It's all Jethro Bovingdon's fault.

My first car was a 97 Subaru Impreza Turbo Sportswagon that had proven reliable, fun, fast, a good load carrier and capable of emptying the entire stock of Optimax at the local Shell garage on a worryingly regular basis. However, with a major service due and a new job meaning a daily sixty mile round trip on the horizon, I decided to get rid of the "Dogwagon" and start looking for something with more character that would also provide a lot of fun in day-to-day driving.

My first choice was an Integrale Evo 2 but sense took hold when I thought about the mileage and the topsy-turvey Northumbrian weather system. I looked at, but passed on various EVOs and Subarus due to the running costs - although a rare white EVO 6 RS caught my eye, very similar to the one that Tim Milne ran many moons ago but with an incomplete history and lack of knowledge from the dealer, I gave up on it. Skylines were temping, as were Integra Type-Rs but I couldn't find a good one for the right money so started to consider other options such as Mini Coopers and Civic Type-Rs which were fun cars but I was put off by how common the Mini was and the boxy MPV looks of the Honda.

Then issue 83 of Evo magazine came out with a funny looking French midget chased by a large, mean looking German on the cover…

I already knew that Renault's particular breed of 182 shopping trolley was a fun drivers car-especially in Cup trim-from reading about them in various magazines and internet forums - but putting one against the new BMW M6 just seemed crazy to me.

Nevertheless, after reading Bovingdon's report I was sold on the idea of a small car totally focused on driver involvement and that just happened to sit perfectly into my price range. Plus there was a limited run of only 500 cars. It was quite a change from what I was thinking of getting but seemed to make sense. The running costs and insurance would be a fraction of what I had been considering and the idea of a small runabout was very tempting for the daily commute into Newcastle.

Having never driven a Clio before, I phoned the local dealership to try and book a test drive - unfortunately no test drive could be offered as all of the allocated stock was sold, so actually getting hold of one took a bit longer than expected but in the end the order was placed and I took delivery of the car in December of 2005. (In the mean time, the Trophy won EVO's people's choice and finish third overall in their 2005 car of the year - the anticipation was a killer!)

That was 8,100 miles ago and life so far with the Trophy has been fantastic.

The initial running in period didn't last long with the miles I do, with the car feeling very stiff and bumpy during that time but settling down as the engine and Sachs dampers wore in. Turn in at slow speeds was-and still-feels surprisingly heavy for such a small car - but the nose always goes were you point it plus it's easy to see out of and park. The small size is also a real eye opener if you're not used to driving a small car, yet still it takes a weekly shop in the boot.

Pottering around town, the Trophy is quiet, cheap to run and quite a nice place to be. Alright, the interior is plasticy and the windscreen wipers make a lot of noise (as if the servos are in the glove box) but the Recaros are a joy to sit in and remind you that this hatch is not just a normal Clio with a bright paint job. Some people claim that the seats are set too high, but at under 6 feet I've not really found it a problem, though there's not much space in the back since the Recaros cut into the rear legroom.

The engine sounds unremarkable and a little plain up until around 3500 rpm at which point the noise starts to get more manic and tuneful-this continues until the redline at which point the engine sounds like it's screaming out every last horsepower it has. I like it myself as you can drive normally and not wake up a passenger-but then plant your foot and give them a shock as the revs climb. I wouldn't say it's as addictive as making a V-Tec sing but it does add to the overall character of the little Clio. The ESP system has a funny habit of trying to intervene if you are a little heavy footed when pulling away in first gear-the resulting wheel spin as the ESP light flickers is humorous yet a little embarrassing!

So far, so good for the Trophy then. I've been on a few spirited runs to Scotland and back and found the experience a lot more fun than I ever had in the Impreza-the Trophy doesn't need to be ragged to within an inch of its life in order to entertain whereas the Subaru was very impressive but didn't provide much in the way of enjoyment unless warp speeds were maintained.

The level of feedback that the Clio offers is in a different league to its humble hatch heritage, you really do feel like you're connected to the road and you know precisely what's happening as the car moves across the black top. I have no doubt that the Michelin Exalto 2s help to achieve this, as they seem to find an uncanny amount of grip in the dry and give plenty of warning in the wet if you overcook things.

However, the best thing about the car's handling is that the feedback increases with speed and this helps you learn more about the car and your own driving. I wouldn't say I've reached its limits yet or overstepped my own limitations as a driver, but the Trophy seems to want you to become a better driver, forcing you to learn by providing all the information you need to drive fast and have fun at the same time. It may be a cliché these days, but every journey in the Trophy has had me grinning like an idiot.

Due to the rate at which I've piled miles onto it, the "Mario Kart" (as the office have christened it) is going in for a check up with the local Renault dealer after they called to see how it was running. If they find any problems then I'll be sure to let you know in the next update.

I'm off to hunt down some M6's now.