Monday 4th February 2013

Dual-clutch Clio RS: the defence

Renaultsport MD tells us why it's the paddleshift way or the highway

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Clearly subscribing to the school of thought that attack is the best form of defence Renaultsport MD Patrice Ratti (in conversation last week at the Monte Historique) counters PH's complaint that the lack of a manual Clio 200 wipes out much of the car's on-paper appeal to keen drivers. "Call me when you've driven it," he says, steely eyed and clearly expecting an apology for the implication flappy paddles can't deliver the involvement Renaultsport cars are famed for.

EDC gearbox is a major selling point, we're told

He continues with a quick left-right to hammer his point home. First the functional side. "Racing cars use paddle-shift gearboxes. It's faster," he says. Worth remembering that race and rally cars make up a significant part of Renaultsport's business, the Dieppe factory building rally Clio and Twingos and the various single-seaters racing in Renault one-make series. So there is a transfer of ideology here, if not an absolutely direct one of technology with the Clio's Getrag-sourced EDC dual-clutch somewhat different from the Sadev sequentials used by Clio Cup cars, even if both shift via paddles.

Fair enough, we counter. But speed isn't everything for a road car and for many of us the satisfaction of DIY rev-matching and carefully honed heel'n'toe downshifts are pleasures we can indulge in regardless of whether we're on a track or the daily commute. And something our PH Fleet Megane is perfectly tuned to achieve, as personal experience and the smooth driving of our Renaultsport chaperones on the Monte rally stages attests.

Paddleshift only for next Clio - and next GT3

And then we hit the real reason, hidden behind that smokescreen of 'it's what racing cars have' marketing. It's a simple business case. "The decision was made years ago," he says with the merest hint of a Gallic shrug. "We looked at competitor cars from Volkswagen and others and maybe two-thirds of sales went to dual clutch when there was a choice." He doubtless refers to the platform sharing, twincharger-powered, DSG-only Fabia vRS, Polo GTI and Ibiza Cupra triumvirate as a key influencer here. Which doesn't bode well, given our recent experience of the latter.

With the new Clio RS's mandate to appeal to a wider audience dual-clutch is, quite simply, going to bring more customers to the brand. While dropping the manual choice will annoy a vocal minority it's a straightforward business decision. A manual option would make the car more expensive, the loss of a few sales to stickshift diehards easier to bear than the opportunities to sell more cars to a wider audience at the required price point. Enthusiast brand or not Renaultsport is still a commercial enterprise and you can ask Lotus how the business case for catering purely to the hardcore stacks up.

208 GTI arrives around the same time - as a manual

Expect a very similar conversation with the Porsche engineers and marketeers when the PDK-only 911 GT3 arrives. And if you really, really want your French hot hatch with a manual bear in mind the 208 GTI will offer just that - we'll be driving it a couple of weeks after our first go in the Clio too. We'll maybe hold off calling Ratti until that point.

 

 

 

[GTiFrank]

I don't understand why those of us that want and buy manual cars are the "diehards" and in the minority here. Surly your average PHer IS the target audience for this car, and I would bet more than 2/3rds of us would spec a Clio RS with a manual box given the choice!

[GTiFrank]

Chris71 said:

GTiFrank said:

I don't understand why those of us that want and buy manual cars are the "diehards" and in the minority here. Surly your average PHer IS the target audience for this car, and I would bet more than 2/3rds of us would spec a Clio RS with a manual box given the choice!

You could argue a hot hatch is by definition open to a wider audience. Don't get me wrong, I think they're great, but compared to a full on sports car like a Caterham or an Elise hot hatches have to offer concessions for practicality and affordability. Using a manual 'box would push the fuel consumption and CO2 figures up, while introducing a specific manual gearbox for the RS (if, say, the lesser models aren't up to the torque) would up the production cost.

The beauty of a hot hatch is that it doesn't ask you to make the compromises that a conventional sports car would do. Buyers tend to have at least one eye on practicality and cost, so I can imagine plenty of them would take a few tenths of the 0-60 time and a lower tax bracket over a manual gearbox. Shame.

I fear you may be correct in those assumptions for the hot hatch market in general. However I think (or would like to think) that RS customers choose a RS because of the additional driver involvement that they offer over VAG products. RS models were never that practical those that were more concerned with practicality went out and bought a Golf GTi.

I think the main concern here is that this new Clio is asking you to compromise.