It’s a strange feeling; being parked below a start banner with an enthusiastic chap, counting down from five, while leaning into your line of sight, knowing that the stopwatch starts counting up as soon as he drops his hand.
I’ve done plenty of acceleration runs over my twelve years of performance road testing, but somehow having to perform a perfect one at the drop of someone else’s hand has made question my abilities. I’m trying to hover the rev needle to within a ridiculously small area on the rev-counter in order to generate just the right amount of wheelspin off the line, and with three-fingers left to count down I’m second-guessing whether I’ve even switched out the traction control.
The hand drops and my foot lets the clutch fly up. The revs fly towards the red line and I’m listening for the change-up indicator light and beep. It comes sooner that it should though. I’ve got too much wheelspin and the turbo has wound up and working frantically. I’ve botched it, but there’s no turning back now.
The first right-hander is fast approaching and I’m receiving conflicting reports from different departments of my brain as to what to do next.
There’s a small voice in my head telling me that this is a flat-out corner and that only the weak would consider lifting their foot off the loud pedal, but then there’s a loud voice reminding me that I still have a lot to look forward to in my life and urging me to make use of the brake pedal. The latter voice wins and I do my best to set the car up for a smooth acceleration out of the corner and up the long straight that follows.
No such conflict occurs in my head as we approach the tricky double-left hander and every part of my body and mind yells, “brake”. I think I’ve done well here though. I’ve left the braking to what I would consider the latest point of sanity and shifted the steering wheel just enough to get the nose of the car pointing towards the apex.
There’s another short straight section next and another one of those foot-flat moments to consider. The problem is not so much the speed that I would carry through the right-hand dip, but how fast I would consequently be going through the immediate left sweep that follows. Again I lift and try to set the balance up as best as possible for a clean and smooth acceleration out of the corner.
The tricky bits are now over and the remaining four sweeps towards the finish line are all about keeping my foot planted and choosing the best line.
When I crossed the line I had absolutely no idea of how competitive my time was, or whether I even made the time-keepers sit forward. I did know that I wanted another chance though, because it was way too much fun not to want to go again.
This year’s Knysna Hillclimb, the second of it’s kind, was sponsored by Renault South Africa, who used the event to launch no less than five new models.
I drove quite possibly my favourite Renault, the Clio RS, on an extended route from George to Knynsa. The Clio has turned 20 years old and a limited edition 20th edition was created to mark the occasion. The Clio RS 20th features a unique two-tone colour scheme, firmer Cup chassis, black 17-inch alloy wheels and red Brembo brake calipers. It retains its impressive 2,0-litre 16-valve engine that delivers 148 kW and 215 N.m of torque.
All the journalists attending the launch were offered sighting runs of the hillclimb route in the new Renualt Twingo Gordini RS model. Finished in the famous blue and white Gordini colour scheme these little pocket rockets feature 17-inch alloy wheels, leather sports seats, together with an array of other sporty highlights scattered around the cabin. Renault claims a racy 0-100 km/h time of 8,7 seconds for this 98 kW Twingo.
The first two of our timed runs up the hill were behind the wheel of the new Renault Mégane RS Sport. This impressive new contender in the hot hatch market sports a 10 mm lower suspension that the standard Megane, 18-inch alloy wheels, Brembo brakes, a multi-mode ESP system, leather sport seats and a Perfo-Hub system (Renault’s take on the RevoKnuckle system that all-but eliminates torque steer).
What would prove to be my final two runs of the weekend (after not qualifying through to Saturday’s event) were in the Cup version of the Megane RS. While both options share the same 184 kW/340 N.m turbocharged 2,0-litre engine, the Cup version gains a mechanical limited slip differential, further 10 mm drop in suspension, 19-inch ally wheels, distinct red brake calipers, Recaro bucket seats and a comprehensive on-board computer display that includes stopwatch, lap timer and customisation of the throttle response.
The Hillclimb event may have been perfectly suited to the Cup version’s extra tweaks but I would have to say that I would prefer the softer suspension and lighter mechanicals of the normal Sport model for everyday use. Renault forecast a 70:30 split between the Sport and Cup versions in terms of sales.
The least racy of the five models launched was the new Mégane CC, which features a panoramic glass roof, standard rear wind deflector and strengthened chassis. The CC is offered with a 1,4 TCe engine that offers impressive efficiency, while at the same time, delivering 96 kW of power at 5 500 r/min and 190 N.m at 2 500 r/min.
Prices (27 October 2010):
Twingo Gordini RS R214 900
Clio 2,0 RS Special Edition R279 900
Mégane RS Sport R349 900
Mégane RS Cup R399 900
Mégane CC 1,4 TCe R359 900