The Renault Clio V6 was launched two decades ago, but we are remembering it today which shows how amazing the car was. The car really managed to annoy us and that’s some unique ability.
The vehicle was kind of unique, with a brilliant appearance and a 3.0-liter V6. The engine was developed by the team that won two Le Mans races for Jaguar. You would think, that’s some talented bunch of people, they can’t mess it up. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Compared to the Clio 172 hatch it was a little quicker in a straight line because it was a little overweight. Its handling was the most problematic thing, and we hadn’t seen a trickier car. That’s why we said it performs its best when it’s parked. So, you can expect the criticism the car received from every corner, but we can’t say for sure if Renault was surprised by it. All we know is that it made quick efforts to correct the errors. They redesigned the whole car in two years and that was quite something. The suspension set-up was changed, with different dampers, springs, tires, and revised kinematics. It also was a little more powerful.
But, it still wouldn’t be considered a good car in today’s world. It wasn’t quick, the steering doesn’t feel good, the interior is horrible, and the gear lever is not where you would want it to be. We almost forgot about the latter.
But, we aren’t looking at the vehicle from a modern perspective, instead, we see it as a classic car. You can have a different opinion. And, the car is not good enough in many areas but it’s not like it’s going to kill me, not anymore at least. The vehicle looks exceptionally well, and you can see it as well, but it sounds good too, for which you have to trust my word. It’s not easy to remember what happens when you fit a large multi-cylinder engine inside a compact car, but here it was the perfect fit.