Photos : Automedia

Photo: The Renault Clio RSi is a balanced car that allows both comfortable and sporty driving. A car that surprises because one does not immediately expect it from such a civilised-looking three-door Clio.

Stéphane Gallopyn is the proud owner of this red Clio RSi, delivered on 17 September 1993 to first owner Francine Devriese from Kortenberg near Zaventem airport near Brussels. It was only in October 2017 that the car left for its second owner. Stéphane, as the third owner, put the car into his name exactly a year later. Stéphane lives below Mons in the countryside that connects Belgium and France. On the quiet roads, he can enjoy his Clio to the fullest.

Stéphane: "My car has now done around 135,000 km, of which the last 60,000 in twenty years. The registration document bears witness to this. I was looking for a 16-valve for which I had created a search on Autoscout24. While searching is how I came across this RSi, which always stayed near Brussels. This version was not immediately on my mind. But I found a praising article on an internet site that tempted me. In any case, I was looking for a car with not too many kilometres and traceably few owners. A car that, moreover, had not fallen victim to tuning."

Photos: It's so nice that this is an RSi from the first phase with still a matte black bar between the bright red rear lights marked Renault and Clio.

Over the past four years, Stéphane has taken care of almost everything. "So the brakes were done, the timing belt was replaced, the ignition, cooling, everything new, but in stages. I also had to swap some exterior parts taken from a phase II, such as the grille and rear lights."

Stéphane's car has neither electric door windows nor power steering. "I often get the comment that this is not original, but many people do not know that these were options just like a sunroof, ABS, Radio Renault, air conditioning and the 14-inch Monte Carlo type alloy wheels. My car did have 14-inch wheels under it, but not the original ones. So I went looking and initially came across 15-inch Monte Carlo type ones that came from a Renault 21 TXI. I bought new tyres for those and they are on them now. But fortunately, in the meantime, I also found a set of original 14-inch ones with them."

The Clio I first appeared on the market in June 1990 as a five-door followed a few months later by the three-door. For 1991, the Clio earned the Car of the Year title. Success was not lost, the model quickly became so popular that for seven years it held the No 1 position in the French market.

Sporty variants were many. The Clio S was technically no different from any Clio with a 1.4-litre engine, but it did have a sportier look with white wheels and better-shaped seats. Incidentally, all sporty Clios from the first generation had three-door bodywork. The 16V not only delivered better performance but also presented itself with extended wings and a lower stance above the road surface. The air intake on the bonnet was also among the sporty details. Later, the 16V (16S in French-speaking countries) was joined by the similarly shaped Williams with gold wheels, specific upholstery and, above all, the 2-litre 16V engine instead of the 1.8-litre.

Photo: The alloy wheels originally used on the RSi, but in a 15-inch variant of the Renault 21 TXI.

The RSi occupied a position between the S and the 16V. The exterior remained discreet. The car had the co-painted bumpers of the RT including integrated fog lights. The only addition involved plastic skirts on the door sills.

The 1.8 litre engine, with its 110 hp output, came neatly between the 90 hp 1.7 litre in the RT and Baccara, among others, and the 136 hp 16V, also a 1.8 litre. Except for the head with more valves, the engines of the 16V and the RSi were almost identical. Funny to note in the technical data of this pair that the torque barely differed, 155 Nm for the RSi and 158 for the 16V. Moreover, these values were achieved in both cases at 4,250 rpm. The only difference was that the engine of the fastest variant could rev up to higher revs. This explained the difference in performance. The RSi pulled to 100 km/h in 8.9 seconds and reached a top speed of 195 km/h. The 16V required 8 seconds of patience and topped out at 209 km/h. It is noteworthy to read in the technical data that the RSi was a tad less economical than the 16V, at least on paper.