Renault Clio 172 Cup | (Track) Shed of the Week
No MOT? No problem...
Shed has gone well off piste this week with an offering that ticks one of SOTW’s boxes (£2,000 or less) but completely ignores the other one, i.e. it doesn’t have a valid MOT certificate. We’re not sure if Shed has done this a) deliberately or b) accidentally as a result of sampling too much of the sauce that he was making for the postmistress’s exciting pork in cider night. We’re inclined to go with b) as he’s been completely uncontactable since dropping off his copy.
Whatever, we’re going to risk the collective PH wrath on this occasion as the vehicle we are talking about here is a Renault Clio Renault Sport (RS) Renault 172 er Renault. It’s only lickle but it stands tall as one of the purest driving cars you can buy even now. It might actually be the record holder for the number of times that timeworn phrase ‘the most fun you can have with your pants on’ has been used in its press reviews and forum posts.
The chassis was great. So was the engine. At 6,250rpm the 2.0-litre F4R in the Phase 1 Clio RS developed 172hp, enough to give it a low seven-second time on the 0-60mph. Post-2001 Phase 2 cars like this one had a revised head with smaller exhaust ports. A year after this 2003 shed was first registered, the Phase 3 182 arrived with a new manifold, a sportier cat and an electric throttle in place of the old cable one. By 2012, the Renault Clio RS 200 EDC Renault Sport Renault had gained a turbocharger, two extra doors, a no-option dual clutch transmission and some extra weight, much of it in the new bootlid badge. In the process it lost much of its early pared-down appeal.
This car has had a 182 gearbox fitted. The original one might have died as they do do dat don’t dey doh. There was no guarantee that either of them would change gears without a crunch. Regular cars would burn through suspension parts (dampers, springs, top mounts) as well as engine mounts and exhausts, but the obvious beauty of this particular car is that most of that stuff has already been replaced.
It’s important to stick to the 5-year/72k-mile change schedule for the cam and aux belts and the dephaser pulley. That’s not a cheap job. Phase 1 172s rot in the sills, arches, filler cap area and probably a few other places too, but as with the belts you’d think this car will be up to snuff body-wise.
For Shed, pants on or off make little difference to his lifestyle. As far as he’s concerned, where there’s a will, there’s a way. He can see so much potential for fun in this car, not just on the track but also (with a suitably realistic-looking reg plate attached) around the back of the bike shed with the postmistress. For him, the number of seats in a car is inversely proportional to the number of opportunities to try out the more adventurous chapters in his well-thumbed Joy Of S*x book. He might not have that bloke’s beard but he’s certainly got his enthusiasm. The only additions required for such activities in a stripped-out Clio would be three or four artfully arranged bean bags and a few washing-up sponges gaffer-taped around the rollcage to protect his noggin.
The amount of tackle that’s already been added to our shed makes it well capable of delighting your friends and confounding your enemies on or off the public highway. If you want to go racing it looks like you might be able to throw yourself straight into the Clio Sport Championship, run by the 750 Motor Club. 750MC membership is £95 a year, a season’s registration is £145 and your individual race entry fees will be between £380 and £460 depending on whether it’s a one or a two-day meet. That money pays for a qualifying session and two or three 15-minute races.
If you want to take it back to the street, we are told in the ad that a catalysed exhaust system would be needed. The vendor, a van dealer in Oxfordshire, doesn’t tell us about anything else that might need to be added, changed or replaced. Judging by the excellent reviews on his website he’s the kind of chap you could probably have a decent conversation with. Failing that, bunging the Clio through an MOT test would answer most if not all of your questions. If you really don’t want the racey parts just cash ‘em in.
If Shed bought this he wouldn’t even bother to take that bare minimum step of changing the zorst, knowing what he knows (and keeps secret) about the local bobby. For normal people, transporting Mrs Shed in a one-seater car might seem like it would be an issue, but for Shed it would simply be a case of throwing a folded-up single mattress in and then lashing her to it with some HGV-grade ratchet straps, or a ‘racing harness’ as he would describe it to her.
What is Clio championship like these days? I remember when it started the cars were capable of eating a set of tyres in a weekend when the Locost brigade could easily get a season and that defeated the low budget car purchase. I'm sure they'll have found a solution though.
This could be cheap way into racing and trackdays. These things are pretty quick in the corners.
And if a space shuttle turned up for a couple of grand I'd be up for it. Having seen them both close up the Russian shuttle is a lot smaller but even then it's a bit (lot) too big to go in my barn.
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