Unfortunately our Clio for the week in Tuscany wasn't the fittest example. The gearbox was pretty dire and the steering didn't feel right either ΂- obviously its few miles were clocked up at the track with a particularly merciless driver. But even a fresh example wouldn't have overhauled the Evo VII and rabid Ruf R Turbo. A small majority of the judges still gave it the nod over the Mini, though, and only a statistical blip allowed the sophisticated but undernourished Cooper to nose in front. I know which I'd rather have.

Before we left for Italy, I took delivery of a
Race Technology performance meter. It measures 0-60mph, quarter-mile times, 30-70mph, cornering G ΂- pretty much anything, in fact. Simply stick it on the dash and it's playtime. Not sure if it's accurate, but it's great fun. We'll try it out against our Datron equipment at some point and let you know.