Curbside Classic: 2005 Renault Clio V6 – The Hatchback Of Notre-Dayum!

There are hot hatches, red hot hatches and then there are Renault’s mad mid-engined monster hatches. The all-time legend of those was the R5 Turbo (1980-85), i.e. the one that started it all by replacing the rear seats with a turbocharged 1.4 litre engine. It looked like a midget on steroids and won dozens of WRC and national rally races throughout the decade. By the late ‘90s, now that Alpine was gone, Renault felt like revisiting the concept, albeit with a 3-litre V6.

But bigger isn’t always better and measuring up to the legends of the past, as well as the competition of the day, is fraught with peril. Renault gave it their best shot, which turned out to be a little less than accurate. At least they tried.

It all started with the Spider. The mid-engined model, built at the ex-Alpine works in Dieppe, carried the torch of Renault’s sporting tradition from 1995 to 1999. But the car was extremely niche and Renault designers, who had been toying with a monster hatchback (though usually with Twingo elements) for a number of years, figured the Spider’s underpinnings could be repurposed for something more user-friendly –with, say, a roof and a windshield. Oh, and a much bigger engine, while they were at it.

The project went ahead in 1997 and the Clio V6 concept had been shown at the 1998 Paris Motor Show, six months after the second-generation Clio (above) had been launched, so there was a lot of pressure to get the car on the road in the shortest possible time.

Renault farmed out the development to Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), an outfit famous for having worked closely with Jaguar on their Le Mans racers and the XJ220. TWR had just bought the Arrows F1 team (which used Renault engines), so the French carmaker figured they could send their new British partner some additional business. In parallel, the Renault Sport team created the Clio V6 Trophy, a bona fide 280-plus-hp WRC machine built at the Dieppe works that would share the civilian V6 version’s layout and body kit, but little else.

TWR worked diligently – perhaps a little too much. Sales of the Clio V6 began in late 2000, meaning development took about 18 months. The 230hp 2946cc motor was a little less powerful than the planned 250hp. It was marginally better than the Seat León Cupra R or the Ford Focus RS, but it was soon bested by the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA.

Beyond mere power though, automotive journalists at the time showed little enthusiasm for the 6-speed gearbox, which had been optimized for the Avantime (not exactly a sports car). The minuscule amount of cargo space in the frunk was another minus point, but the harshest criticism was aimed at the car’s handling, described as very twitchy, if not downright dangerous at speed.

There was also the matter of the quality of the interior, hewn from the regular Clio, which was deemed unworthy of the car’s price, i.e. pretty much equal to the Porsche Boxter. The comparison (which does sound odd) was made at the time, as the Renault was close to the Porsche, in raw performance terms. But in terms of handling, image and quality, it was a very different story.

Clearly, the Clio V6 had come out of the TWR oven a tad undercooked. To Renault’s credit, they did address some of these issues. In June 2003, the “Phase II” models were introduced, featuring the standard Clio’s new front-end styling. At the same time, the chassis was reinforced, the suspension was thoroughly re-worked (even the wheelbase changed), larger tyres were fitted and the engine was duly provided with more ponies, bringing the total count to 255. TWR, who had been manufacturing the cars in their works up in Sweden up to that point, were in the process of folding, so assembly was brought back to Dieppe.

Better seats were also provided, but the quality of the cabin still felt, well, like a bog-standard hatchback. And there was nothing Renault could do as regards the transmission, but at least now the car performed much better, with a claimed top speed of 245kph, a 0-100kph time under six seconds and a tail that wouldn’t break away without warning.

The Phase I Clio V6 also offered only three body colour options, whereas the Phase II splashed out with over a dozen choices. Still, about two-thirds of all cars wore the handsome and almost de rigueur “Bleu Illiade” seen here.

Sales remained rather slow, despite the Phase II’s many improvements. In the summer of 2005, Renault decided to nix the Clio V6. Total production numbers over five years were modest – minute, even, for a carmaker like Renault: less than 3000 units were made, including 1309 Phase II cars.

The Clio V6 died without issue, so after Alpine’s demise in 1995, it was as if Renault’s sporting heritage had all but disappeared – save for the Formula 1 side, of course. But for the first time since 1945, the Régie’s range only included front-engined cars, be they performance-oriented or not. This break in continuity did not last, though: the 3^rd generation Twingo in 2013 marked a return of RWD Renaults. But it took the re-birth of Alpine with the A110 in 2017 to finally see a worthy successor to the flawed Clio. A rare case of a successful re-boot. Or re-frunk, in this instance.