The Renault Clio is A Good Choice to Live With

March 9, 2017

The Renault Clio is impressive in small hatchback class

Renault Clio is a hot cake in the UK market

The French brand is an exceptional one due to its simplicity, reliability and practicality. Though getting aged but its popularity graph is still high among small hatchback class. It’s comparatively good, is wide and has spacious interior with economical engines that offer a good driving experience too its users. There is a long line of its rivals in the UK market but it is still considered as a hot cake. We have the Citroen C3, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i20, Mazda 2, Peugeot 208, SEAT Ibiza, VW Polo, Vauxhall Corsa and Skoda Fabia as its competition.

The interior of Renault Clio is simple but a reasonable one

The edge that Renault Clio has on its rivals is of its good, simple and reasonable interior that is not fussy at all and the manufacturer seems not in the try to impress the audience by pouring lot of equipment, systems and controls in its small interior. The Clio offers a good driving experience with noise free interior. The material is of good standard and well knitted. The plastic material along with metal touches gives the interior a classy look. The steering is of good weight gives good handling and accurate driving experience.

The power train of Renault Clio is good enough to support this hatchback

There are good and efficient petrol and frugal diesel engines for Renault Clio. Though not with extra and gigantic power, but reasonable in response and offer smooth driving experience. Renault Clio is not a big hatchback so its engine range is rightly compatible with its smaller body design and built. All engines produce fluent and smooth power rather than bombastic sprint with extra brisk and speed.

Renault Clio enjoys a good variety of diesel engine

The diesel engine range of this hatchback starts with 1.5 litre dCi unit. It is capable of 88bhp and 162lb/ft torque. It is a four-cylinder and eight-valve engine, perfect match with Renault Clio’s small built. It takes 11.6 seconds to get from 0-62m/h with top speed of 112m/h. It offers massive fuel average of 85m/g with just 85g/km of CO2 emissions. It is fitted with five-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive unit as standard.

The 1.5 litre dCi unit with 110bhp version

The other diesel engine for Renault Clio is of 110bhp and 192lb/ft torque. It is available in six-speed manual gearbox rather than five-speed gearbox and front-wheel drive system as standard. It is also a four-cylinder and eight-valve engine and takes 10.8 seconds to get from 0-62m/h with top speed of 121m/h. The fuel average is efficient one with 80m/g and CO2 emissions are 90g/km.

The petrol engine lineup has more option than the diesel engines

The petrol engine lineup starts with 1.2 litre unit that is of just 73bhp and 79lb/ft torque. The interesting thing of this engine is it’s built. It is four-cylinder and sixteen-valve engine rather than eight as we find in all diesels and takes 14.0 seconds to reach from 0-62m/h with top speed of 104m/h. The fuel average is also not good as we have in diesels. It gives 51m/g of fuel average with 127g/km of CO2 emissions and is equipped with five-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive system.

The 1.2 litre with 118bhp version

The other petrol version in 1.2 litre TCE is of 118bhp and 140lb/ft torque. It is quite responsive in speed due to six-speed EDC automatic gearbox assembly and takes 9.6 seconds to get from 0-62m/h with top speed of 121m/h. The fuel average of this version is also impressive with 54m/g and emissions are 120g/km. It is fitted with front-wheel drive system as standard.

The 1.0-litre petrol engine with 88bhp version

This is a 1.0litre TCE petrol engine capable of 88bhp and 100lb/ft torque. It is three-cylinder and twelve valve engine and takes 11.8 seconds for 0-62m/h sprint with top speed of 113m/h. Renault Clio is quite feasible with this tiny unit. It offers excellent fuel average of 62m/g with 104g/km of CO2 emissions and the strange version is fitted with five-speed gearbox and front-wheel drive assembly.

The 1.6 litre TCE petrol engine with 197bhp

The Renault Clio is available with powerful petrol engines also as we have its 197bhp and 192lb/ft torque version which is fast enough to take this small hatchback from 0-62m/h in 6.5 seconds. The fuel average of this engine is 47m/g with 133g/km of CO2 emissions. It is fitted with six-speed EDC automatic gear box and front-wheel drive system. The other version available in this 1.6-litre petrol engine is of 216bhp and 192 lb/ft torque. It is used in Renault Clio Sport Trophy model. It takes 6.3 seconds to get from 0-62m/h. The fuel average of this engine is 47m/g and CO2 emissions are 135g/km. It is also fitted with six-speed EDC automatic transmission and front-wheel drive unit.

Safety and reliability

In my own opinion the Renault Clio is the safest car in small hatchback category. The French automaker has used standard safety features in its vehicle such as six airbags with extra head protection accessories. The Renault Clio is smart enough with hill start assist system, traction control and emergency braking system. Some of its models are with day-running LED lights. There is no blind spot warning system and Clio is not equipped with latest safety features as lane departure warning system and driver alert system etc. The Renault Clio has parking sensors and reverse camera along with LED head lights and tail lights. The Clio has secured five stars in stability control from Euro NCAP.  The design is enough solid and gives good road grip and stability in awkward situations.

Practicality and Boot Space

The Renault Clio is a small hatchback with good practical approach. It offer nice interior with reasonable space. Though it offers not a luxury standard of servings for its occupants, but within this size it is quite affordable. The leg and head space at front is good but at rear the situation is just acceptable.  The seats are of good material. The dashboard is with standard equipments and practical with simple systems. The boot space is good enough anyhow Clio offers 300-litres of boot space as standard. The rear seats can be folded in 60:40 ratios and you can enjoy 1150-litres of storage capacity.