Very few members of evo's Fast Fleet have had to defend their honour against new competition as often as Y847 XPO. It arrived last July with a mere 157 miles on the clock and has just left us with over 23,000 hard miles beneath its chunky (and rather extensively kerbed) alloys. In the last year it's been to Wales on a road and track test that saw it prevail over MG's surprising ZS180 and the hot favourite Civic Type-R, and as far afield as Portugal where it finally gave best to the fantastic Mini Cooper S. In between these gruelling group tests another MG, the ZR 160, fell victim to its well-judged combination of speed and handling flair and it has tormented many a more expensive car at various trackdays across the land.

The facelifted Clio had a lot to live up to. Its predecessor's power and raw enthusiasm had won over all at evo and made the Impreza WRX look a little sanitised. Our initial thoughts were that, perhaps, the slightly more mature and bug-eyed 172 had lost some of its edge. The performance was still stunning in such an unlikely package, but the manic front-end bite and sheer enthusiasm of the original 172 seemed to have been diluted. The best way to find out was to try to negotiate a long-termer and co-editor Meaden and staff photographer Morgan managed to outfox the Renault PR team after a few drinks with their unhealthy knowledge of the Clio's vital statistics. An impromptu quiz - instigated by the sly evo partnership - was quickly won and our prize was a shiny new Clio 172 in Iceberg Silver.

Running-in proved to be as frustrating as you'd expect but the designated 1200 miles only heightened the anticipation of that needle swinging round to the redline. In truth it wasn't such a hardship as the 172's gutsy 2-litre has all the torque you could ask for - and just because you're running a car in doesn't mean you can't carry a bit of speed through the corners...

The first few thousand miles in the Clio revealed its surprising drinking habit - in that it didn't seem to have one. No matter how hard XPO was driven over any given month. it never returned less than 30mpg. On mainly motorway journeys 36mpg was the norm and even blasting around Yorkshire for the Christmas Fast Fleet get-together the worst we saw was around 28mpg. As soon as it was pointed back down to Northamptonshire the average shot up once again. The killer figure was recorded at a trackday at Bedford Autodrome - not somewhere you tend to take it easy - when the 172 returned 22mpg.

It's not all roses in the running costs department, though. You may not be collecting many tumblers at your local petrol station but you might just get the 'customer of the year' award at the neighbouring tyre-fitters. It didn't take long before the OE Continental ContiSportContacts needed replacing. At just under 9000 miles the fronts were virtually slick and the rears were well past their best. I decided to try some Michelins, as Meaden had reported good things about them on his old 172 long-termer. Four Michelin Pilot Exaltos were fitted at a cost of ΂£360 and the Clio was back to its best. In fact such was the contrast - no more vicious tramlining, superior balance, better ride - that I couldn't help thinking you'd end up wanting a new set of tyres every few months, which could get expensive.

The Michelins also went some way to capturing the original 172's exceptional handling balance. Overall grip levels are probably slightly lower than with the Contis, but the Pilot Exaltos' ability to really sharpen-up response to the throttle or brakes in corners is a trade-off I'd willingly settle for. Understeer is better contained and lift-off oversteer becomes an option whenever the road empties. Excellent.
Soon after, the Clio was due its 12,000-mile service. Camden Renault of Northampton carried out the work, though it was slightly disappointing that they didn't clean the car or demonstrate much in the way of customer care. No matter, the Clio had a date with a Cooper S in Portugal and road test assistant John Hayman picked it up for the epic journey. The only hitch was that the brake light switch on the brake pedal had worked loose and Hayman became the scourge of European taxi drivers whenever he stood on the middle pedal. After a number of internationally recognised gestures he spotted the problem and reconnected the switch before disaster struck.

Hayman was also at the wheel a few weeks later when the Clio starred at the first evoactive event at Brands Hatch. He reported good things and the tyres hardly seemed to have noticed the thorough workout. The Clio was low on brake fluid, however, and needed a big top-up. At around the same time the various rattles in the dash and doors seemed to have multiplied. The culprit was loose baffles in the centre section of the exhaust. Camden Renault found the problem and after much to-ing and fro-ing returned the Clio to us without the nasty resonance. The rattles remained, though, and raised a few questions over the Clio's long-term durability.

A quick blast in a newer Clio seemed to confirm my suspicions. With more precise steering, tighter damping and a more positive gearshift. the lower mileage 172 made mine feel a bit sorry for itself. The Clio brand manager in the UK explained that my car was a very early pre-production car and that customer cars aren't so afflicted. Do any of you know any different?

Despite the rattles and the problems with the exhaust the Clio proved itself to be an entertaining partner over the course of a year's motoring - and it never let me down. Compared with our Cooper, it was a model of durability. Perhaps it isn't quite as raw or thrilling as its predecessor but it remains a great hot hatch and an absolute joy to run on a day-to-day basis. I never got bored with the Clio's keen handling and shocking (especially to owners of more expensive cars) pace. What next? Well, maybe a bit more of the same, only faster and more focussed on delivering pure hits of evoness. I quite fancy something in blue...