Renault Clio Renault Sport - Clio II RS (172)

Clio II RS (172)

The first Clio RS followed as the third Clio from Renaultsport division after the Clio 16V and Clio Williams. Renault presented the Clio RS in 1999. They used the body of the original Clio II from 1998 and added sportive features such as wider arches, different bumpers, side skirts and 15 inch OZ alloy wheels. it was powered by the F4R730 engine, a 2.0 litre 16valve with a VVT system via a dephaser on the intake camshaft pulley. The engine was not an evolution of the Williams one, called F7R. Instead, it was a new engine used in other Renault models, like the Laguna or the Espace, but optimized by mecachrome, with an output of 169 PS (124 kW; 167 hp).

A limited edition model called the Clio 172 Exclusive was produced and was limited to 172 units. All models were green, had BBS alloy wheels and featured a full leather interior as opposed to half leather and alcantara.

The interior and exterior of the Clio II were facelifted in 2001, and the Clio RS followed shortly after. Engine wise, the accelerator throttle was changed for an electronic one, minor design revisions were made to the cylinder head, it received a new airbox and filter, a cheaper and poor designed one, and instead of having 2 catalytic converters (like phase 1 had), it only has one larger with 2 Lambda sonds. These changes with the addition of some weight made this a little slower in comparison with Phase 1. The gear ratios were changed for a more closed ones to mend this. The exterior adopted the new design in the bumpers and lights.

The equipment included automatic xenon headlights with washers, six-disc changer, four airbags, revised leather seats (with a "Renaultsport" logo) and 16-inch (410 mm) alloy wheels.

In 2002 Renault Released the 172 Cup which bore the chassis code CB1N and was known by Renault as the "Sport lightweight version" The vast majority of cars were produced in Mondial Blue (metallic) with a handful of the cars being Iceburg Silver (Metallic). The 172 Cup did not have many of the luxuries of the regular 172 such as Leather/Alcantara Seats, Automatic Xenon Headlights, Rain sensitive wipers or solar reflective coated windscreen. However, it did boast lightweight 16 inch Speedline Turini Alloy wheels and an ABS plastic front splitter to increase downforce and a restyled rear spoiler. The interior also had the usual silver plastic trims painted body coloured blue. The car had significant weight reduction with much of the sound deadening being removed and apparently thinner glass to reduce weight even further. Early models had no air conditioning and thus no climate control and typically produce more power as the engine has less ancillaries to drive, there is also a significant weight saving. However on a handful of the later cars, air conditioning and digital climate control was fitted. It is regarded by enthusiasts as a more hardcore hot hatch as it had no ABS brakes and also had revised suspension geometry in order to increase steering response which gives the car a tendency to oversteer. The brake bias is fixed by means of disconnecting the rear axle compensator, which typically fails a UK MOT test for low braking effort on the rear wheels.