mk5 Clio reveal today

Hi Found this yesterday, today the clio gets revealed, so far the interior has been shown together with the RS' one as well, looks pretty good tbh,

renault-clio-2019-interior.jpg

renault-clio-2019-interior.jpg
 
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this might be just the RS Line, even so guess the proper RS wont be looking any worse than this... its a nice interior for a small renault, nice to see the bose soundsystem upgrade available and the black rooflining!
 
There presumably won't be a real RS. Maybe a hybrid with a RS slapped on it later but no RS in the common sense anymore.
 
Like I've already mentioned we won't see anything RS in the common sense. This info is comming directly from an RS engineer (via cliors-concept.com).

I now even have some additional infos that underline this. Like said there won't be a 1.8 Liter Turbo. Instead they'll release something they call RSi which is comparable to an M Performance package for example. It'll presumably use the HR13 engine with ~165 hp and will additionally utilise a small electric engine.

I really don't know where all the car magazines get their infos from!?!

edit/: Btw, the blue Clio in the render above is the RS Line model which is identifiable by the blade in the front grill besides some other smaller details.
 
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@Marsch - Seriously ? I know there is no RS now, just the RS Line but no RS ever?

I find this hard to believe... Renault Sport is a brand, currently having just one model, and regardless of the criticism the mk4 Clio RS received it did sell good, so would be pretty dumb not to follow on this market...

 
@Marsch regardless of the criticism the mk4 Clio RS received it did sell good, so would be pretty dumb not to follow on this market...
Did it though? Didn't they lose bunch of customers to the Fiesta because of the auto-only BS?

I'm hoping that @Marsch has the wrong info here but tbh. it wouldn't surprise me if he's right. Maybe they'll do the same mistake they did with the edc and make the top of the line Clio a "sporty hybrid" to appeal to "environmentally-conscious younger people" or some bs like that which probably makes sense to the marketing dept.
 
iirc yes it did, recall the RS actually bragging at some point about the sales... and yes a lot of enthusiasts went for a fiesta, which was both a more involving and cheaper, way cheaper...

In my opinion the RS is definitely on the cards, no way would Renault give up the market. We see with the Megane, even if it does not tick all the boxes, it sits just below the Civic, but at the top of class nevertheless, and the drive to create a top of the class hothatch was strong, now the Megane exists in a very competetive market, Leon Cupra, Civic Type-R, i30N, while the clio's market is at least for the time being a bit less packed, the biggest competitor is the new Fiesta, Polo GTI although a very nice car itself is not at the top there in handling/fun dept, is there anything else ?

Bear in mind, the hothatch market has grown, and not because the manufacturers just want it to grow, the demand for hothatches nowadays is a lot bigger than 10 years ago, this may be thanks to Renault's succesful hothatches as well which by being so widely praised created a broadcast of affordable cars being fun again, this caused the prices to go up, as a consequence these cars actually do earn a significant profit, so if there's a team to develop a competetive product, no manufacturer would choose not to pursue...

Back to the clio though, looking at the body dimensions, the Clio is 66mm wider than the mk4, being also lower and shorter, that is also about 60mm wider than the new Fiesta ST, sounds like a good base to build a RS chassis on.

Guess it was bad luck, bad timing for the mk4 clio, I recall an interview with an RS engineer a few years back, they simply did not have anything else to use other than the 1.6 tce and the EDC... the 2.0 F4R with is CO2 emmissions was just not possible anymore...

Now the mk5 seems more fortunate in timing and circumstances:
- the engine and gearbox is there on the shelves of Renault, there is a 1.8 which has replaced the 1.6 tce across the range as the 1.6 was not given the WLTP procedure by choice of Renault, so the 1.6 TCE is not coming back, ditched.
- General trend is coming back to the larger engines, a 2.0 turbo POLO GTI, a 2.0 COOPER S, even Renault reintroduced the 2.0 diesel units in the larger models.
- One strong competitor to beat - the Fiesta, where on paper the clio already has an advantage of possible chassis development,
- Same platform family as the meganes may mean we can use the same independent axis front setup which is used in the megane now...

If back in the days it built a business case to create a mk3 RS 197/200 with the meganes suspension/brakes, bespoke body panels, using a off the shelf but further developed engine, then surely in todays circumstances it is going to be a good product/profit to create the next Clio RS with the independent axis setup, the lower spec 1.8 tce, limited slip diff, manual, nothing else is needed, the recipe for success is pretty simple, just give it the mechanics it needs.



 
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