PH Fleet Update: Clio Renaultsport 200

We bid a fond farewell to our capricious Clio after nine months and 10,000 miles

You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. I'm fairly sure that Joni Mitchell wasn't thinking about the loss of the PH Fleet Clio Renaultsport 200 from our office car park, but her sentiments over the paving of paradise certainly echo how we feel about the departure of the diminutive hot hatch.

War paint
The bright white Clio arrived back in late summer 2009 and was immediately treated to the full look-at-me treatment with a whole load of PH smiley stickers. Editor Chris-R rather split office opinion with the 24-inch smiley on the roof, though: was it a smiley too far, or a neat nod to the jazzy roof treatments of more 'lifestyle' superminis such as the Mini Cooper or Fiat 500? The jury's still out on that one.

Track attack
With the Clio 200 suitably tattooed, it was time to head into 'battle' for some late summer/early autumn track days. We say battle because, although you're not racing at a track day, the way the Clio went around a track was as though it was sparring with the Tarmac.

It sounds weird, but think of the Clio as a terrier and a given piece of asphalt as an unfortunate rodent and you'll get some sense of how the Renaultsport 200 behaves on a circuit; the Clio feels like it worries a track into submission.

I think it must be the tenacity of the front end that makes it feel this way, the way it just bites on turn-in and holds on through a corner with almost no understeer. Or it could be the way the Clio's back end moves around under braking, wagging its tail like an enthusiastic dog, but never even threatening to let go. Either way, the Clio is a genuine hoot on a circuit.

Occasionally the circuit will bite back, though, as we discovered towards the end of our third track day, when large chunks started to drop off the offside front tyre. The combination of the Clio's 'bring it on' attitude and mine and Chris-R's over-exuberance with Bedford Autodrome's kerbs and broken concrete aprons probably had more to do with that than any weakness on the tyre's part, however...

Back to daily commuting
With the track day season over as autumn began to close in, the Clio launched back into a more everyday routine of commuting, with the occasional B-road run to help it stretch its legs.

The Clio certainly proved itself more than capable of the daily grind (just as a good hot hatch must) - even the extreme-looking £850 Recaro seats turned out to be supportive and comfy over long distances as well as high lateral gs - even if the buzzy engine and short gearing were occasionally wearing on the longest-haul trips.

We also began to realise just how spot-on the Clio Renaultsport is as a compromise between practicality, comfortable commutability, and balls-out back-road hammering. During this time we got a Seat Ibiza Cupra in for a week in the interests of comparison, and the contrast between the two cars was pretty stark. Yes, the Seat has a smarter-feeling, more up-to-date interior and yes, it has a very clever 7-speed DSG gearbox and reasonable amounts of poke. But if the point of a hot hatch is to provide a mixture of practicality, affordability and, most of all, fun with a capital F (and we would humbly suggest that it is), then the Seat misses its mark spectacularly. Because the fun side of the Seat Ibiza Cupra is a distinctly lower-case experience.

In essence, the problem is that where the Clio leaves you buzzing with excitement after a drive along a favourite road, having involved you at every step of the way, the Ibiza separates you from the driving experience. The DSG gearbox might be a clever piece of kit, but it feels closer in nature to an automatic than a proper manual, while the steering feels aloof. The thing is that the Ibiza might have the smarter interior and the glitzier spec, but the Clio delivers where it counts.

The point is that, to a buyer looking for a hot hatch that is genuinely at home on a track, but that can cope with the daily commute, the Clio hits the nail right on the head.

Now it's gone, and we miss it terribly. RacingPete's M3 might make a nicer noise, and Chris-R's XFR is a more comfy cruiser. But neither of them act like a maddened terrier when you take them out on a track...

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DOVEY1988

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