Renault Sport Clio 182: The Baddest Hot Hatch I've Ever Driven. Hands Down.

Really, Tony? The baddest hot hatch that you've ever driven is this? You haven't driven many cars, have you?

Well, Golf R, yes; BMW 130i, yes; Honda Jazz (Fit) RS, yes; Toyota Yaris TRD, yes, and many other hatchbacks and I will admit they’re TONS of fun and that’s one of the main reason why we all love hatchbacks: they’re fun. But here’s the thing, they’re a couple of grand more expensive compared to the 182 and they don’t have the flair and the childish character of the Clio 182.

..they're quite expensive compared to the 182...

Well, how cheap is the 182? You can get a half decent one for under £4,000. That’s a bargain and a half. Sure, you can get a 130 hatchback for the same price but those are the ones that aren’t on their best shape. The Clio 182 was also on the list of CarThrottle’s Best Cars On A Tight Budget.

When the Renaultsport Clio 172 debuted in 2000, it was regarded as the Clio Williams’ spiritual successor. Its 172-bhp was phenomenal for such a small car, and coupled to its entertaining handling and snappy short-ratio transmission, it was a driver’s delight. For a while, the Clio was untouchable, but with models such as the MINI Cooper S Works and Peugeot 205 GTi 180 upping the ante and offering more than 180bhp, Renault has drafted in an extra 10 horses to keep the sporty Clio on the pace. And with that extra 10-hp, the Renaultsport Clio 182 was born. Any other changes other than the extra 10 horses? Well……there are some small changes but barely noticeable. There’s a different nose and new bumpers to distinguish it from other models, and for the Renaultsport 182, you get the 16” 8-spoke alloy wheels and new exhaust pipes.

Stepping inside the RS 182, the “race-y” theme goes on with the alcantara seats in grey, color-cod ed belts, and on the gauge cluster, you get a digital display between the conventional analog gauges.

How are the seats? It looks cool and it definitely is very, very supportive. Look, when it was new, the car costs £15,000. Those alcantara seats were never seen before on a hot hatchback, supportive, alcantara seats were supercar items back then. It’s supportive. Is it comfortable? Well, you get what you pay for and to be completely honest the seats are not comfortable at all. I got sore when I drove it after I returned the Alfa Romeo 156 that I rented before this. Seats do look nice, I’ll tell you that. Backseats? Useless for people.

For items such as backpacks, bags, and groceries, it’s good but for a grown adult? Nno. Headroom doesn’t exist on my side (6’ tall).Open up the rear hatch, you’ll find a small sized boot which is okay for a small compact 3-door hatchback. But the carpets are all sorts of wrong, the compartment is rather flimsy, and, well, again, cheap car, cheap quality.

Flooring this thing on some nice roads in Herefordshire, the 182 is very responsive and high speed, long, sweeping bend is probably your worst nightmare but fun (..’cause darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a day dream..). How? The car feels like it’s tipping over but it isn’t. The car did something like what happened on Top Gear’s review on this car, the car kinda went on 3 wheels and makes things scary but lots of fun. The car is also nimble. Just chuck it in to a corner, and it’ll just fling itself to the corner. Hairpins are great fun in this car. Brakes are really nice, the pedal response is just quick. The shifter is a bit flimsy, really got to chuck it when you want to change gears. The pedal placements are nice, my shoe size is 43 (Europe size, which means around 9.5-10 in US/UK size) and heel toes are pretty easy on this car. But the rather large steering wheel in such a tight space (I can’t really push the seats back because the Clio is a small car), makes moving your legs a bit difficult. The lift-off over-steer is traditional Renault, really wild. Understeering is common, it’s FWD.

Lightweight, short wheelbase, decent horsepower, manual gearbox, this car has it all. And to me, those things really make the Clio 182 The Baddest Hatchback I’ve Ever Driven.