I stepped out of the office today to grab a spot of lunch and found myself walking past £600,000 of super cars. One of the ‘super car clubs’ was trying to drum up business from the City types in London that earn significantly more than me, and they had some of their fleet out for the public to drool over.

An Oakley-wearing Italian in a club t-shirt was handing out flyers and asked me if I drove any of the cars on display. Part of me wanted to say “No, I drive something more exclusive!” But I made do with “only on the X Box…”

I would have been justified with that first comment, after all my car is the 99th of 500; but unless you’re talking to a real petrolhead your bold claim loses a little something when you follow it up with “I’ve got a Clio…”!

It is through a little bit of judgment and a whole lot of luck that I’m the owner of a Renault Sport Clio Trophy. I was passing my then local Renault dealership on a Saturday morning and standing out on the forecourt in all its Capsicum Red glory was No. 99.

Within 15 minutes I was on the phone to the dealer booking my test drive for the next day as soon as their doors opened. In all honesty the test drive was merely a formality; I had been sold when they offered me £14,000 for my 10 month old SEAT Leon Cupra R. After all, how many people can turn down the opportunity to walk away from a dealership with a ‘new’ car and a cheque for £1,000?

There is something special about the Trophy. I’ve never owned a limited edition car before but it being “one of xxx…” seems to make ownership that little bit better.

Off the line it will put up a solid fight against most vehicles. The Sachs suspension and Michelin Pilot Sport Exalto 2s give it incredible traction but although it’s no slouch there are plenty of cars that have more grunt and as the needle moves further around the speedo this become more evident.

Luckily for me, straight-line speed isn’t that important. Yes it is always nice to know that you can hold your own in a traffic light grand prix but most modern cars are capable of clearing 100mph.

The Trophy’s forte is corners and there’s nothing more satisfying than having some moron in a TDI Mondeo glued to your bumper along the straights only to drop back into the distance as the Clio navigates corners at speeds that are frankly ridiculous.

Every journey in the Trophy brings a smile to my face, even the 10 minutes to the station each morning. I’m off to Dartmoor soon for a long weekend camping and hiking but have no doubts that I will be hunting out a nice B-road or two!

The wet weather grip that the car delivers is pretty phenomenal. A few months ago I was driving along the A264 in torrential rain and the road had all but turned into a river. I thought I was driving quite slowly, for the conditions, and couldn’t work out why I kept losing traction? When I looked at the dials I found the answer. The Trophy is so fast in the dry that slowing down on a familiar road puts you at 60 and when there’s 1” of standing water most cars are going to struggle. The Trophy on its Exaltos put up a very strong fight in the face of such conditions.

So what is the Trophy like to live with? For my purposes it’s great. Ok, there is one slight issue I have and that’s the lack of lumbar support from the Recaros on long journeys.

The seats are great through the ‘twisties’, supporting you and letting you concentrate on driving but on a long motorway cruise I find I can get quite a sharp pain in my lower back. I suppose I should really contact Recaro and see what they suggest!

Other than the seats my other main complaint with the car was resolved for a little time and money. The OE sound system in the Clio was appalling. I’m not after bass so intense it registers on the Richter scale, but I like my music to have some body and depth, two attributes that the OE system did not offer.

In the first two weeks of ownership I had purchased and installed a new set of Infinity speakers and the first of Alpine’s 2nd generation iPod head units. I invested in a ‘stealth’ shelf for the rear speakers and the net result is that there is very little evidence of my very worthwhile additions.

The car does has squeaks and rattles but I accept those as part of its character and I like the fact that Renault didn’t waste money trying to deliver Audi build quality. The money has been spent on the suspension, the wheels and the Recaros and that’s fine for me.

I really don’t get to drive the Trophy as often as I would like on the roads it deserves, but to a certain extent that makes it more fun when I do get on a nice stretch of tarmac. That said, I’m hoping to see Scotland and Wales this year and you can be sure I’ll report back on how No. 99 behaves…

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