The car

A Renault Clio Cup is built in accordance with Renault Sports and the philosophy of other single-make classes which is as many standard parts as possible from the manufacturer’s shelf. It is about economy and the control of costs.  A Cup car is built from a standard chassis by Renault Sport in the Alpine factory in the coastal town of Dieppe in north-western France. In this sense, it is a competition car built completely from scratch. The engine, turbo and drivetrain are all sealed and the suspension may not be modified either.

Engine: 1,6 litre R4 with turbo, 16 valves
Power: 220 HP at 6,000 RPM, 270 Nm between 2,500 – 5,500 RPM
Transmission: SADEV 6-speed sequential with paddle-shifts
Brakes: PFC 330 mm and Brembo 4-calipers in front, PFC 260 mm in the rear
Tyre manufacturer: Dunlop
Weight: 1,080 kg

An exciting curiosity is that those responsible at Sport have contacted Peter Larsson for a consultative technical development role for handicap-accessible controls in the Clio cars. Watch this space, as it is called.

As a brand, Renault has been involved in motorsports every year with more or less advanced single-make classes, all with an international career ladder; and in 2016, they are also returning as a fully-fledged factory team in Formula 1.