Renault Clio V6 was from a time when the French were going crazy
The French automotive industry is known for its quirks, but there was a time when they were doing hatchbacks like no other. Here is the story of the Renault Clio V6.
When we think of a hot hatchback, we like to imagine a humble-looking hatchback with a slightly larger than stock engine, that can zip past traffic, fit in the small parking slots and decently cruise on the highways. That’s not how Renault looked at the hatchback segment in the late 1990s.
Back in 1998, Renault decided to create a hatchback that broke these norms and to do this, they decided to put a 3.0-litre V6 in the Clio, also known as the Clio V6 RS. The V6 was placed in the rear passenger seat, making it a two-seater rear-wheel driving monster. Over the years, these have gotten a more notorious reputation for being unreliable, wild handling, to name a few reasons.
Renault called the services of Tom Walkinshaw Racing to jam the V6 in the middle of the Clio for the Phase 1, while the Phase 2 was designed and hand-built by Renault Sport in Dieppe, France. Both variants were developed by TVR. Design-wise, the Clio V6 had elements of the Renault 5 Turbo. The two cars were low-production models that made them quite rare cars.
Phase 1 (2001-2003)
It wasn’t an everyday practical car with limited luggage space, and the enhanced steering was suited for tight manoeuvring. Still, some equipment made it quite a favourite amongst many. It came with things like rain-sensing windscreen wipers, automatic headlights, six speakers and a CD changer as well.
The Clio V6 was based on the Clio Mk II, although there is very little that the two share. The PSA group provided the 3.0 60-degree V6 ES9 engine, which was upgraded to make 227 bhp and placed in the middle of the vehicle, where the standard Clio carried the rear seats. This made it a two-seater hot hatch. The car needed to be reworked in order to go with the change of being a rear-wheel drive two-seater coupe from a front-engine, front-wheel drive hatchback.
It was 300 kgs heavier than the sportiest trim of the Clio, 172 Cup. While it was powerful, it took 6.2 seconds to go from 0-100 kph, which wasn’t a massive upgrade from the 6.7 seconds taken by the Cup. The top speed, though, had gone up from 222 kph to 235 kph.
Phase 2 (2003-2005)
In 2003, the Phase 2 Clio V6 was introduced; it was the most powerful series-produced hot hatch in the world, making a whopping 252 bhp, going past Alfa Romeo’s 147 GTA, which made 247 bhp.
While it had even more weight than before, it had 80 bhp more, which meant it could go from 0-100 kph in 5.9 seconds and had a top speed of 246 kph.
It wasn’t an everyday practical car with limited luggage space, and the enhanced steering was suited for tight manoeuvring. Still, some equipment made it quite a favourite amongst many. It came with things like rain-sensing windscreen wipers, automatic headlights, six speakers and a CD changer as well.