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Hatchback
Like its fellow French supermini, the Peugeot 206, the Clio lives or dies by its looks. It’s far from the most talented car in its class, but if you love its appearance, you’ll forgive it almost anything.
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In many ways, its strength is its weakness. The same cute lines and diminutive shape that make it so easy to thread through tight city streets also mean the cabin and boot are rather cramped. To make matters worse, the height-only adjustment on the steering wheel, plus the soft seats, give an uncomfortable driving position, especially for tall drivers. With the exception of the Renault Sport 172, which is a credible hot hatch, the Clio’s drive puts the emphasis on comfort. The smooth ride absorbs lumps and bumps well, although one consequence of the springy suspension is obvious body roll in bends, while the steering gives too little feedback to satisfy a keen driver.
Running Costs
You can expect good fuel economy from any Clio, apart from the hot versions, especially on the post-2001 face-lift models. The 1.2s and 1.4s should return well over 40mpg, with the 1.6 only just failing to match that. For the ultimate economy choose a 1.5 dCi diesel, which arrived in April 2001. Its official combined fuel economy is an impressive 65.7mpg, almost 20mpg better than the pre-face-lift 1.9s. Insurance costs, too, won’t be excessive, as long as you stay away from the hot versions. Although there are no Clios in the very lowest insurance group, most mainstream models sit in groups 2 or 3. However, figures from a leading warranty company show that, although the Clio has better than average reliability, when things do go wrong, they can be expensive to fix, especially by the standards of rivals, such as the Fiesta and 206. At least Renault dealers have some of the lowest rates.