Renaultsport - the hot hatch gurus

The 5 Turbo was introduced amidst Renault's obsession with turbocharging in Formula One. The mundane 5 supermini was given bulging arches and deep spoilers and its engine moved to where the boot usually was. The 1.4-litre turbo motor gave out a whopping 160bhp to the rear wheels and there was enough performance to even put some supercars to shame. The 5 Turbo did well in rallying too - winning the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally in 1981 in the hands of French rally legend Jean Ragnotti. Quite simply, the 5 Turbo is one of the greatest cult cars of all time.

Unlike the original 5 Turbo, the 5GT Turbo had its engine at the front and was front-wheel driven. It first appeared in 1985 with 115bhp from a 1397cc turbocharged four-cylinder. A low kerb weight of under 900kg means that the 5GT Turbo had an impressive power-to-weight ratio, giving fantastic performance. Later model 5GT Turbos came with a revised turbo and 120bhp. 5GT Turbos are still very popular today, especially with the ‘Max Power' brigade in the UK.

The Clio Williams, as its name suggests was conceived to commemorate Renault's successes with the Williams team in Formula One in the mid 90s. It is powered by a 2-litre 16V engine that pumps out 150bhp - the Renaultsport Spider eventually adopted this engine later on. Performance was impressive at that time - 0-100km/h comes up in just 7.7 seconds, with top speed rated at 215km/h. Externally, the Williams was distinguished from the 137bhp Clio 16V by its unique blue paintwork, gold Speedline wheels and ‘Williams' decals on its sides and rear. The Williams also had revised suspension settings from other Clios - its handling was lauded by many enthusiasts and many has considered it as one of the best hot hatch that was ever made.

The Williams' successor came in the form of the Clio Renaultsport 172 in 2001. Developing 172bhp from its 2-litre 16V engine, the RS (or the 172 as its known in the UK) had better performance than the Williams and handled as brilliantly. The RS takes just 7.2 secs to reach 100km/h from rest, making one of the most potent hot hatches of its time. It was subtly updated in 2002 and a lightweight, cut-price ‘Cup' version was introduced to satisfy hardcore enthusiasts. 2004 saw further updates - improved handling and dynamics, and a 182bhp engine.

Nobody expected Renault to produce another rear-wheel drive, rear-engined supermini after the original 5 Turbo but the Clio Renaultsport V6 proved every one wrong. The monster Clio was first introduced with a rear mounted 210bhp V6 driving the rear wheels. To make it look special, the V6 was endowed with pumped up bodywork that made it look like no other supermini. The V6 made all the right noises but it wasn't significantly quicker than its RS sibling because of its weight problem. It was tricky to handle too - the short wheelbase and its rear engine layout made the V6 a tad nervous on the limit. Thankfully, Renaultsport addressed the V6's shortcomings in 2002 with the introduction of the V6 255. The new version had improved suspension to tame its handling and the more powerful 255bhp V6 provided significantly better performance.

There were at least two 210bhp Clio V6s running around here in the early 2000s. I fondly remember driving one in 2002 and driving with the engine cover removed for a while to experience the sonorous V6 at full chat in the cabin.

The first generation Megane RS 225 was launched in 2004. Expectations were high after the brilliance of the Clio 172 but many, including myself were disappointed with the 225 - I remember driving it in France at the end of 2004 and it had torque steer, bump steer or whatever steer you can think of. The 225 just felt unsorted at that time. The Renaultsport boffins obviously agreed with the 225's critics and put it through a series of chassis updates to improve its handling manners. A Cup version was first introduced and in 2007 came the limited edition Megane F1 Team R26. With a name like that, I somehow thought it was all marketing hype at first and not much of a better hot hatch than the RS so I had little expectations when I first drove it. I couldn't be more wrong after a drive though. The RS never felt like this. The R26 not only had more power than the 225 (230bhp) but also the Cup chassis with the mechanical LSD. There was a sense of completeness in the way the R26 handles and goes. The power is addictive and the grip is just colossal.

The R26 was still not hardcore enough for the gurus at Renaultsport though - in 2009, they introduced one of the most extreme hot hatches ever, the Megane R26.R. Based on the R26, the R26.R is more than 120kg lighter thanks to the use of plastic windows, a carbon fibre bonnet and the deletion of rear seats and other equipment among other measures. The R26.R can even be had with a roll cage, full harnesses and a titanium exhaust. The suspension was further tweaked for even better handling. Renaultsport made 450 R26.R but sadly, this king of extreme hot hatches is not available here in Singapore.

Credits: Story by Raymond Lai Photos by Renault and Renaultsport