Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £10,485 to £17,385
Diesel engine is refined and punchy, sensible kit levels, comfortable cabin.
Petrol GT is underpowered and noisy, handling a little woolly and soft, too many variants.
A timely update for the Clio, but it's nothing special in a category full of classy performers.
It's a game of two halves here: the diesel version we tested felt softly sprung and comfortable - maybe a little bouncy at times - but the GT just felt jittery and after a while it really did start to irritate. We simply would not recommend this car if you are looking for soft, compliant ride.
Inside, things are reasonably civilised in both models. Wind and road noise is well suppressed, although the whine from the overworked petrol engine only really dissipates when it's at 1,800rpm or less.
The seats are comfortable but we would like to have had a bit more side support in both models. The cabin is still spacious by supermini standards, with enough room for four adults to travel in comfort. There's a decent-sized boot too - it's slightly smaller than the Fiesta's, but with the rear seats down it trumps the Ford in terms of load capacity.
Equipment levels are sensible but the array of trims can be rather confusing: in total the Clio 3 and 5-door and Sport Tourer range comprises 38 versions across seven trim levels.
The trims comprise Extreme, Expression, Dynamique, GT, Privilege, Initiale, plus the Tom Tom Edition. So what do you get? Take a deep breath.
The Extreme trim on the 3-door version offers a radio/CD with MP3 socket, six airbags, front foglights and electric windows. Sadly, you only get air conditioning when you go up two trims to Dynamique. Expression, in five-door and Sport Tourer guises, offers a 60:40 split folding rear seat, electric heated door mirrors, and driver's seat height adjustment. You can get Expression A/C which adds air con.
As well as air con, Dynamic also offers 16" alloy wheels auto headlights and wipers, curtain airbags, one-touch electric windows, leather steering wheel and gearknob and soft-touch dashboard. You can get a factory fitted Carminat Tom Tom sat nav for an extra £450 or standard on the Tom Tom Edition, which adds cruise control and speed limiter.
The GT model, which we tested, gets 16" special GT alloy wheels, extra tinted rear windows and tailgate, alloy pedals, fixed cornering lights, front and rear spoilers, plus side skirts and twin exhausts.
Privilege and Initiale models, in five-door only, get a six-speed gearbox, handsfree keycard, reach-adjustable steering, part leather upholstery, USB connection, Bluetooth handsfree, climate control, metallic paint, electrically heated folding door mirrors and parking sensors.
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