Papa, the Clio's all grown up

1. Looks

The baby Renault is all grown up. It's bigger in almost every way than the Clio II, but it hides its added girth very well. The front is dominated by a pair of headlights which sweep along the wings, while a huge diamond-shaped badge leaves other road users in no doubt this is the new Clio. The rear has a similarly-shaped pair of rear lights, which are reminiscent of the Audi A3's lights. We tested the sporty Dynamique S, which also counts 16-inch multispoke alloys and dark tinted rear windows among its exterior features.

8/10

2. Looks inside

The interior is undeniably Clio, but has been vastly improved over previous generations. The dials are clear and easy to read, despite the intense red illuminations, and the controls for the climate control are intuitively laid out. The Clio has an information display on top of the dashboard which provides the time, outside temperature and radio station. We particularly liked the chunky surrounds and dials around the air vents – a nice, subtle piece of design work. The seats in our Dynamic S were finished in a handsome fabric which had subtle shades of red and blue woven in. If there's one annoyance with the Clio's cabin, it’s the radio which was fiddly to use and lacked punch.

8/10

3. Practicality

One of the main criticisms of the previous Clio was the driving position. The steering wheel would only adjust for height and the seats were soft; making it uncomfortable particularly for taller drivers. Thankfully, Renault has worked hard on the new model, and it proved to be a comfy companion during our 500-mile loan. The only problem we found was limited lateral support, giving a feeling of sliding out of the seat when cornering at moderate-to-fast speeds. There's plenty of space for occupants front and rear, and access to the rear seats was good in our three-door test car. The 288-litre capacity boot is on a par with many of its rivals, and it rises to 1,028 litres with the seats folded – enough for most load carrying journeys.

8/10

4. Ride and Handling

Renault has built one of the best handling superminis on the market. The steering offers plenty of feedback, and is light enough at low speeds to make urban driving easy. On a winding road, the steering gets heavier providing resistance allowing the driver the to 'feel' the road. The suspension is soft enough to be comfortable, but not too much to make fast turns feel like a leap of faith. It's almost as though the Clio wants you to drive fast, because it can take it all in its stride. Only a little too much body roll tainted the otherwise excellent drive.

9/10

5. Performance

The 1.2 turbocharged engine installed in our test car is an odd configuration, but was a revelation. A 0-62mph time of 11.1 seconds and a top speed of 112mph are only slightly slower than the thirstier and more polluting 1.6-litre engine'd Clio. With its turbocharger, the Clio offers 107lb/ft of pulling power, but it feels like much more. That's because the engine reaches its peak of pulling power at 3,000rpm, rather than the 4,250rpm of the 1.6. All this means the Clio pulls hard through the gears and is an admirable performer at motorway speeds.

9/10

More pictures

Next page >