New Renault Clio RS200 grids up

Renault Sport Techologies, the French maker's race and performance road car specialist, has taken the wraps of its new generation Clio RS200.

The much-anticipated 'hot hatch' is powered by a 1.6-litre turbo four producing 147kW/240Nm, married to a six-speed, dual clutch gearbox.

Thanks to launch control tech, the compact three door is claimed to sprint from 0-100km/h in 6.7sec, and features Normal, Sport and Race modes for the engine and transmission.

Renault Sport's specialty is chassis tuning, and the new Clio RS features a tricky electronic diff and a hydraulic compression suspension system incorporating parallel, secondary dampers.

Local launch is scheduled for early 2014, with pricing to be confirmed later this year, but we're guessing it will weigh in around $38K.