After a week in a heavyweight Range Rover, driving the Clio today has been something of a wake up call. Like somebody has chucked a bucket of icy water over my head and forced me to listen to Chris Evans…

I must admit I’d forgotten that Renault joined the hot hatchback market early – launching the Renault 5 Gordini in 1976, a full year before the VW Golf GT came on the scene.

The Gordini was a blast with 93bhp under the bonnet – can you imagine what this lightweight Clio is going to do at 200bhp?

This version made it’s debut in 2012 but is has just been tweaked for even better performance, most noticeably an Efficient Dual Clutch (EDC) six-speed auto gearbox which you can use in automatic mode, via paddles on the gear column, or by a push-pull gearstick.

There’s even a Launch Control system borrowed from F1 that sets the Clio up for boy racer starts at the traffic lights! All I can tell you after a ten mile trip to the shops is that it’s going to be a fun week of sideways action…