Renault Clio review: Racing into gap left by the Ford Fiesta

With the sad demise of the Ford Fiesta, there has been a rather large void left in the Supermini segment and it is one which any number of manufacturers are scrambling to fill.

There are, of course, many pretenders to the crown, not least as the Volkswagen Polo, the SEAT Ibiza and the Skoda Fabia (all of which are closely related), the Peugeot 208 and the Opel Corsa (ditto), the Toyota Yaris and the cheap-as-chips (don’t scoff) Dacia Sandero.

One car, however, stands out not only for its longevity, its engineering prowess, design flair and popularity but also because over its five generations, it consistently hit a sweet spot for drivers because of its practicality and on-road prowess. That car is the Renault Clio.

Originally launched in 1990, it subsequently became one of only two cars – the other being the VW Golf – to win the European Car of the Year title twice (1991 and 2006) and is widely regarded as having saved Renault financially and as a credible manufacturer after a disastrous spell for the company in the latter half of the 1980s.

As a replacement for the legendary Renault 5 (which ironically is about to go back into production), the Clio had its work cut out. Trying to fill the shoes of a legend is always tricky and attempting to crack a market full of great cars is another thing, but the Clio was, right from the off, a winner with the buying public.

It transcended the usual pitfalls that so many cars succumb to in that it could not be categorised as a ‘woman’s car’ or a ‘man’s car’ as it was equally popular on both sides of that fence and, like the Golf, it also became something of an ‘everybody’ car with sturdy support coming from millionaires and paupers alike.

Giving it that appeal is one of the key aspirations in the supermini market, but so too is making the car attractive to enthusiasts as well as those who want more from their motor than just taking them to the shops, as many such vehicles are owned by high-mileage users.

This particular Clio was originally seen in 2020, so what we have here, essentially, is a facelift. But it is a very important mid-life re-shaping of things for the car especially so as potential has been ramped up by the forthcoming absence of the Fiesta from the marketplace.

To this end, Renault has maintained the Clio’s snappy chassis set-up as well as the economic 1.6 litre hybrid engine. What it has done is to greatly improve the car’s appeal with a styling wash and brush-up and much greater desirability thanks to a much more upmarket approach to specification levels.

What we have here, therefore, is a Clio E-Tech full hybrid 145 in the top-level Esprit Alpine trim which came with a fantastic Iron Blue colour scheme and the sort of kit that you could never have dreamed of seeing in a car this size.

You get ABS, a full suite of electronic assistance including lane changing assist and departure warnings, hill-start assist, cruise control with limiter, traffic sign recognition, automatic headlights and wipers, sporty front seats, LED headlights, a 9.3” infotainment/connectivity screen, wireless charging, a 10” instrumentation screen, faux leather heated steering wheel and 17” esprit Alpine alloys.

That, let me tell you, is a very comprehensive package for a supermini and one thing about this Clio is that as you assimilate with the car you keep saying to yourself “Jeez, it has that too...” as you notice yet another small creature comfort or specification feature.

Although there is a cheaper engine option in the one-litre turbo petrol with 86 bhp, what we have with the tester is a 1.6 self-charging petrol hybrid. It is called the E-Tech full hybrid and is the same engine that is seen in such as the Arkana and the Captur. It has a 1.2 kWh battery pack which boosts output to 143 bhp and give you a 9.2 second 0-100 km/h time.

That makes for a top speed of 184 km/h and while Renault claim a 4.16 l/100 km economy rate (67.2 mpg), even with a heavy-ish right foot you should regularly record a figure of 4.58 l/100 km (61.1 mpg), which is pretty decent for the class.

The tester came with a six-speed auto gearbox and while that sounds great, I have reason to believe that for the more enthusiastic driver the manual option is the better one as you can better control what’s going on under the hood. With the auto, the chances of you being in the wrong gear when you least want it are much greater.

That said, the auto is very easy to live with and will suit many punters, apart altogether from those who prefer what might be termed ‘trousers-on-fire’ motoring.

Clio has always been more softly sprung than many of its rivals and that design trend continues here. Indeed, in Irish conditions that’s probably a good thing as you don’t have to take the physical battering on offer elsewhere – especially when you’re looking to extract the max from it.

Sharp steering offers up a car which feels nimble and quick, especially when you have it in ‘Sport’ mode but, by and large, the steering, ride and handling combine to give you a car that will suit many types of drivers – from Aunty Dolly to Skid Solo.

And, if you’re a Francophile, you’ll love the tricolour embroidery on the dash, the red, white and blue stitching on the steering wheel and the blue-trimmed safety belts. Worth noting too is that the seats are remarkably comfortable and while this is something you expect from French cars, it’s not always the case with their smaller offerings.

In terms of practicality, the boot is huge (bigger than the larger Golf) and easily outstrips such as the Corsa or Polo, but that size has compromised somewhat the room available for rear seat passengers, the tallest of whom will find legroom tight.

The bottom line, however, is that with the Fiesta now gone, this is a car that can – and will – take up some of the slack left by the Ford. It was always one of the better superminis and now because one of the best is gone, it has moved closer to the top of the table.

That’s good for Renault and the changes we’ve seen implement on this, the latest Clio, make it good for the buying public as well. There will, in short order, be many competitors looking to usurp it from its newfound status as one of the class leaders, but the revised car we tested should be able to keep them at bay for a while.

The revised look (check those fancy-dan running lights) and the upgraded interior have freshened the car immensely and the fact it was always fun to drive anyway, makes it a more compelling option than ever before.