The Renault Clio Sport V6 celebrates its 20th anniversary

The Renault Clio V6 celebrates its 20th anniversary as one of the most iconic, admired and respected cars in the world. Happy birthday, you little pocket rocket!

We love when a car manufacturer dares to create something unconventional, bold… and original. After the R5 Turbo, Renault created one of the most interesting utility vehicles. Nobody expected that the Renault engineers could develop something even more special than its predecessors, a rare vehicle like the Renault Clio V6 that is now celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Shown as a concept at the 1998 Paris Motor show and released two years later, the Renault Clio V6 owes its existence to the Clio V6 Trophy racing series. In fact, it had more to do with the racing model than with the second generation Renault Clio.

The Renault Clio Sport V6 was equipped with a 3.0-litre naturally-aspirated V-six engine. The engine block came from the Renault Laguna but was modified with new pistons, a higher compression ratio, and a new injection system. The result was a more than decent: 230 hp at 6,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 300 Nm available at 4,650 rpm.

Renault engineers added a six-speed manual transmission that directed all power to the rear axle. The Clio Sport V6 needs just 6.4 seconds to reach 100 km/h and a top speed that was limited at 237 km/h.