An exclusive sports model carrying the Renault Sport badge, Clio V6 showcases the styling of the latestgeneration Clio. Blending sportiness with flowing lines, the unique design also boosts efficiency. Thanks to a host of new developments, New Clio V6 combines pleasure of use with unusually high performance, with a 0-100kph time of less than 6 seconds.
New Clio V6 features a new chassis together with 18- inch wheels. Fitted with a completely new top end, the 3-litre 24-valve V6 engine delivers 255bhp at 7,150rpm and 300Nm at 4,650rpm. The six-speed gearbox benefits from specific developments, including a shorter final drive, revised internal gear ratios and shorter selector movements.
Assembled at the Alpine facility in Dieppe, New Clio V6 will go on sale in Europe at the end of 2002, with enhanced levels of equipment and perceived quality.
With a two-seat rear-drive layout and a V6 engine transversely installed in the mid-rear position, New Clio V6 is an exclusive sporting model designed to offer the maximum amount of pleasure: pleasure in owning a distinctive car, and pleasure in using a new, nimble and safe chassis, and an expressive engine delivering 255bhp mated to a sportstype gearbox. New Clio V6 offers unusually high performance, notably with a 0-100kph time of less than 6 seconds.
Featuring a unique and thoroughbred design, New Clio V6 displays an even more incisive front face by adopting the styling of the latest-generation Clio.
The front bumper, grille, bonnet and twin-unit xenon headlamps are entirely new. The very slender headlamp units are installed in new extended front wings which accommodate the 18-inch tyres mounted on OZ "Superturismo" rims with a gloss finish. These wheels completely fill the wheel arch openings and, with the increased wheelbase, are moved out well towards the four corners of the car.
The design of the back end has also evolved.
New Clio V6's new design blends thoroughbred character with flowing lines. The smooth bumper with vertical lower section extended by a stiff blade improves the distribution of airflow. Together with the new rear hatch wing, this considerably increases aerodynamic downforce for greater efficiency.
The 3.0 V6 24V engine has been extensively developed to add to its sporting character. Developing 255bhp (187kW) at 7,150rpm, this engine loves being run at high speeds. It is, however, equally comfortable at more normal speeds with a very flat torque curve
and a high maximum value of 300Nm at 4,650rpm.
The acoustics of New Clio V6 have been the focus of especially close study, resulting in a metallic and sporting exhaust note which contributes to the overall pleasure of driving. A resonator modifies intake noise at high speeds and the adoption of a damped windscreen
allows booming to be eliminated. Noises emanating from the driveline are filtered by a damped twin-mass engine flywheel.
Text and photos courtesy of Renault
