Want A Hot Renault Clio With A Manual 'Box? Look No Further Than The Scorching 197

With a bright yellow Renault Megane RS 275 having been delivered to CT Towers (full verdict coming soon!) a few days ago, we have hot Renaults on the brain. More specifically, how the Clio RS 200 we had in recently left us feeling slightly cold. Its turbocharged 1.6-litre four-pot is lacking drama, and the fact that you can only have a dual-clutch auto gearbox is more than a little bit infuriating. It hasn’t always been that way, though, as you can see from the car’s predecessor, the 197.

This car came with a 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated unit, which needs to be buzzed all the way to 7250rpm to extract its 197bhp. Rag it hard enough, and you’ll get from 0-62mph in 6.7 seconds, on to a top speed of 141mph. Most importantly, changing gear in one of these is achieved via our preferred method for a little hot hatch: a manual gearbox. Add in the fact that it has a chassis to die for and that used prices start at just £4000 or so, and you have one hugely tempting package.

Renault sold plenty of these cars, so finding one will be easy-peasy. This one could be worth a look, having done a relatively low 57,000 miles, and up for £4,980.