Renault Clio 182 Trophy Long Term Test: August 2010

By David Jones
Contributing Writer
23 August 2010

The remains of the Reims-Gueux pit straight
It’s December 2007 and my pristine, 12,000-mile Clio 182 Trophy bursts into life and edges slowly out of the garage for the last time before being driven away into the winter darkness by its new owner. Looking back, almost three years down the line, this was a mistake.

Trophy number 452 and I hadn’t been paired for long – just a handful of months, in fact – but in that time we’d covered nearly 10,000 miles together. From getting lost in the streets of a French town whilst looking for the remains of the illusive Reims-Gueux circuit or chasing down two Audi RS4s through the Fuchsröhre, many of these miles I will never forget.

Fast-forward to July 2010 and I will confess now to being a bit of a serial car changer. Yet another one of my cars, this time an Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6, succumbs to the same destiny as those that went before it. It had started to feel as if I were single-handedly paying for BP’s clean-up operation in the Gulf of Mexico, such was this engine’s thirst. This meant I needed a new car.

I’ve always told myself there are literally hundreds of different and exciting cars out there and so I’d never have the same one twice, but I’m sorry (or should that be pleased?) to say I’ve completely ignored that and broken my own rule. I’ve bought another Clio Trophy.


From one Clio...

...to another exactly the same!

So, it was with a smile and chuckle that I collected a small red vehicle from a part of the country in which everyone speaks with an accent remarkably similar to that of Postman Pat and began the long journey back home to Essex.

When I got there, it struck me as being rather odd too, to be honest, because it’s as if it’s never been away. Naturally, all 500 UK-bound Trophys left the Dieppe factory with exactly the same specification, but number 207 really is a carbon copy of that car I sold back in 2007, save for a couple of minor bits to sort. The mileages are within a couple of hundred clicks of each other and I’m pleased to say the new car is just as immaculate as the last. They even smell the same, although I imagine the ball pool-esque cheap plastic odor is something that afflicts almost all small French cars!

I’m sorry (or should that be pleased?) to say I’ve completely broken my own rule. I’ve bought another Clio Trophy.


My aim with this car is to break the habit of a lifetime and actually not sell it, for I truly believe that, in the vein of the revered Peugeot 205 GTI, this car will comfortably sit in the pile marked ‘all-time greats’. For that reason, I am determined to make every little detail on the car just as it would have been when it left the factory in 2005…


Capsicum Red paint looks great


Usual Clio interior spiced up with Recaro seats


Comments (5)

Clio? hah. It's not good enought.

30 August 2010 20:31 | Mercedes C Class
This car looks sturdy even though it is small. I would like to have one to drive off to the county, as long as it won't render me to buy another sway bar link kit, which my other car always does.

06 September 2010 12:26 | vevelyn
Cute and cool car. I guess the sway bar link kit of this car will be very practical and sturdy.

07 September 2010 03:13 | ferril
nice & cool small car Renault Clio but its yet not release at US Market ?

15 September 2010 12:07 | Rob Cook
Nice car . Amazing car its interior is more attractive like Lamborghini Gallardo cars


17 January 2011 10:24 | james

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