05 Apr The RenaultSport Clio Cup 172
The Renaultsport Clio Cup 172 was the latest and one of the greatest proper hot hatches that defined an era, it started with the likes of 1960s Mini Cooper and Arbarth 500s and the 1970s Golfs and then the french got more and more involved with the likes of the Renault 5 GT Turbo, the Pug 205 Gti and the Citreon Saxo etc, it was a huge movement away from traditional MG and Triumph 2 seater British roadsters as weekend cars into a much more practical form of fun motoring, the HOT HATCH was born!
Arguably the last proper hot hatch ever produced in terms of being raw basic driving pleasure with no ABS and no traction control and of course no turbo chargers but still combined with the awesome practicality and 40mpg fuel economy which makes it the perfect all rounder, the RenaultSport Clio Cup 172 was produced from August 2002 till December 2003 and a total of 2392 were sold in the UK. Based on the already fantastically successful RenaultSport Clio 172 a whole host of changes were made to improve the handling and performance including the loss 89kg of weight and therefore turn a great hot hatch into a legend.
The motoring press all bang on about the weight saving of removing the half leather trim and the aircon conditioning and less sound deadening (although these were also clever cost saving measures of course, along with the loss of the 172 xenon headlights, which was another thing that helped the cup succeed as a basis for many a motorsport car : its price) and the special cup “Turini” alloy wheels and large spoiler and aggressive front splitter, but not many people realise all the little changes as well such as the subframe mounting holes being made slightly wider apart at the point where the wishbones bolt to increase the track width even further than the change in offset in the wheels did, the spare wheel was removed to save weight and replaced with a thin board to support the boot carpet over the wheel well and the fact the dampers were slightly stiffer to compliment the lower and firmer springs. But probably least well known of all the changes was that RenaultSport even went as far as to interrupt the production process of the front wishbones before the holes were drilled and have them placed in a different position to give the effect of tipping forward the front balljoint thus not only slightly lengthening the wheelbase but far more importantly dramatically increasing the caster on the front of the car which leads to increase camber being dynamically introduced as the front wheels are turned into a corner. A special dispensation has even been agreed to allow the car to pass an MOT without an adjustable rear bias valve on the brakes as unlike the regular 172 this is not connected to the rear beam position on the cup (you can find a copy of this on the www.ClioSportOC.com website if your MOT tester doesn’t believe you!).
Interior was lighter and much cheaper than the normal 172, and the seats provided much more grip during cornering, useful for cost saving as a basis for Motorsport and in terms of making the standard car lighter.
The vast majority of cars were produced in Mondial Blue (metallic) with a handful of the cars being Iceberg Silver (Metallic), Aircon was actually available as an option on the later cups although few people took it as it kind of went against the point of the cup.
The Renaultsport clio cup has been a firm trackday and clubman race and rally car even since its launch and is still very popular for all those things today over a decade later as well as a firm favourite fast road car too.
If you have one of these very special little cars, then cherish it, cause its the last truly raw hatchback that you or anyone else will ever own…
(the two cars pictures here belong to CSOC admin members Kyle and Jamie, the wheels have been painted as the original colour was silver)
