Renault Clio: Test Drive Review

Renault’s new fourth-generation Clio is a bolder and more attractive supermini designed to give the struggling brand a boost.

Lower and wider, plus 100kg lighter than its predecessor, the new Clio has also been given what the company describes as “more direct power steering”, which all points to the new car being a better drive than before. It certainly feels more nimble and enjoyable to drive, and also offers a gear shift that could be the most solid and precise ever experienced from Renault.

The firm is pushing what it perceives as the three main strengths of its new product: the design, technology and engines, but from a corporate perspective it’s the engines that are of most interest because they promote a dilemma. We’ve previously sampled the 1.5 dCi 90hp diesel, which offers official figures of 83g/km and 88.3mpg, but this 0.9-litre petrol model also offers 90hp and gets below 100g/km, giving it significantly lower BIK and National Insurance payments to go with the £1100 lower P11D than the diesel. The average economy figure of 65.7mpg is not as high but still very good, while the lower costs give the petrol a per mile figure that’s 0.7p better than the diesel over 60,000 miles. Given that most superminis won’t get near that distance, the petrol makes more sense the fewer miles covered.

It also drives well enough, although the performance from the small-capacity engine obviously isn’t astounding.

The costs case stacks up well, though. The 90hp TCe petrol Clio is only beaten by 0.3p per mile by the identically priced Ford Fiesta, and the Clio comes with standard satnav, unlike its rival. An RV of 32.8% is better than Renault has recently enjoyed, giving the Clio an all-round appeal across CO2, running costs, looks and interior quality that it has not previously enjoyed, and putting it up around the VW Polo, Ford Fiesta and Peugeot 208.