A new Renault Clio RS isn’t likely, but this hot hatch might fill that gap
Strict emissions rules are strangling the business case for a modern-day version of the Clio RS
Renault’s mighty Turbo 3E will be the closest petrolheads get to a hot hatch for now, because tight emissions standards offer no wiggle room for small cars with high CO2 levels.
First, the good news. The electric Turbo 3E has moved to the prototype stage, with the 533bhp, rear-wheel-drive super-hatch to undergo extensive testing in 2026 to deliver the production version.
However the limited-edition, £135,000 exotic is far removed from the attainable hot hatchbacks that marked out the Renaultsport brand in the nineties and noughties.
Head of product Bruno Vanel used to run Renault’s sales operation in the UK. “The [leading] country for Renaultsport has always been UK,” he told Auto Express. “I remember the time I was there, and the Renaultsport [version] was 8,000 sales out of 90,000 Clios a year. But [those] times are over.”
Vanel, who ran the UK for a few years from the turn of the millennium, used to drive the pinnacle RS Clio, the Trophy 220, with more power and a stiff, sporty chassis. “I had Clio Trophy 220, and I loved my Clio Trophy!”
The new Clio is sold with a 1.8-litre hybrid with an F1-style dogbox transmission and 158bhp; we asked Vanel if this could be upgraded to form the basis of an RS version?
He replied: “With hybrid, it's difficult to have something which is a [truly] sporty vehicle. Hybrid more for GTs, because when the battery is low, the car is struggling.”
Global sales boss Ivan Segal, who would no doubt love to have halo Clios sprinkling some extra magic on the range, told us that there are petrolheads within Renault who would love to see RS return. “There are some defenders of your ideas inside the company – and Bruno is the first,” he smiled.
But Vanel doubled down on the argument that punitive fines for breaching CO2 emissions, as well as having lots of engineering resources tied up in EVs, hybrids and complying with regulations, means that the RS business case just doesn’t exist right now.
“What is a sporty car?” he asked us. “If it’s not an EV then [what about] ICE? If you make it with a big ICE engine, with a huge capacity, then you are out of the game on CO2. So that's why it doesn’t make sense.
“Now to be able to have this kind of car with very low CO2, you end up with a Renault 5, or Alpine A290 – I’m sorry!” he continued.
“Frankly, there is no project for Renaultsport. We discussed it internally. We’ll see. But the business case would have to make sense.”
So for now, hot hatch fans will have to satisfy themselves with an electric Alpine A290 with up to 216bhp – or buy a used Clio RS instead.
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