Hero Cars – Episode 01 | Renault Clio Williams

27 November 2021 Redazione News, Stories

RENAULT CLIO WILLIAMS

Words Carlo Brema / Photos Antoine Pascal

In the wake of the extraordinary success in Formula 1’s 1992 season, with the victory of the Constructor and Drivers’ championships thanks to Nigel Mansell, the Williams Renault Team is the inspiration for a model destined to go down in history as the best front-wheel drive hot-hatch ever. The following year – in 1993 – the Clio 16v thus embraces a series of modifications that transform it into the dream of every child and into the object of desire of any licensed driver. This is how the Renault Clio Williams sees the light, which essentially has nothing to do with the F1 Team, except the homage provided by the identification logos and the special “Sports Blue” color that combined with the dedicated set of Speedline gold wheels make it immediately distinguishable and consecrate an image that will remain in the annals.

The Clio Williams has the merit of being a perfectly kept promise on the road, thanks to a 2-liter 4-cylinder that now delivers 147 horsepower, a very remarkable power for the 90s, those magnificent years when you got coins for the telephone and video games in your pocket and in which sports cars were distinguished by emotions – very often strong ones – they were able to offer the driver. There were no filters, there was no technology to dampen hard and pure mechanics, where 10 kg of weight and 10 horsepower made a huge difference. Those were times when cars were really asking to be driven and when going fast with a car like the Williams would have meant turning off the switch of one’s conscience.

With an overall weight caressing the tonne, the exuberant engine dispensed its violent thrust to the front wheels through a mechanical 5-speed gearbox. We are talking about a naturally aspirated engine that increases revs substantially and with a maximum torque of 175 Nm available immediately, then running up to those 6,100 rpm that allow the maximum power delivery to be unleashed. What is happening in the meantime is a pit of sounds and noises and while you are enveloped by the fabulous sports seats, you are at the same time just a few centimeters from the ground, the ideal way to read the asphalt and take advantage of an extremely direct and communicative steering. There is no delivery lag, no kind of uncertainty in the nervous behavior of the Clio Williams and while the rear inner wheel has the predisposition to say goodbye to the ground in the most powerful corners, the front remains well pressed to the ground and allows you to keep down the gas and take advantage of the fabulous power/weight ratio in order to enjoy twisty roads at least as much as the fastest sections.

This is one of those cases where figures do not fully do justice to a sports car. In fact, the Williams despite taking 7.6 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 kph and touching 215 per hour without problems, represented the best weapon to create many headaches for the supercars of the era. It still defends itself well today after almost 30 years, but what made it formidable in the past and confirms its exceptional skills today as well is that flood of feedbacks that are directly transmitted to the driver, the lack of driving aids and that – grant me the term – “simplicity” as far as driving it fast. Let’s put it in quotes, because pushing hard with a little bomb like this isn’t for all feet, especially nowadays when we’re pretty much spoiled by easy cars, but the moment you get in tune with the 2-liter of the Williams a world opens wide and you understand why there is so much unconditional love for a car that, paying homage to a legendary win, has created its own immortal myth.