Zippy and brash: the Clio sport

With its unique Renaultsport body with distinctive sporty front and rear wings, sills and front and rear bumpers and to add to all of that, chunky alloy wheels.

However, looks are just a part of the story as this rapid Clio is powered by a two litre, normally aspirated engine with a maximum power output of 200bhp.

This is enough to propel the Clio from a standing start to 62mph in 6.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 141mph, a car nor the faint hearted.

This Renault certainly has loads of on road presence, no doubt with a hint of F1 thanks to its rear diffuser.

Performance is certainly impressive, but with it must go handling and in this area, you will not be disappointed.

The chassis of this car has been worked on, lowered by 15mm, with a 10mm increase in wheelbase and the track is wider at both the rear and front.

This combines to give the Clio 200 terrific handling.

Yes the ride is firm, but somehow Renault has not entirely sacrificed comfort; often such a car can be produced with kart-like handling, not so in this case.

With so much power at your control, stopping power is certainly a priority. There are 312mm ventilated front disc brakes up front with Brembo four pot callipers and 300mm discs at the rear.

Another safety feature, the switchable Electronic Stability Control Programme has been re-tuned.

This Renault model certainly looks the part and the sporty theme is carried in equal measure to the interior. I liked the front seats, height adjustable and very supportive and easy to find a comfy driving position.

The rake adjustable steering wheel also plays a part in driving comfort and very generous glazing helps deliver excellent all round visibility.

The instruments are unique, although I thought the yellow rev counter was a trifle on the strong side; there was also a gear change indicator and should you dare cross the red line, an audible warning gave the signal to back off.

I liked the black finish to the fascia with a zinc coloured finish to the centre console and to the extended grab handles on the door panels.

Plenty of Renaultsport decals let you know exactly what you are driving; placed on the instrumement backgrounds, door sills and seats.

Often such a performance car can be quite spartan, not with this Renaultsport model.

The standard equipment package is comprehensive; and I give only the highlights, multi function trip computer, 4 x 20W RDS CD MP3 radio, RAID (Renault Anti Intruder Device), automatic climate control, Renault Hands Free Card and one touch electric windows. Should you wish for more, then there are a number of option packs, to permit you to create a very individual Renaultsport Clio 200.

The price of this car is 17,710 and under the new insurance ratings it gets a 30E rating. Truly a fun car with good all round handling, yet it remains a practical hatchback, quite happy to even go on an urban motoring drive.

The Renaultsport Clio 200 is available along with other models in the line-up from Shelbourne Motors, the specialised Renaultsport dealership for Northern Ireland.