Car with the less fattening centre.

Byline: By STEVE ORME

ACCORDING to a story in the Daily Mail, obesity is now as great a threat to the planet as climate change.

Apparently being a right fatty can take up to nine years off a person's life and trigger a host of unpleasant illnesses, diseases and dress sizes. However, I suspect the main worry for Mrs Buckets everywhere is that one of these lumpfish may well move in next door, reducing property values and offending the WI.

Inevitably the blame winds up at the door of the motorist and sits very well with people who see the velocipede, rather than garlic bread, as the future.

It seems that were we all to take to public transport, Britain would be a nation of pole dancing whippets.

Agreed, I have never seen a bus in a drive-through hamburger restaurant but I have seen a lot of really fat backsides on the train.

Bringing us to the dieting car. The skinny latte Renaultsport 197 Cup with a weight reducing calorie controlled equipment list.

With the exception of metrosexual, pounds 35 tax bracket, hatchback cars have generally been porking up for years.

The standard 197 is in demand for one-touch electric windows, hands free entry, air conditioning, heated mirrors, cruise control, fancy-pants dash and curtain airbags.

Do not expect to find any such over-indulgence in the diet cola version.

In the interest of getting 6.9 seconds to 62mph time out of the normally aspirated two-litre, six-speed Cup, everything you don't need to enjoy the best-driving hot hatch on the market, has been stripped out. As a result there's a grand knocked off the price bringing it in at pounds 15,000. Alternatively, Cup suspension is an option on the 'normal' car for pounds 400. You decide.

What is fitted? ESP, ABS, some seats, a nice wheel, electric windows, 17 inch alloys and Thatcham alarm.

Right then, down to business. While a seven-second sprint is hardly the stuff of frightened horses these days, clever work on the suspension makes this a rock solid drive like no other while still retaining a suppleness which makes the car acceptable for everyday driving. Extractors and a rear diffuser force the Cup to the floor. And if you have ever wondered if being forced to the floor is fun, it is.

And there are the very reasons for owning this car. Response, secure handling, clear evidence of tinkering by the men in white coats and an ear to ear grin.

The Corsa VXR comes close but no cigar.

Don't, please, imagine you are getting a car that will make motorway driving a joy and a pleasure, even with slightly longer gears in the latest Clio. Do take the option of pounds 850 Recaro seats. And do remember this is a specialist motor which is why Renault reckons most will opt for the 1.6% heavier 192 with optional Cup suspension.

On the other hand you will be doing your bit for British obesity. The 197 Cup, the car with the less fattening centre.