I’ve been watching Dr 90210 on the telly and I’ve come to the conclusion that plastic surgery is an amazing thing. In the hands of today’s skilled surgeons, anybody — probably even me — could look like … say … Pamela Anderson. Or given real time and money, even Tom Jones himself.
It’s a view clearly shared by the monsieurs over in France who’ve booked the Renault Clio in for a full-body makeover. Face-lift doesn’t do justice to what they’ve done to their little hatchback. The front hasn’t had a face-lift as much as it’s had a face transplant. The new grille, bumpers and headlights have transformed it completely with styling nods to the about-to-be-launched Megane. Plus it’s had its butt nipped ‘n tucked. New tail lights, bumpers and, on the Renault Sport (RS) model, twin fat tailpipes peeping out of the rear diffuser give it a much more aggressive stance on the road (as well as adding 40kg of downforce at 130kph).
And that’s just the outside. Inside, the Clio has had a full chemical peel to reveal a shiny new interior complete with a new — and rather impressive — party piece in the shape of a 15cm screen satellite navigation system. Renault has very smartly partnered with portable GPS giants TomTom to offer an integrated satnav as part of the sticker price. It’s a first in this market segment.
The interior of both cars is pretty good, with decent attention to detail and quality finishes. On the downside, the seats in the RS are a little too narrow and slabby, the steering wheel was overly thick and spongy and I kept hitting my knee against the centre console.
On the up, I like the thick, canvasy feel of the upholstery, the deep charcoal plastic inserts in the door and dash, and the yellow rev counter in the RS. It’s not as good as a Mini, but better than a Kia … that should give you a good idea.
And with that, the scalpel was handed on to Renault South Africa, who’ve used it to slash the Clio’s range down to just two models: the five-door 1,6-litre Dynamique and the three-door 2,0-litre RS. On the face of it, that’s a little weird. Renault South Africa’s chief, Xavier Gobile, says it’s because the cheaper Clios would be competing with the top-of-the-range Sanderos. And as anybody with any sense would go for a bottom-of-the-range Clio over a top-of-the-range Sandero, it still makes no sense.
On the road the 83 wkW 1,6-litre has a decent amount of go. As the launch unfortunately coincided with a typical Cape winter storm, very heavy rain meant we couldn’t really test the cars’ full potential, though their ABS was certainly impressive. Their stopping power saved a potentially nasty incident when poorly marked roadworks and a reckless truck driver almost meant one less Clio in Renault’s new fleet. And new underwear for me.
The rain also ruined the planned blast around the Killarney track, which meant a point-and-squirt up Bain’s Kloof Pass was the best chance we had to get a feel for the RS. It’s a powerful little boy racer with 147,5kW under the hood and a few mods over the previous model. The suspension has been revised to make it a little more comfortable, the engine has 2,5kW more oomph, there’s 20% more low-down torque across a wider rev range and the first three ratios of the six-speed transmission have been shortened to raise the adrenaline levels.
Renault’s team of surgeons have done a bang-up job with the Clio. An already good car now looks even better. If you’re looking for a chic-looking, French-accented, well-appointed small hatch that could even take a small family, the 1,6-litre would be a smart choice. Especially now that Renault has upped its game in the service department. A lot of hard work over the past 18 months has vastly improved a very dodgy reputation in this area.
However, if it’s a boy racer you’re after, then I’d think carefully before waving my cheque book around a Renault dealership. The RS is impressive, but at that price, you’re into Mini Cooper and Opel Corsa OPC territory and that’s some pretty stiff competition.
Fast Facts:
Clio 1,6 Dynamique, R188 000
1,6-litre, 83kW, 151Nm
Clio 2,0 Renault Sport, R249 900
2,0-litre, 147.5kW, 215Nm
Both cars have: Dual front, side, curtain and anti-submarining knee airbags; ABS brakes linked to electronic brake-force distribution and emergency brake assist;
service plan/warranty: three-year or 45 000km service plan and three-year or 100 000km warranty.