What's the ultimate hot hatch? The Peugeot 205 GTi, the Golf GTI, the Honda Civic Typer R from 2000? evo's Harry Metcalfe says it's none of those and he put his money where his mouth is.
In October 2005 he bought the actual Renault Clio 182 Trophy he had tested for the magazine, right after finding out that it could keep up with a Lamborghini.
The 182 Trophy is of course the ultimate version of the Clio II, coming out right as the model was being replaced by the heavier III. The numbers on paper, 182 horsepower and 200 Nm of torque, don't tell the whole story. Just like a racing car, the Clio has a remote reservoir damper, something we don't think has ever been fitted to a hot hatch of this type.
Metcalfe has a very clear opinion as to why the Clio 192 Trophy is the best hot hatch ever. Check it out in the video below.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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