I can only sing praises about the renault clio sport. Having owned a full fat 182 with cup packs from new (used as a daily driver), I am looking to buy a phase 1 172 for track/fast road usage. Contrary to a previous poster's comment, an induction kit, exhaust and remap will NOT push your clio into the hallowed 200bhp mark. Realistically you require high lift cams, matched inlet manifold, gas flowed manifold plus the aforementioned induction kit, exhaust + decat and remap to achieve this figure.
In my experience I found that standard renault exhausts are cheap (replaced under warranty 3 times), build quality isn't the greatest (which is to be expected) but in terms of thrills, the clio sport delivers top bang for buck and punches above it's weight class.
The car handles well and transmission has a nice feel. As with any car, maintenance is key. Look after the clio and reap the rewards. Another point worth mentioning is cheap insurance costs (group 16), i'm 23 with 6 years no claims and paying 750 a year fully comp.

The renault clio sport car is AWESOME. I have owned it for 3 years. Its the Phase 2 Clio 172 RS Sport is a rare burgendary RED. The car is a legend. Its lowered on KTEC SPRINGS 45mm with a Straight Through PIPER Exhaust and Induction Kit with remapped ECU- producing just over 200bhp! It does nothing but put a smile on your face. The interior is ok, but its all about being the performance of the vehicle- its under-rated and is serious comptation to other performace hatches and saloons! I would recommend it to anyone over 24 years od!

Nothing but problems! engine switches off whilst doing high speeds (no reason), wipers dont work, ecu blown twice, brakes pull the car sharply to the left for no reason and this was all within the first week of owning it!

I got a 172 and so far after 6 months I have no complaints. Infact every day that goes by I seem to grow to like it more and more. Thats the mark 1 not the mark 2.