Renault Clio Hatchback 1991 - Present

The Renault Clio bust onto the UK market with one of the best remembered advertising campaigns in recent history. Who could forget Nicole borrowing Papa's car and driving to a liaison on a sunny European afternoon. This particular campaign doubled the car's sales virtually overnight.

The Clio has seen four facelifts since it's debut in 1991 and each has seen an improvement in handling and performance. The newest Clio 2005 on has moved a little away from it's roots in the fact that, like many of us, it has expanded. The new Clio is almost four metres long, taking it out of the realm of the super mini and putting it more in the stable of the family car. This expansion has given it's benefits, namely the generous cabin space and great noise suppression, not features that super mini drivers are used to boasting about.

There are six engines to choose from starting with the competent 1.2 litre petrol engine with 1.4 and 1.6 options available, nothing to really shout about but adequate levels of performance and economy. There is a 1.5 diesel engine with 3 different power outputs 68, 86 and 106 bhp. Again all models perform well without offering white knuckle performance.

The Clio offers reasonable handling but nothing more. The steering is too light for anything but town driving and makes the ride nervous at speed. The car is packed with safety equipment and as a result is extremely heavy, which undoubtedly hinders the cornering and balance.

The latest version of the Clio looks to have lost it's purpose. It's a small can that is no longer small and has found itself caught in a no mans land looking for a market to sell itself to.

Leave a comment

Type into the box below