Renault Clio 2005 review

The Cup is a car that boasts impressive stability, response and feel. Its firm and low suspension gives it handling capabilities like a go-kart but is still comfortable on the road.

That go-kart feel is enhanced by the Clio's design of positioning the wheels as close to the corners as possible.

Comfort is a feature highlighted by the firm suspension, which is something usually punishing on the driver.

While every bump is felt (because of the hard suspension and low-profile tyres), the impact on the body is minimal. That is not to say there is anything soft about this car.

The spring rate in the Cup has been increased by 20 per cent, with matching damper settings providing for even more incisive behaviour.

The leather-trimmed, front-bucket seats have plenty of side support to stop you moving around when cornering hard. These are seats you sit in, not on.

Finding a good driving position is also easier than anticipated. When first driven, the Cup's slightly odd-angled steering wheel felt a little uncomfortable. Yet, when the best driving position was found, everything seemed to fall into place.

The clutch is light and does not require a lot of force like some high-powered hatches, and the five-speed box, was a throw into gear. This little Cup is one of the most comfortable sporty hatches encountered.

The Cup has the same engine as its lesser-priced sibling, the Clio Sport, but gets firmer suspension, charcoal-coloured wheels and lower-ride height for the extra $2000.

The Cup's engine is a cracker pumping out an impressive 131kW/200Nm from the naturally aspirated 2.0-litre.

Get the right foot down and the Clio responds with the twin exhausts barking out a noticeably sporty note. The 2.0-litre twin cam loves to spin and howls near the 7000rpm redline. The Cup's impressive power to weight ratio sees the 0-100kmh sprint covered in just seven seconds.

The five-speed is short geared to the point where you might be looking for another cog, such as on the freeway where for fuel conservation and a little less noise the extra cog would be handy. However despite running on premium unleaded the Cup still gets about 500km-550km out of a tank.

Standard equipment includes climate control, automatic xenon head-lights, rain sensitive wipers, leather upholstery, remote central locking, power windows and mirrors, height and recline adjustment on the front head restraints and leather steering wheel.

There's a six-speaker AM/FM stereo with single CD, cruise control, audio controls mounted on the steering column and a chilled glove box.

The Cup is near the top of the tree for crash safety. Four airbags, an electronic stability program and ABS are all part of Renault's commitment to keeping its owners alive and coming back for more. It also has an anti-hijack mechanism where the doors lock automatically at a preset speed.

The front drink holders are a little awkward because they are positioned below the centre dash and a bottle of water is not easy to fit, but the rear holders are big enough.

The size of the boot is good with none of the weekly shopping having to ride shotgun.

The Clio does not have a spare tyre for weight and space reasons, instead using filler to limp the car on the existing tyre to the nearest service station or dealer. That's great in theory but not so good if you happen to have destroyed the rubber on the rim.