Did anybody say slingshot? But pleeeeease make sure you keep your hand on the billet shift knob of the B&M short shifter while accelerating through the six-speed tranny so you don't miss a shift, or the engine will bounce off the rev limiter while you laugh yourself silly.


The Nology ignition upgrades also improved off-nitrous performance, as did the sport exhaust from Renault, which also added to the audible pleasure even before the engine reaches it's 7100 rpm redline. Not to mention the exhaust tips, which are so handsome, in a strictly mechanical design kind-of-way, of course.


Except for some cool graphics from Digital Imagery featuring the logo from Dragon Optical, which is the company who supplied all those cool shades the Nology guys are wearing, the exterior was unchanged. Why mess with perfection.


Next the Nology Clio V6 will go to the racetrack, skid pad and the dyno. Here is what we expect to see: 0-60 should be under 5 seconds and the car ought to rip through the 1/4 mile in the 11-second range at 120 to 130 mph. Estimated top speed is 160 mph. On the skid pad we hope to get above 1 g and in the slalom, even a Porsche GT 2 should have a hard time keeping up. Engine power is something like 250 hp stock, 300 hp 1st stage squeeze and 350 hp 2nd stage squeeze.

And there you have it. The Sportiest of Compacts, not coming to America soon. Keep wishing though.


RENAULT CLIO V-6 SPECIFICATIONS

ENGINE
Displacement: 2946 cc
Bore x Stroke: 87.0 x 82.6 mm
Cylinders: 6
Valves: 24
Injection:Bosch ME 7.4 sequential injection
Compression Ratio:11.4:1
Maximum power (Stock): 250 bhp (230 DIN) at 6000 rpm
Maximum torque (Stock): 221 lbs/ft (30.6 mkg DIN) at 3750 rpm
Maximum power (Modified)
Nitrous Oxide - Stage 1: 300 bhp
Nitrous Oxide - Stage 2: 350 bhp

VEHICLE WEIGHT:1335 kgs

NUMBER OF FORWARD GEARS:6

BRAKING SYSTEM
Servo-assisted, diagonally split double circuit system
ABS with EBD (electronic brake distribution)
Ventilated disks
Front: 330mm with 4-piston calipers
Rear: 300mm with 2-piston calipers

STEERING
Power assisted rack and pinion.
2.75 turns lock to lock

PERFORMANCE (Stock)
0-62 mph:  6.4 seconds
Top Speed: 147 mph

PERFORMANCE (Modified)
0-62:      4.9 seconds
1/4 mile:   11.4 sec. at 122 mph
Top speed: 160 mph (Estimated)
Skid pad:  1.1 g's

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