The Renault Clio, a very practical car, is a fairly mature car in terms of features. This is not the case for petrol heads - you have to wait for the RS for that - but for general tasks, it should be on the shopping list. The best innovation in this respect is the new interior and Renault has definitely moved the game forward.
How is the Clio's handling?
The new Renault Clio looks like a more mature machine, running with quiet confidence and decent steering. The brakes are powerful and progressive, the clutch and manual gearboxes are light and easy. It's a fairly tidy car in which you can drive quietly.
With a hot turbo and a dual-clutch gearbox, it can handle everything a street offers, even though it's a small car. This new version drives more than before, it's more real. In this spirit, the new Renault Clio with its five-speed manual gearbox is more exciting than those driven at the time of launch.
Description of the car's interior
This new Renault Clio has several special features. Its new styling, the "Smart Cockpit" is several steps ahead of the old one. The 9.3-inch entertainment info screen stuck in the middle of the console in portrait mode is remarkable. Rotary switches for air conditioning and "piano buttons" for the various functions are easily perched below, the gearshift is pushed to the right place in a semi-floating console below. Opposite is another group of TFT instruments.
There are better materials, more pleasant and comfortable seats - especially for tall drivers - and some very neat ones. The steering wheel is smaller and has a smaller airbag. Renault has really fine-tuned its design with the most obvious changes.
What about operating costs and model reliability?
In the five-star Euro NCAP rating system, the Clio comes with all the options that ensure safety. There are adaptive assistance options for large cars, an optional stereo system, various upgraded features, Easy-Link with CarPlay and Android Auto. The whole simplified structure of the range - Renault calls it 'EasyLife' - means that a higher part of the vehicle will move away from the bumper area. If the bumper is now pushed into a rear situation, it is less likely to affect the tailgate, so less repair costs and lower insurance premiums.