THANKS to the folks at EVO magazine, following their Car of the Year 2003 test, the editors of EVO have chosen the Clio Renaultsport V6 255 as good enough to mix it with supercars such as the Porsche 911 GT3 and Lamborghini Gallardo and beat others such as the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale and Noble M12 GTO-3R.

EVO's Car of the Year 2003 was conducted in two distinct groups, with the top three cars from the first group taking part in the final supercar group test. The first group, 'The Real World', featured 11 sub-£30,000 cars ranging from the BMW Z4 to the Volkswagen Golf R32. Having put all 11 cars through their paces in Scotland, EVO's team chose the Subaru Impreza STi Spec C, the Vauxhall VX 220 Turbo and the Clio Renaultsport V6 255 as their top three 'Real World' cars.

Moving on to Italy, EVO took these three winners to face seven of the world's most expensive and powerful supercars in the second group test. These cars were the Bentley Continental GT, BMW M3 CSL, Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, Lamborghini Gallardo, Noble M12 GTO-3R, Porsche 911 GT3 and Porsche Cayenne Turbo.

In a demonstration that money doesn't always talk only the Porsche 911 GT3 and the Lamborghini Gallardo could hold off the advances of the Clio Renaultsport V6 255, while the Renault's real world patterns, the Impreza and VX220 came seventh and eighth respectively. Word about the supercar-beating qualities of the Clio V6 has already reached driving enthusiasts since going on sale in November with the first 70 cars already delivered. Waiting time for a new Clio Renaultsport V6 255 currently stands at four months.