clio Renaultsport 197's performance, making the £15,995 price tag excellent value for money.
For example in the supermini hot hatch class, the new Ford Fiesta ST and VW Polo GTi have only 150hp, the MINI Cooper S is just 170hp, whereas in the next class up, the Golf GTi is also 197hp but costs over £20,000.
New Clio Renaultsport 197 has a combined mpg of 31.7 and CO2 emissions of 209 g/km. |
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