Hold on to your hats because Renault has revealed their new Renaultsport Clio at the Paris Motor Show! Always an exciting prospect for fans of the RS, the new Clio RS sports an even more aggressive and driver-focused design than its predecessors. The class-leading hot-hatch has a sportier aesthetic than the new Clio 4 (which also made its debut in Paris) and features an imposing Formula-1 style blade, new grille and bumper at the front of the car, while the rear of the car dons a new bumper as well as a diffuser and spoiler that aid the production 80% and 20% of down-force respectively. The RS will have 17-inch alloys and dual exhaust pipes as standard.
The RS Clio will be available with a range of personalized exterior designs which combine the choice of four themes with different designs and upgrade elements and trim packs to create a highly tailored vehicle.
The interior serves to enhance the aggressively sporty vibe of the RS, with bucket seats that are available in leather as well as a modified instrument panel and aluminium pedals. To enhance the driver experience inside the car the standard features will include a touch-screen navigation system and Renault’s new R-Link infotainment system.
All this, however, is just the frosting on the cake which is the engine and gearbox combination of this machine. Renault have decided to do away with the normally-aspirated engine and manual gearbox and replace these with a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine and a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
The new engine cranks out a whopping 197 horsepower at 6000rpm compared to the normally aspirated engine which reaches that amount of power at 7200rpm. The new engine also generates substantially more torque than the outgoing model, and is available from only 1750rpm and remains constant until 5600rpm.
The RS also features the newly-developed Efficient Dual-Clutch transmission which allows the driver to manually control the gear shifts by using the paddle-shifters mounted on the steering wheel or to leave the gearbox in automatic mode. The RS has three modes available for the driver to choose from: Race, Sport and Normal. Race mode is easily selected by pressing the RS Drive button and will switch certain settings within the engine and gearbox’s mapping systems as well as the steering and throttle response and feel. According to Renault the RS should be able to sprint the all-important 0-100km/h in less than 6.5 seconds. The automaker also claims that the RS’s four cylinder engine is largely based on the 1.6-litre turbocharged engine developed by the Renault-Nissan Alliance and features the Diamond-Like Carbon cam followers technology which is adapted from the Formula 1 engines. Other notable features of the16v RS engine include direct-injection as well as a brake energy recovery system. The chassis settings will be available in Sports and Cup, with the Cup setting stiffening the suspension by 15% over the standard or Sport setting and lowering the ride height by 5mm.
These changes and developments have lowered the RS Clio’s carbon emissions by an estimated 25%, which is a great selling-point in the current environmentally conscious climate. According to Renault the new RS Clio is designed to take the car’s “sporting driving experience” to the next level.
The Renaultsport Clio will most likely be available in South Africa in the second half of 2013, and prices will be announced closer to the time.
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Image sourced from Renault SA.