RE: Paris 2012: all new Clio Renaultsport

[DeltaEvo2]

FUGLY!

[aelord]

hideous

and the speaker thing makes me cringe

[agent biscuit]

otherwise will be known as the CLITO...ROS….one stroke and it goes pop with much moaning (through speakers)!!!

[Penneth]

Papa Hotel said:

Things are a bit different over on www.renaultsport.co.uk though. Some minor grumbling but all-in-all, they're dribbling over it.

Really? That's not what I've been reading.

[mooseracer]

Looks - don't really care
1.6 Turbo - way of the world (sadly). "marketing appeal" when F1 goes this way
5 door only - shame, but could live with it.
Fake noise - don't really care, shame they thought they had to do it
Auto - horrible, horrible. A hot hatch that changes up without me asking it to is not for me.

Here's hoping they release a run-out version of the current RS with some trick suspension.

[C.A.R.]

I look at this article and I see an opportunity.

For Peugeot.

And a 208 Rallye to market to the Clio Cup chassis buyers...

[FestivAli]

jonm01 said:

I dont understand this hatred for paddle shift boxes. If its good enough for a 458 or McLaren or a bloody F1 car then why not on a hot hatch?

Currently have a Megane 250 but I will consider one of these.

because a manual just gives you another degree (a significant one I would say) more involvement than a dual clutch or paddleshift box. I don't mind paddles so much, but would much rather a car with a clutch pedal as I quite like using both my feet when I drive. I use both feet when I walk, so why not why I drive? I for one would be a lot more interested in the MP4-12C or (though I actually find it really ugly) the 458 if it had a proper gearbox.

I'll say all that but in a luxury car, say something E-class sized and up, I think an auto is more suitable because you want to relax and waft. But not in a 5 door hatchback.

I do trust that this will probably be quite a nice thing to drive, but looks wise it's a woofer from me.

[petrolsniffer]

Have renault and peugeot swapped designers???

[Blanchie]

i did chuckle with the "gadgets like the R-Sound Effect" anyone else thinking

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SoundRacer-V8-plug-engine-...

lol I bought one of these as a giggle a few years back.....although it did sound very digital it was hilarious in my wifes TT ragtop with the roof down and a very loud V8 soundtrack! you do need a sense of humour though and not take it too seriously

[Chr1sch]

Yuck

[GuitarTech]

F*ck.Me. Renault, what were you thinking of? Bloatware......

[Krikkit]

C.A.R. said:

I look at this article and I see an opportunity.

For Peugeot.

And a 208 Rallye to market to the Clio Cup chassis buyers...

YES.

[greggy50]

MSTRBKR said:

I've read that it shaves 200kg off the current 200. I have no idea if it's true, but I read an article about using a new type of steel. Seems ridiculous though as you say.

Yeah as looking at the press photos it is also full of electronic st that will weight it down and bump up the price a bit more this will be nearly 20k specced up I would think.

[LuS1fer]

It suffers from modern car disease - big blooby nose, slitty windows, blobbiness and the rear looks like some bland Mazda. Turbos are a Renault forte from the 80s and I recall being slightly disappointed when the Clio went n/a 2.0 TBH.

The styling is wrong, the Audi style LEDs a bit optimistic, the 5 doors ideal for my own purposes but i can see why people would want 2 and the flappy gearchange is something I don't want or need.

So....I'm oot.

[drpep]

"simulates the noise of one of a range of iconic engines through the car's speakers." This is, claims Renault, a "fun and realistic" way of tuning the engine noise.

I wonder if anyone will come up with a mod to make it play sheep noises instead of fake engine revs. THAT would be funny. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Baaaaaaa. Or maybe Steven Fry, or a Little Britain character for gearchanges...

Sort it out Renault.

[masermartin]

Colonial said:

So, on the one hand VW gets lambasted for not changing enough. Renaultsport for changing too much. What are we? A bunch of fking goldilocks?

We're a bunch of people who can appreciate when someone (Renault) are doing it right and then howl in disappointment when they inexplicably throw all that out the window. We're also a bunch of people who can quite rightly call for more excitement and risk-taking from boring run of the mill manufacturers who are constantly doing it wrong and playing it safe. The two positions are not mutually exclusive.

[pacdes]

Oh dear oh dear. They're going backwards. Won't be seeing many of these on the roads then. Reminds me of the Saxo VTR, VTS. Everywhere you'd see a Saxo. Then when they released the C2 it did not seem to be as popular, which it at least had some style about it. Pricing on the Clio will have to be very very very competitive.

[GrumpyTwig]

drpep said:

"simulates the noise of one of a range of iconic engines through the car's speakers." This is, claims Renault, a "fun and realistic" way of tuning the engine noise.

I wonder if anyone will come up with a mod to make it play sheep noises instead of fake engine revs. THAT would be funny. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Baaaaaaa. Or maybe Steven Fry, or a Little Britain character for gearchanges...

Sort it out Renault.

Accelerating to the sounds of General Melchett could be fun
Being a renault automatic maybe "I want that one" would be appropriate during gear changes.

For the record I'm saddened the direction RS have taken, they'll have lost their current customer base. I won't be pxing my 200.

Edited by GrumpyTwig on Monday 1st October 00:33

[Polarbert]

Automatic only? Why. I just don't get it. Where has there ever been a demand for an automatic renault sport from any of the buyers of the brand previously?

[CarCluster]

Polarbert said:

Automatic only? Why. I just don't get it. Where has there ever been a demand for an automatic renault sport from any of the buyers of the brand previously?

The auto box is the main reason that this model will probably bring me back to RenaultSport. I had a Clio 172 then 2 Megane 225's. Had a brief flurry with an auto Laguna Coupe and decided that auto boxes are brilliant if you live in the real world of stop-start traffic. 200hp in a small hatch and clutchless transmission - fantastic! The engine noise thing? Don't care - does it really matter where the noise comes from; resonance of exhaust, vibration of the block, synthesised through the sound system, who cares it's actually the sound itself that's the end result. If it's a cost option, I won't specify it, if it's standard I hope it doesn't add too much to the price.

I was a little disappointed by 5-door only, but the design is clever enough to disguise it pretty well - there is no cheap-looking false pillar at the rear edge of the glass, so a 3-door version would look identical in silhouette and the b pillar is black rather than body-coloured and the handle is not on the door casing. The development cost saved should mean it's keenly priced. The mainstream models are lighter than their outgoing equivalents, so a good chance it is not bloated and heavy, I think it's probably about the same size as a Polo or a Fiesta. The Polo looks really dated and the Fiesta looks bloated to me with really tiny windows.
It's an important model for the brand, and based on past history, it's quite likely it will be pretty good...