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Renault Clio RS16 Could Go Into Limited Production

At the 2016 Paris Motor Show this September, the peeps at Renault are expected to announce that the Renault Clio RS16 concept car will go into limited production. As per a report from a French automotive publication, 500 units are in the offing.
Renault Clio RS16 Concept 19 photos
Photo: Renault
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When the French brand presented the Clio RS16 Concept, the manufacturer made it clear that this hot hatch wonder is a nod to forty years of Renault Sport. The entity that started life as a simple merger between Alpine and Gordini now handles Renault’s involvement in motorsport, including F1.

Patrice Ratti, managing director of passenger vehicle division of Renault Sport, adds considerably more fuel to the fire: "We all recalled the impact made by Clio V6. We wanted to create a technical concept car with extraordinary performance levels but which was more realistically priced. We, therefore, had to keep our feet on the ground and use simple, ingenious solutions to achieve a vehicle that could be type-approved.”

Now, though, three months after the concept car’s unveiling, Caradisiac reports that a close source to the project let it slip that a decision regarding production will be made before the Paris Motor Show opens its doors. If things work out in our favor, then Renault is expected to announce that 500 units of the manual-equipped Clio RS16 will be made available to buy.

The publication also reports that each unit will cost €40,000, which works out at €20 million for the whole lot. In American dollars, that’ll be $45,100 and $22.5 million, respectively. A regular Renault Clio RS 200 EDC is half that.

There’s a catch with that, though. To make the Clio RS16 a production-ready reality, Renault Sport engineers need to modify the front axle, retest, recalibrate, and so forth. I mean, how else could they shoehorn the 2.0-liter engine from the Megane RS 275 in a bay developed around a 1.6-liter unit?

On that note, a subcompact hatchback with 271 horsepower (275 PS) sent to the front axle sounds like a good idea to me. Dear Renault, do it!

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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