Renault Sport has introduced a new version of its high-performance Clio. Now up to a neat 200 horsepower, hence its name of Renault Sport Clio 200 Cup.

Not only has the French marque increased the engine output, but also has made a number of other significant improvements. Some of these changes are in response to feedback from customers (and even from we humble motoring journalists!), others are due to ongoing development by Renault Sport itself.

          

In case you haven’t come across the name Renault Sport before, it's Renault's equivalent of Australia’s own HSV and FPV organisations, and produces hot versions of its vehicles for full-on driving enthusiasts.

At the pinnacle of the Renault Sport range is the Formula One car competing in Grand Prix races. With a little bit of poetic licence, Renault Sport tells us the frontal styling of the latest Clio has a resemblance to front of the F1 car.

Whether you can see an F1 car in the Clio 200 Cup or not, the frontal look has a lot of styling appeal, indeed it looks almost futuristic in its curvaceous shape.

What’s more, the shape is not just there for show; combined with other changes, some out of sight, it genuinely works to aid aerodynamics of this hot performer. To the extent that at full speed the Clio body generates some 70 kg of downforce for additional cornering power.

          
 

In Australian terms the Renault Sport Clio 2.0-litre engine now has a power output of 147.5 kilowatts. Top torque is 215 Nm at 5400 rpm. Very few engines can come close to the desired figure of 100 Nm per litre, the Renault Sport guys have built a powerplant that comfortably exceeds it. While 5400 revs of the peak torque is very high, there's plenty of grunt much lower in the rev band, with 95 per cent of the 215 Nm being available at 3000 rpm

Combine that greatly improved torque with lower gearing on the first three ratios of the six-speed gearbox and the result is a car that's considerably more lively in its characteristics than the now superseded Renault Sport Clio 197.

Of course, there's a lot more to a performance car than simply engine power. Renault Sport has also improved the suspension, brakes and has even had Continental Tyres develop a new tyre – the Sport Contact 3 specifically for the car.

The new Renault Sport Clio 200 Cup is offered in two versions. The standard model at $36,490 and the 200 Cup Trophee for $38,990. The latter is the same as the former mechanically, but carries more equipment. This includes Recaro seats and the beautifully named BeBop alloy wheels. These prices are $1500 and $1000 lower than those of the superseded Clio 197. Government and dealer charges have to be added.

At this stage we have only track tested the Renault Sport Clio 200 Cup, at Sandown Park raceway in Melbourne. There the car proved to have a huge amount of road grip, impressive stability and brakes that haul off speed extremely quickly. Later we will borrow a Clio 200 for a week and use it for more normal driving on our home territory, and produce a full report on it.

           

Best of all, Renault's Formula One driver Robert Kubica took time off the day before the opening of the Australian Grand Prix weekend to give me and a few other selected journalists a thrill ride around the circuit. Kubica is the sort of racing driver that I just love. On this occasion he was far more interested in having pure fun at the wheel of the car than in taking the most efficient and precise lines. Though he did break one of the Clios at the track, his lurid slides, harsh braking and sheer joy of driving had big smiles on both our faces throughout our entire time at the track.