Category: Superminis 
Price Range: No data available
Good looks, image, safety, very stable handling, ride and refinement close to class best.
Just not that much fun to drive. Performance limited, and the steering uninvolving
Feels more than one step removed from the car it replaced.
The last-generation Clio was so popular that it's staying in production (badged as the Clio Campus), but it does now look dated besides this new Mk3, which is little more expensive at the entry-level grades. The Clio III, as Renault calls it, is bigger in every direction, has the longest wheelbase in the class and comes with an ever-longer equipment list; it's also 130kg heavier than its predecessor, the result of packing in a mountain of safety gear (it's achieved a five-star Euro NCAP crash test score) as well as its increased dimensions. Still, if it's now on the large side, there's always the upcoming new-generation Twingo, to be launched in September 2007.
Engines in the range now include 1.2 16v petrols and 67bhp, 85bhp and 105bhp 1.5 dCi diesels, as well as the 2.0-litre, 197bhp petrol engine in the Renaultsport Clio 197 (reviewed separately) and a more relaxed 138bhp 2.0. There's also the new turbocharged 1.2 TCE, which is replacing the 1.4 and 1.6-litre petrol engines offered from launch. And Renault being Renault, there's a bewilderingly extensive catalogue of specification levels and trim options to choose from.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Renault Clio
wrote on 17 10 2007
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wrote on 30 05 2006