Fast Facts

Verdict:
A dynamic and stunningly quick hot hatch

Powerful and smooth engine, supportive Recaro seats, plenty of space for backseat passengers

Interior doesn’t feel particularly special for a limited edition car0

Renault’s R27 is home both on the road and on the track

By Lionel Kong

OK, SO WE CHEATED. The car’s real name isn’t just the R27. We shortened it to make it a little more manageable for reading, but the car’s real name is actually the Renaultsport Clio 197 F1 R27. It’s quite a mouthful, so from here on we’ll just call it the R27 to keep it simple.

The car is the successor of the Megane R26, and like it, is also manufactured as a limited edition model in Dieppe, France, which is also where Renault’s Formula One racing cars are constructed.

A small metal plate is fixed to the car’s centre console detailing the R27’s origins and production number, and the car itself is actually a further tweak of the Renault’s Clio 197 hot hatch.

If you’re more used to the garish bodykitting and mecha-inspired angularity of Japanese performance cars, the R27 might be a tad disappointing when you first see it in the flesh. It’s got huge 17-inch rims and bold Brembo brake calipers beneath them, but the styling on the rest of the body doesn’t exactly mark it as a car that is capable of standing head and shoulders above the rest of the pack.

Blame it on the local aftermarket bodykit scene then, as the front fender vents and rear diffuser that is supposed to make the R27 look special can already be found tacked on to garden variety small hatchbacks all over the neighbourhood.

But nobody’s going to able to replicate the bits that make the R27 the truly special, which include just about everything beneath the bodywork.