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Renault Sport Clio 220 Trophy review - Is the turbocharged Clio finally any fun? - Performance and 0-60 time

The new Clio gets a facelift, a new exhaust and the Trophy becomes a proper production model

Evo rating
RRP
from £22,425
  • Tenacious and grippy chassis, but one that’s still fun
  • Lacklustre drivetrain and lifeless steering make it hard to enjoy

Performance and 0-60 time

The Trophy’s performance comes in a swell rather than a swift punch; it builds speed fast but in a very linear way. It does feels fast, but not in the rabid, eager sort of way you’d expect of a 217bhp supermini. It feels far too grown-up for a small hot hatch, especially one from the same stable that bought us the insanely fun Clio 200 Cup, Megane R26.R and Twingo 133 Cup.

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It’s 0-62 time of 6.6sec is a little slower than its rivals, which is disappointing considering we have to come expect super quick acceleration times from cars with dual-clutch transmissions and launch control.

The 220 Trophy feels like a big car and it weighs in at 1204kg. That’s pretty portly for a hot hatch in this sector, but it goes some way to explaining its slightly slow 0-62mph time. It still has a respectable power-to-weight ratio of 183bhp/ton which, rather amazingly, is punchier than both the Ford Fiesta ST (167bhp/ton) and Peugeot 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport (176bhp/ton).

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