Driving...The 2004 RenaultSport Clio 182

The Clio 182 is now 20 years old, but it can still hold its own as a Hot Hatch great

In my opinion, the Hot Hatch is, all things considered, the best type of car that you can buy - especially if you're a petrolhead and live a normal life. A Hot Hatch can offer the definitive automotive 'Jekyll and Hyde' experience, and, as a result, they are capable of covering every basis you could ever think of; they are practical, inexpensive to maintain, unassuming (well, some of them are at least), easy to park and can usually seat at least four passengers, as, after all, they're still hatchbacks. But they are also fitted with huge engines, upgraded suspension and brakes, bigger wheels and stickier tyres, while being small, light and easy to manoeuvre. What results is a type of car that cannot be compared to anything else - you can use them for the Asda run in the morning, a track day in the afternoon, and offer Ferrari-rivalling pace on the B-roads you would use to travel between the two.

For this reason, and also for being the ideal performance cars for the real world, I have always loved a Hot Hatch. Undoubtedly, it also helps that they are probably the class of car that's the most highly saturated with greatness - Peugeot's 205 GTI, 205 Rallye and 106 Rallye. VW's Golf GTI. Lancia's Delta Integrale. Honda's Civic Type R. Ford's Focus RS. Toyota's GR Yaris. Mini's JCW GP. The list of epic cars goes on and on and on, and several of the world's biggest manufacturers have all had their Hot Hatch moment of brilliance. And, I haven't even mentioned the greatest brand of them all at this game yet: Renault.

In 2004, the 182 was the latest in a series of pumped-up, faster versions of Renault's normal models that began with the 5 Turbo in 1980

Over the latter half of their 126-year history, Renault have built some of the most legendary Hot Hatchbacks of all time. Starting with the crazy Gandini-designed, mid-engined 5 Turbo that shocked the world in 1980, a series of pumped-up versions of their regular cars began to regularly appear with the introductions of the Clio and Megane. There were far fewer Misses than Hits; from the Clio Williams to the Megane R26 R to the Clio V6, Renault have produced some of the very finest cars of this genre ever. However, to some, there is one that stands above the rest: the Clio 182, which is the car I am here to review.

The regular second generation Clio was unveiled in 1999, and it didn't take long for performance versions to follow - the 172 came along in 2000, with an updated Phase II 172 announced a year later, and then, in 2004, the 182 was released. To create it, Renault stuffed a naturally aspirated 2-litre, 16-valve, four-cylinder engine that revs to 7,250 RPM inside a slightly widened Clio body that weighed just over a tonne (1,090kg, to be precise). The crazy powerplant makes 182bhp and 150lb-ft, which is dispatched by the front wheels only, via an open diff and a 5-speed manual 'box. The suspension was tuned by RenaultSport in Dieppe, who also fitted a faster steering rack, uprated dampers and springs and plastic front wings to keep the weight over the front wheels down. A set of 16'' alloy wheels came as standard, which were wrapped in 205/45 section tyres all round, and a new dual-pipe exhaust was fitted at the rear, which contributed significantly towards the 182's 10bhp advantage over the car it replaced.

The interior of the 182 is largely unchanged from the regular Clio, bar a set of RenaultSport seats, aluminium pedals and a different gearstick. It's well-equipped, but doesn't feel the most durable

Inside, it's pretty simple; a pair of RenaultSport-branded bucket seats were fitted, and most of the surfaces that ware the most easily were retrimmed in Alcantara (nice one, Renault). A set of aluminium pedals adorn the footwell, a stubby gear lever rises up out of the central tunnel, and the numbers on the dials in front of you go quite a bit higher than they do on a regular Clio. Apart from these though, and a few RenaultSport badges dotted here and there, there is nothing to really suggest that you're sat in a serious performance car; in fact, it's very similar to the regular Clio, with a surprisingly high amount of standard equipment. Especially so, in this case, as my Titanium Silver 182 is a 'full fat' example with automatic climate control and xenon headlights. You could delete these with the first of two 'Cup' packs that were available on the 182, which got rid of the additional tech (you got manual climate control instead) and introduced stiffer suspension that was based on the Clio Cup race car. The second Cup pack added a more aggressive rear spoiler, as well as an anthracite grey finish to the wheels.

Of course, you could also, confusingly, get a standalone Clio Cup model (which came with both Cup packs as standard), as well as the legendary Clio Trophy from 2005 onwards, which combined the Cup suspension with a set of remote reservoir Sachs dampers, as well as Recaro buckets and the spoiler from the Clio V6. The Trophy, in particular, is a car many consider to be the best hot hatch ever - but, as I've been finding out, I wouldn't write off the regular 182 from that conversion, either.

The 182 in it's natural habitat - this car, on a nice road, is a recipe I'll never tire of

This is because, in all honestly, I simply can't see how a Trophy could possibly be more fun on the road than my 'regular' 182. Granted, I've never driven a Trophy, and I would absolutely love to have the opportunity to eat my own words there - but it won't change the fact that I have absolutely adored every second of driving my 182 so far, 500 miles into the adventure. Yes, a Trophy may well be more special; but this car absolutely feels special too. There is something very cool about driving a car that, besides only a few visual hints, looks exactly like a 40bhp, 1.1-litre Renault Clio from 2004, but in reality, has over 4x the power and wouldn't let many cars escape from its crosshairs on a twisty road if driven properly. The Trophy looks like a fast car, but I wouldn't necessarily say the same about the 182 - and that's one of the things I love about it.

One of the other things I also love about the 182 is that you can absolutely feel where the RenaultSport boffins in Dieppe spent their budget when making the car. Not on any excessive body modifications. Not on the interior, bar the nice seats and pedals. Not on any luxuries or the build quality. But rather on the things that make the Clio a great driver's car, nothing more, nothing less. This car is absolutely defined by the way it drives, and by the fact that it feels like it was solely developed to appeal to people who love driving above all else. If I had to compare the way the 182 makes me feel to anything else, it would be to drinking a double espresso; the driving experience feels like a shock of energy that wakes you up and makes you wide-eyed with adrenaline, clearing your head and consuming your concentration all at once. It's a sensory overload, and it's utterly addictive.

The 182 gets down the road incredibly well, with a surge of power past 5,000 rpm that is utterly addictive

Start it up with a physical key (none of the keyless entry nonsense here), hear it fire into life with an energetic blip of revs, slot the boot-shaped gear lever into first, find the pretty high bite point by adjusting the aluminium clutch pedal, and pull away. Foot down, and you're immediately met with a rorty, full-bodied rumble resonating out from the twin exhausts at the back of the car. The engine is so responsive in every gear, and the sound climbs and climbs until you reach 5,000 rpm, and then Boom! The 2-litre four cylinder in front of you really explodes, providing a sudden surge of extra power that requires a tight grip of the wheel to control. Thanks to variable valve timing, it almost feels like a turbo coming on, despite the 182 being naturally aspirated. The sound builds to a rowdy crescendo before the redline arrives rather quickly at 7,250, and then, after a quick depression of the clutch and a change around of the cogs in the gearbox, the whole thing starts over again. The way that the revs build so quickly, and the way that the engine just comes alive past 5 like someone is flicking a switch, is such an unbelievably exciting combination that never gets boring. You find yourself deliberately slowing down just to pull through the gears more often; that's the level of addictiveness we're taking about here.

And, this is just how much fun and involving the Clio is in a straight line - things get even more exciting when it sees a corner. Honestly, I have never been in, let alone driven, a car that corners like the 182 can; a combination of being lightweight, being small but having a long wheelbase with practically no overhang over each axle, and having the same tyre widths on all four corners, means that the 182 handles like it's on rails. Everywhere. I have driven it pretty enthusiastically on occasion, and I have never once had a moment where the car feels like it's going to unglue itself from the tarmac beneath. Turn-in is so sharp and so precise, the car going exactly where you instruct it to, and once you're positioned mid-corner, the speed you can carry throughout genuinely feels like the 182 is pushing the bounds of reality. The grip levels are simply outrageous. If the way the Clio pushes on in a straight line doesn't have you grinning like an idiot, then the way it corners certainly will.

The 182's steering feel is brilliant; progressive, direct, communicative and beautifully weighted. No idea who the bloke driving my car is, though

Another thing of note is how excellent the steering is; there is a touch of play in the rack (though that probably has more to do with my example than the 182 generally) but once you get past that, the feel is awesome - weighted beautifully, not too heavy but not too light, and the level of communication that gets fed back through the wheel and into your hands and arms elevates the driving experience so much further. Every crest and ridge in the road gets translated through the wheel, which dances around in your grasp and gives you an immense amount of clarity about the road you're travelling down. This works in conjunction with the suspension, and the ride of the 182 has really surprised me to be honest. I was expecting a rough, crashy ride akin to many other hot hatches, but no - it's actually really supple and composed over bumpy roads, which I think is a credit to both the suspension and damping (as well as the fact that this 182 doesn't have the Cup suspension equipped, which is deliberately firmer) and also the seats, which are really comfortable and also pretty supportive at the same time, which is the ideal combination.

I hate to bring the mood down slightly now, but the Clio 182 certainly isn't perfect; there are a few things that, in an ideal world, could be better. For instance, the 182 is perfectly useable around town, as a hot hatch should be, but you can tell it isn't the car's natural environment. It feels awkward crawling at low speeds, like it wants to be somewhere in-between first and second, so you find yourself frequently changing up and down to keep it happy. It also has a very healthy appetite for fuel (you can see the needle falling towards empty before your very eyes if you watch it), it steams up like no other car I've ever been in which is pretty annoying, and it doesn't exactly feel well built. In fact it feels pretty fragile some of the time. But I really don't care about any of these; like I said earlier, this car is for driving, and little else - it just so happens to be in a body that looks, and can act, practical.

The Clio 182 is surely future classic material; how can a car this amazing not be?

All you have to do to realise the genius of the 182 is drive it. In five minutes, you'll understand what I'm going on about. It's the type of car that you can forgive for it's quirks and issues, as it's just so much damn fun that nothing else matters once you're behind the wheel. It feels cheeky, like it wants to bring the worst out of you whenever you drive it. And that's what a Hot Hatch is all about, isn't it? Honestly, it's brilliant, and I'm not just saying that because it's my car; it really is the most exciting, exhilarating, absorbing, involving thing I've ever driven. It feels perfectly suited to our scarred and damaged roads, as it's fast but not too fast; you can still enjoy all of it's performance without breaking the law, while also having none of the anxiety afforded by a sports car. In fact, I'm willing to bet that not many other cars can get down a British B road as fast as a well-pedalled 182 can. Renault really did create a gem with the 182, if you love the basic thrill of driving a great car on a great road above all else - a modern classic, for sure.

2004 was a decent year for Renault, all things considered; on the race track, a young guy called Fernando Alonso was occupied with making a name for himself in Formula 1, coming fourth in the Championship standings for the French team. And, on the road, they were busy building one of the best Hot Hatches of all time.

If you love driving above everything else, this car was built with you in mind by the RenaultSport team in Dieppe. I challenge you to have more fun in anything else...