Renault Sport Clio 182 Trophy (2005) review – an all-time great hot hatch

The Clio Trophy was the people’s champion of eCoty 2005. ‘There’s absolutely nothing you could improve about that car,’ said Harry Metcalfe after it placed third, dusting up a Lamborghini Gallardo SE, E46 BMW M3 CS and Porsche Cayman S, among others. It made such an impression that Harry went on to buy the very example from that test, and nearly two decades later the Trophy is still a fantastic buy.  

This ultimate Clio 182 is what you get when an already brilliant car is tweaked, honed and developed to an even higher level. The standard Renault Sport Clio was already a gem, its diddly proportions disguising a heavyweight blow from a naturally aspirated 2-litre engine and a chassis that could maximise every drop of available power. It was affordable, fast and hugely entertaining, but as the model entered its final phase of production, Renault decided to create the ultimate run-out special.  

The Trophy doesn’t look much different to a regular 182 (or a base Clio, in fact), but that’s all part of the charm. The Capsicum Red paint is unique, as are the Recaro seats that position you lower in the cabin. The defining upgrade, however, was a set of motorsport-style Sachs dampers, complete with remote reservoirs and thicker damper rods for better control, allowing the Trophy to skim across the ground with even more finesse and composure. According to Renault, the Sachs units cost ten times more than regular dampers. Hydraulic bump-stops made it possible to lower the front ride height by 10mm without compromising travel, while Speedline Turini wheels were fitted too, saving 1.3kg per corner.  

Price and buying checkpoints

Just 500 Trophys were built for the UK market, priced at £15,500 a pop. These days, expect to pay around £12k for a sub-70k mile example, with well-preserved low-owner cars costing upwards of £15k. The most desirable Trophys are those that remain closest to the original spec, particularly with regards to the suspension. Those Sachs dampers are specialist items and replacements are hard to come by, meaning that you’ve a choice of a rebuild or aftermarket coilovers when they wear out. We’d recommend the former, but depending on the work required, refurbishing all four can cost over £1000.  

The four-pot engine – unchanged from the unit in the standard 182 – is fundamentally robust, but be mindful of cambelt changes (recommended every 72,000 miles or six years) and listen out for a rattling inlet cam timing variator; replacing it is best done at the same time as the cambelt change. Worn gearbox synchros are a sign that the car has been driven hard, and you might notice the gearlever jiggling around when coming on and off the throttle. Stronger gearbox stabiliser mounts are available to minimise this. Find a cared-for example, however, and the Trophy will deliver a classic, archetypal hot hatch driving experience that’s hard to beat.

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What we said

In evo issue 083, we got behind the wheel of the 182 Trophy for the very first time, pairing it with the BMW M6 in a rather unlikely twin test: 

'We suspected that the new Clio Trophy would be a bit special when we were tipped off in the autumn of 2004 that RenaultSport was working with Sachs on some bespoke dampers to further hone the already mighty 182 Cup. For our money the Cup is already the pick of the hatches; manic, positively bursting with enthusiasm, but with enough control to keep you out of the hedge should you run out of commitment mid-corner. The Trophy, with its incredibly expensive and sophisticated new dampers (they cost ten times as much as the 182’s off-the-shelf items yet the car costs a still- modest £15,500) and even tighter focus on hard-edged dynamics, suggested it ought to be the definitive hot hatch. Pitting it against the Mini or Civic Type-R seemed almost unworthy.

So what’s the Clio Trophy got in its armoury? Well, agility by the bucket-load for starters. It weighs 1075kg to the M6’s 1710kg and its compact size allows it to carve a cleaner line through a sequence of corners than the fat-bottomed Beemer. The 1998cc in-line ‘four’ is unremarkable when compared with the all-singing 90deg 4999cc V10 lurking under the M6’s bonnet, but it’s an aggressive little unit, bursting with a roughneck charm and getting freer and faster with every committed thrash. But with a power-to-weight ratio of 171bhp per ton to the M6’s 297bhp, the odds still look heavily stacked against the Trophy.

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It’s got a couple of other weapons that might just trouble the BMW, though. For one, the Clio’s brakes are fantastic. The discs aren’t headline-grabbingly huge (280mm front, 238mm rear), but without the burden of massive weight they do an incredible job. Fade is never an issue on the road and even pounding a circuit barely troubles them. The M6’s monster discs (348mm front, 345mm rear) may look impressive, but on the launch we found them to be woefully short of endurance and a real hindrance to the M6’s ground-covering ability.

Look behind the Clio’s new lightweight Speedline wheels and the tyres and you’ll see the real reason why this Renault is able to take the fight to the BMW. Those trick new remote-reservoir Sachs Race Engineering dampers look like they’ve been lifted straight from a Touring Car; their remote chamber allows the damper rod to be both thicker and stiffer for added control. Hydraulic bump-stops allow for more consistent damping in the most extreme circumstances, too. The Trophy is as uncompromising as a hatch has ever been. With a devastating combination of low mass, exceptional body and wheel control and eye-popping brakes, it has everything it needs to punch above its weight.

I’ll be honest, after the M6 the Trophy feels SLOW, especially when you’re dragging it uphill rather than running with gravity. But after a few corners I’m not sure if this is the ‘M6 effect’ (I have a feeling most things will feel slow if you live with an M6 for a while) or whether the Clio’s chassis has finally evolved beyond its engine. The speed it can carry into a bend is faintly unsettling, and your brain expects the g-force onslaught to continue when the road straightens out. It doesn’t, but the Clio is still a damn quick hatch.

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It seems to have zero inertia, darting into a turn instantly, front tyres gripping tenaciously, outside rear digging in to control the back end and inside rear waggling in fresh air. When you’re pushing really hard, the whole car hops, the front wheels slipping momentarily then locking into the surface, the rear bouncing through the corner as the weight transfer shifts. It’s just like a front-drive race car.

It doesn’t take long to learn to trust the Trophy, either. If you need more lock when fully committed it’s no problem, just turn and the nose takes another big bite at the asphalt. Even better, the Trophy doesn’t hang you out to dry if you bail out of the throttle mid-corner. Of course, there is a degree of throttle adjustability, but despite the Clio’s incredibly intimate and immediate responses the chassis isn’t poised on a knife-edge. I’m sure it will bite in the wet or if you’re truly taking liberties, but after just a few miles I was happy to turn off the ESP and drive without a safety net. It’s not an overly intrusive system though, and when you’re pressing on in less than ideal conditions it will trim your excesses without killing the fun.' – evo 086

Renault Sport Clio 182 Trophy specs