Despite a past life living and breathing sports and supercars, there has always been an underlying desire to give the hot hatch ‘thing’ a go. Whilst the glamour, looks, performance and sheet presence of a supercar is very appealing, sometimes the ‘fun factor’ can be a little muted. Enter the hot hatch. I look at cars from a realistic, less intense point of view. No torque vectoring and mind boggling figures here. There’s no time for that. Get in and drive, that’s what’s needed. First Impressions.. Anyone with half an interest in cars will know that the Renault Clio Renaultsport has to be ‘the’ modern hot hatch of the past 20 years. From it’s beginnings as the ‘Clio’ Williams, followed by the 172, 182, 197, 200, 220 and of course the Trophy, this is one car that has always been firmly on the hot hatch radar. So recently we had the pleasure of driving the latest RS model courtesy of Platinum Renault in Trowbridge - the Clio 220 Trophy. Finished in white, with gloss black alloys, first impressions were, well, bloody good. The 5 door coupe style looks work, although I think it must have the smallest sidelight window in history! Inside, equally as nice. Now I’ll be the first to admit that Renault interiors really dont provide anything to write home about. Even the RS models. This time though, different story. Jake, one of the sales executives at Platinum, explained about the recent investment in design and interiors. Seems to have paid off. I’ve got good benchmarks to work from in terms of car interiors. So wasn’t expecting to like it that much to be brutally honest. But I was pleasantly surprised. No actually, really happy. Delighted. Yes it’s simpler that a premium interior, but it has everything you need - Bluetooth, DAB, Sat Nav, touch screen, digital speed readout, and our demo had the additional cost ‘RS Monitor - which gives you an abundance of data set out over many different screen options. Not my thing, but for someone using it on track, maybe useful. Yep, few ‘scratchy’ plastics inside but that’s no deal breaker as the majority of it is nice soft touch stuff (non-technical term). And it’s got a bloody nice steering wheel. Can’t stand cars with poor steering wheels. So after a brief intro from Matt the Sales Manager, his words to me were, ‘have fun’.... OK…..I will……. First Drive I was interested to find out what the now standard fit DSG gearbox would be like, having driven several of the best DSG gearboxes around. I was impressed. It worked - happy at town speed, epic at, erm, faster speeds (up to 70mph of course). I’ve heard some moans about it, and that it needs a manual blah blah…. I disagree, fine as it is. Get over it. Yep manual is nice, but when you want to have a good B road thrash, you’ve got no gear change to distract you. And the noise it makes when changing gear is smile inducing. Don’t get that with a manual. From the moment I pulled away (in some of the most comfortable seats i’ve sat in), I just had this feeling that you could ask anything of the car and It would be happy. Why it even encourages you to push it. But at no time does it make you feel like it wanted you to say hello to the cows in the adjacent field. Never. Roads were dry as was the weather, so didn’t get to experience the wet. After a few hours, I really didn’t want to get out. Ever. When I did convince myself to get out, it was only to have a poke around the rest of the car, and here’s 5 smaller things that caught my eye: 1 - Decent space in the back, so easily usable with the kids. Tick. 2 - Boot is usable for a car of this size (another family car ‘tick’) 3 - The heaters warm really quickly. Useful for 51 weeks of a UK year. 4 - Funky looking fog lights based on the RS logo 5 - Great keyless auto lock, audible and the mirrors fold. Nice. And just to balance it, here’s 5 things that made I wasn’t so keen on (though I am being picky here): 1 - Gear level feels a bit plasticy 2 - RS Drive button should be much more prominent, after all, it’s ‘THE’ button! 3 - Sat Nav was a bit mediocre, but was fine for most journeys 4 - Paddles didn’t always react when pulled with less force 5 - I had to give the car back Ok ok, so I couldn’t find a 5th niggle. So to sum my experience up, I was seriously impressed. I genuinely would be more than happy for the Clio RS 220 Trophy to be the daily drive and family motor. It’s got everything a petrolhead needs, and keeps the wife and kids pleased. Happy days! Thank you Renault. Thank you. Spec as tested: Clio RS 220 Trophy Nav: £22775 Glacier White Paint: £0 Akrapovic Titanium Exhaust: £900 (well worth the money) Leather Interior: £1250 BOSE: £350 RS Monitor V2 (Data Tracking): £295 Premium Mats: £65 Total OTR: £25,635 A big thank to Platinum Renault, Trowbridge and Matt Bailey 01225 759525 www.platinumrenault.co.uk AuthorMark Hanner. Owner of Network Wheels Drivers Club and owner of Driven Life.
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