Candidate: Clio V6

From one outsider (the Legnum) to another: the Clio V6.

There’s something that attracts me to nutter cars. Legnum, BMW M Coupe, Clio V6. They’re all hooligans that care more about having a wild time than about their looks. And yet, those brutish looks still put a smile on your face. Actually, I love the way the V6 Clios are styled. As Rick Dagless would no doubt remark, they’re compact and muscular — like corned beef. In fact, they’re both of those things and aggressive with it. A great example of form reflecting function.

And that function, of course, is to provide the driver with a lot of fun. I’ve read, however, that in the case of the Clio V6, one man’s fun is often another man’s fright. The original is said to be wild to the point of being uncontrollable, although the 2nd generation model apparently calmed things down a bit. If I were to go for a V6 then, it would have to be the 2nd generation. Unfortunately, this restricts my choice, as they’re not exactly cheap — £15k minimum. This in turn rules out the cheap, practical shed of an estate to make up for the flash car’s impracticality.

Finally, let’s not forget another of the Clio’s strengths: outright grunt. The V6 might not be hugely faster than its cousin, the Trophy, but it does make it inside my ideal 0-100km/h time; it makes it in 5.8secs. I’m a little surprised it’s quicker than a 350Z, but there you go. One not to be dismissed lightly.

• Straight-line speed: 8 out of 10
• Chuckability: 7 out of 10 (predicted)
• Kerb appeal: 9 out of 10
• Economy: 3 out of 10 – 24mpg on the combined cycle
• Practicality: 2 out of 10

When I’m done writing these (p)reviews, I’ll have to put all of these stats into some kind of table. As a geek, I’d love to do a bit of PCA on the figures to see if the cars cluster as you might expect, but I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader. In the meantime, you can click on the 4thcar label to see all posts related to me choosing the Mini's replacement.