Tuesday 23rd July 2013

Renault Clio Cup Racer: Driven

The roadgoing Clio Cup has matured, so what about the racer? Harris finds out

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And so the world is turned on its head one more time: the new Clio Cup race car has two back doors. That's right, the car that defined the three-door graduation to Premiership banger-racing (also known as British Touring Cars) is now family-friendly. You can even open those rear doors and peek into the frame of metalwork that replaces the rear seats. I must not be a hardened racer because rather than being outraged at this new found domesticity, all I could think was how handy it will be for fixing and operating your GoPro at a race meeting.

The standard Clio Cup Racer cornering stance

Appearances flatter to deceive with the new Clio Cup racer. You can throw at this rather big 'little' racer the same criticism hurled at its road-based relative, but doing so rather underlines the lack of emotional baggage in the world of motorsport. No complaints here of paddleshift gearboxes and subjective moaning about turbocharged motors: young guns want all these gizmos because they make for a more comprehensive education.

Back to school
The motor is in a slightly different state of tune to the road car, re-calibrated and sealed by Oreca, giving 220hp and 199lb ft of torque. Kerbweight is up a little at 1,065kg, but overall the car has much more performance than its predecessor: it's over a second quicker around most circuits.

The front-wheel drive racing car is one of the most challenging of the type. I'm a hardened RWD fan, but there's something really challenging about the Clio that immediately makes you want to lap Silverstone's Stowe circuit uninterrupted for most of the day. The spec sheet leads you to believe that the engine and Sadev paddleshift gearbox should dominate the experience, but of course - like any FWD racer - it's all about the diff.

Dash mimics GT racers

Oh, and the clutch. Pulling away in the Clio Cup makes sauntering around town in an Atom V8 seem serene and easy. The bite point is high, and the relationship between engagement and the torque curve is about as wrong as it could be. There is no dignity in getting moving and I hear there is a modification on the way.

Hopalong
It's a hot day, but even so it takes time to screw any temperature into the rear tyres. For the first few laps the rear axle feels like it's rolling on castors, and then, bang, it feels like a racing car. Immediately far more like a racing car than its predecessor. Gearshifts are fast and greeted with a parpy ignition cut, the steering is electrically light and fast and the car wants to change direction. The 320mm brakes now have no servo, and this brings the other big difference to the driving experience: all the other controls are light, but the middle pedal needs a big, big shove. At first it seems like a poor mismatch, but I loved the extra feel once I was comfortable in the car.

Diff creates phenomenal traction

Renault clearly understands what the paying racer likes to see in his or her car. The electronic dash display is pure GT2 racer with loads of functionality and, of course, there are buttons on the steering wheel. We all like buttons.

Talk, steer
For me, the motor is in a different league than before because it has torque to drag you from a turn and a diff that just begs you to bang the power in earlier and earlier. Each turn is an exercise in trail braking right on the edge of a nasty oversteer moment, then the second it takes a set, working the diff to get the best from those Michelin slicks. I suppose my deep affection for the original Focus RS and the Megane R26R can be explained at this point. They're the two road-registered FWD cars that best replicate the delectable feeling you can indulge here, of braking to within an inch of lift-off disaster and then sitting wide-eyed as you unwind the lock, pull another paddle and wonder how just two front wheels can generate so much traction.

Where's the R-Link gone then?

This is not a cheap racing car - I'm not aware of many that are. The sticker price is 39,900 euros for the car alone and then you'll need to spend another £12K for your Clio Cup UK entries. That's either a rip-off or a very cheap way of getting yourself shared telly space with our favourite Custard merchant, Mr. Jason Plato. Oh, you'll need to run the car too, which could be anywhere from £70K-£90K, or more if you start destroying shells.

But isn't it strange how technologies which make for a much more competent and engaging racing car - this Clio really does feel like a mini touring car - are gradually being rejected by people who love driving on the road? How long before the marketing departments will be questioning all campaigns boasting of 'developed on the racing track for the road'?

 

[j_s14a]

Looks wise, it reminds me of another Renault product - the Espace F1.

[Bionic Billy Nav]

Wow 70-90k racing a Clio for a year! I remember my Dad racing an R5 GT Turbo in the 1990 Renault UK ELF Cup alongside Rowan Atkinson who paid something like £14k for arrive and drive and my Dad spent £20k that year including buying the car but then that's inflation lol...

[Robmarriott]

There's quite a big difference between the Sadev sequential and the double clutch unit in the road car, maybe that's why it feels so good as a race car but people are rejecting the premise in the road car.

[dapearson]

Didn't we have some threads a while ago where it emerged that a competitive season was well into six figures? Partly because any parts have to be supplied by RenaultSport themselves with a little hologram that multiplies the price?

[Fonz]

Car 39,900 or £34,243 (I just looked that up on Google and I would be surprised if that is what the teams really pay for it), entry £12,000, cost to run for a season £90,000 (again I’d take that with a pinch of salt as race series promoters always think you can run it for less than reality). That gives you a total cost for your first season of £136,243. Ok you may be able to try and offset the payment of the car over 2 seasons but I would guess that most teams will want to pay for it ASAP.
So at between 13 and 14 grand a meeting I’d say that it was anything but cheap.

[Krikkit]

Robmarriott said:

There's quite a big difference between the Sadev sequential and the double clutch unit in the road car, maybe that's why it feels so good as a race car but people are rejecting the premise in the road car.

+1, they're about as different as gearboxes with cogs can be, but the marketing buff tries to imply they're brethren.

[Matt UK]

Fonz said:

Car 39,900 or £34,243.., entry £12,000, cost to run for a season £90,000.. That gives you a total cost for your first season of £136,243.

Sorry, I've never raced. But if you have bought the car and paid your entry costs, what the hell are you actually spending £90k on??

[Dan Trent]

Krikkit said:

+1, they're about as different as gearboxes with cogs can be, but the marketing buff tries to imply they're brethren.

True of course but the symbolic difference is that with the new gen Cup car and roadgoing 200 they're paddle both paddle operated. Previous Cup cars have also used Sadevs but shifted with a sequential shifter.

You can argue marketing baloney and, yes, the transmission itself is totally different. But at the point of contact there is a PR friendly comparison.

As, indeed, with another controversial road car that's adopted compulsory dual-clutch and paddleshifters to 'mimic' its competition equivalent. That doesn't use dual-clutch either.

No names mentioned, but I think it may have been discussed on here on occasion...

Dan

[anonymous-user]

Matt UK said:

Sorry, I've never raced. But if you have bought the car and paid your entry costs, what the hell are you actually spending £90k on??

Tyres, fuel, damage, subsistence, logistics.....

Racing is the finest disposal of money ever invented.

[Matt UK]

yonex said:

Matt UK said:

Sorry, I've never raced. But if you have bought the car and paid your entry costs, what the hell are you actually spending £90k on??

Tyres, fuel, damage, subsistence, logistics.....

Racing is the finest disposal of money ever invented.

Cheers.

Fine, I'll stick to trackdays then

Actually, just a thought - what sort of prize winnings would the championship winner pocket at the end of the season? Enough to cover all these costs one must have thought? Or does everyone do it for the fun / leg up to the big time?

[BBS-LM]

Dan Trent said:

Krikkit said:

+1, they're about as different as gearboxes with cogs can be, but the marketing buff tries to imply they're brethren.

True of course but the symbolic difference is that with the new gen Cup car and roadgoing 200 they're paddle both paddle operated. Previous Cup cars have also used Sadevs but shifted with a sequential shifter.

You can argue marketing baloney and, yes, the transmission itself is totally different. But at the point of contact there is a PR friendly comparison.

There is no PR comparison between this Clio race car, and the road going car at all, one has a LSD and slicks and is a bloody racing car, the other has a slow flappy paddle gearbox which from all account is not very nice to drive. The only comparison I cam make is that both cars are Clios

[epom]

Apologies for the ignorance but would there be much work involved in making this a Tarmac spec rally car ?

[DanielSan]

Fonz said:

Car 39,900 or £34,243 (I just looked that up on Google and I would be surprised if that is what the teams really pay for it), entry £12,000, cost to run for a season £90,000 (again I’d take that with a pinch of salt as race series promoters always think you can run it for less than reality). That gives you a total cost for your first season of £136,243. Ok you may be able to try and offset the payment of the car over 2 seasons but I would guess that most teams will want to pay for it ASAP.
So at between 13 and 14 grand a meeting I’d say that it was anything but cheap.

Bare in mind it is racing as part of the TOCA package and all the TV coverage that comes with it. For that reason alone it's good value, in motorsport terms anyway.

[TurboBlue]

At a PalmerSport event at Bedford Autodrome it was the Clio Cup Racer (old model) that I most enjoyed driving and best got on with so if these are available in the future I'd be interested in doing it again.

[A Scotsman]

Be good if they put that dash in the road car.. The standard one is truly ugly..

[Mound Dawg]

TurboBlue said:

At a PalmerSport event at Bedford Autodrome it was the Clio Cup Racer (old model) that I most enjoyed driving and best got on with so if these are available in the future I'd be interested in doing it again.

I thought it was the worst car there, didn't like it at all but it must've liked me as I got fastest time in it. Came in fifth out of sixteen in everything else!

[designndrive62]

Matt UK said:

Cheers.

Fine, I'll stick to trackdays then

Actually, just a thought - what sort of prize winnings would the championship winner pocket at the end of the season? Enough to cover all these costs one must have thought? Or does everyone do it for the fun / leg up to the big time?

When I looked into it a couple of years ago it was £250 per round for the winner and a measly £5k for winning the championship, or something around those figures. To be honest prize money is not something to even bother considering. And that was good at the time in terms of prize money. Racing to 'earn' money in circuit racing is impossible in europe. The Clio Cup grid is made up of very wealthy business men and the odd young gun with lots of family money.

[re33]

epom said:

Apologies for the ignorance but would there be much work involved in making this a Tarmac spec rally car ?

In internationals you can't as its probably not homologated, though don't see why Renault wouldn't try and do a Clio Cup rally championship. I guess in France they probably do.

For nationals if I remember right you can't run a modified car above 2.5L and ratio for turbocharging is 1.7. So engine is too big and if you did run it the power to weight ratio is awful compared to a 2.5L mk2 escort.

Renault will no doubt release a new R3 rally car (if they haven't already) that will be more like E100K but faster than this for use in British Championship ect.

Edited by re33 on Wednesday 24th July 12:54

[Dr S]

Would love to drive this car. If it's only as good as the old cup car then it's excellent value/fun for the money (relatively speaking, of course)

[sagarich]

Started as a Harris article, ended up with a Matt Bird sign off????