Dual-clutch Clio RS: the defence
Renaultsport MD tells us why it's the paddleshift way or the highway
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.
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.
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.
Heel'n'toe. Is that kiddie talk or something.
Only reason I don't want to buy a new Renault is it has NO auto/semi option!
Don't care about this rubbish about manual changes. I want SPEED, performance, and I don't want a slow clumsy manual getting in the way of the driving I love to do!
Heel'n'toe. Is that kiddie talk or something.
Only reason I don't want to buy a new Renault is it has NO auto/semi option!
Don't care about this rubbish about manual changes. I want SPEED, performance, and I don't want a slow clumsy manual getting in the way of the driving I love to do!
I'm a big RS fan and although the styling is challenging and most likely may not age well I think reserving judgement untill I've driven the RS is the best thing to do.
Finally, you can't blame a company for chasing sales and reducing emissions, the 'hardcore' people think this car should be appealing to just don't make up a big enough number to make a solid business case. In any case, if you want hardcore pick up a 200, they are a real bargin and I'm sure will become highly sought after by the hardcore in future years - so win win
Heel'n'toe. Is that kiddie talk or something.
Only reason I don't want to buy a new Renault is it has NO auto/semi option!
Don't care about this rubbish about manual changes. I want SPEED, performance, and I don't want a slow clumsy manual getting in the way of the driving I love to do!
If I wanted a 'faster' car than the Clio200 I'd probably buy a 2.0tdi ****box. BUT THAT's MISSING THE POINT!
They're in danger of disapearing into obscurity imho
If I wanted a 'faster' car than the Clio200 I'd probably buy a 2.0tdi ****box. BUT THAT's MISSING THE POINT!
They're in danger of disapearing into obscurity imho
Heel'n'toe. Is that kiddie talk or something.
Only reason I don't want to buy a new Renault is it has NO auto/semi option!
Don't care about this rubbish about manual changes. I want SPEED, performance, and I don't want a slow clumsy manual getting in the way of the driving I love to do!
But then, as an epsilon-male, I've little interest in buying a 200bhp hatch anyway; there's little point when 95% of my journeys are within urban limits. It will be an interesting year watching if Renault's VW-u-like gamble pays off, or if their sales were based on the manual USP (unique selling point) and now they have gone down the DCT route their customers will think they may as well buy into the German autobahnstormer mythos.
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