Renault Clio: A Very Mature Car
Mark five and almost 30 years of Renault Clio, is what it is. Yes, v1.0 of Renault’s supermini was launched way back in 1990. What we have here is definitely a new, new Clio though, spun from a shared platform called CMF-B (Common Module Family -B), the use of which is said to deliver improvements in space, safety, weight-saving and tech. Which it does, but more of that in a minute.
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Outside it’s shorter than before - though the 12mm reduction in length isn’t all that obvious - a touch wider and lower, but with more space, load capacity and general volume inside. Noticeably more space, in fact, and it feels more capacious upfront, though the rising window line makes it a little less airy stuffed in the back. There are LED headlights across the range, Renault citing safety benefits, and ‘C’-shaped daylight running lights. There are sharper creases, bonnet feature lines, the usual Clio hidden rear door handles up in the C-pillar, a big Renault badge in the front grille, some nice horizontal lines that widen the car visually. It’s all very clean and crisp, without being particularly scary or revolutionary. If Laurens van den Acker’s (Senior VP, Corporate Design at Renault) intent was to clean up a MkIV Clio, then the brief has been exceeded. But that was exactly the brief: the Clio has been Europe’s best-selling B-segment supermini since 2013, so any scary external revolution really wasn’t on the cards - this is still a familiar Clio, tidied up and made contemporary.
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And there are some really decent changes, including a leaps-and-bounds better interior (see ‘On the inside’) and new engines. We’ll get a very clever E-Tech hybrid in 2020, but for the moment there’s a choice of four ICE motors: a pair of 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrols (Sce 75 and TCe 100) with 70 and 98bhp respectively, a warm-ish 1.3-litre TCe 130 four-cylinder petrol with - you guessed it, 130PS (128bhp) - and a 1.5 Blue dCi 85 four-cylinder diesel with 83bhp. The lower-engined petrol variants get a five-speed manual, the diesel a six, and the faster one a seven-speed dual-clutch auto. The trims are Play, Iconic and R.S.Line, the latter a nod to the sportier Renaults, the others variations of kit. It’s a handsome enough, decently-sized supermini, that’s more efficient and a bit cleverer than before. Good.
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If you wondered where all the real newness was in the new Clio, then Renault seems to have stuffed it all inside. Because where it really scores is with its new interior, which is several jumps ahead of the old one. Renault calls it the ‘Smart Cockpit’, and the first things you notice are the 9.3-inch infotainment screen stuck up in the middle of the console portrait-style. Rotary knobs for air-con and ‘piano buttons’ for other functions are handily perched beneath, and the gearstick is pushed up into the right place in a semi-floating console just below that. In front is another small TFT instrument cluster - there’ll be a 10-inch optional version next year - and a generally very agreeable layout.
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There are better materials, much nicer and more comfortable seats - especially for taller drivers - and some really nice attention to detail. The steering wheel is a touch smaller, for instance, and features a smaller airbag. You can see where bare millimetres have been shaved (the steering column is slimmed down, making more room for knees), and get the feeling that Renault really has tried to hone this one along with the more obvious headline changes.
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In fact, with some of the different colours of panel available at Group 1 Renault, the interior has turned out to be the Renault Clio’s high point - you’ll almost forget that you’re in a supermini at all. There’s even a choice of eight different colours of ambient lighting, and enough options to satisfy any inveterate button-pusher. It has to be mentioned that you must spec lighter-colours in here though - all the cars on the launch had lovely (and expensive-feeling) options, so we’ll reserve full judgement until we see a base ‘Play’ with nothing on it. It might be quite a bit less fun.
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Article sourced from: https://www.topgear.com/
