Last week’s leaked pictures depicting a hunkered down, obviously more purposeful version of the Renault Clio RS have turned out to be absolutely true. And coinciding with the 2016 Monaco F1 Grand Prix, the marque unveiled their Clio RS 16 concept car.
The brief was simple: to shoehorn the 205kW/360Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine from the Megane RS 275 Trophy R into the smaller, lighter Clio RS to make the ultimate Clio and a seriously fast hatch. Why? To celebrate Renaultsport’s 40th anniversary and the brand’s re-entry into Formula 1.
The name RS 16 also comes from Renault’s F1 programme, sharing it with this year’s Formula 1 car. Renault in 2016 makes a return to the ‘pinnacle of motorsport’ as a factory team where in the years just prior was an engine and technology supplier. It also shares F1 car’s colour scheme and has livery to match the racer.
The result of just 5 months of development, Renaultsport has built just two examples of the Clio RS 16 prototype, being built under the code name KZ01. It sits on 19-inch wheels that required a reshaping of the wheel wells, leading to an overall stance that’s 60mm wider
Besides the engine, quite a bit of the Megane RS 275 Trophy R made its way into the Clio RS 16, including the transmission and cooling system, but Renault had to dig further into their parts bin given the fast approaching deadline. For example, the rear subframe is taken from a Renault Kangoo while the ECU is from a Dacia Sandero, but the rear spoiler is from a Clio Cup racer and rear suspension components from the Clio R3T rally car.
All that said, purists can rejoice, this is the only current Clio RS fitted with a manual transmission. Shame it’s a concept, eh?
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