15 06 2008

Renault Clio Expression 1.4 ‘06

Posted by: UK Car Reviews in Renault Reviews

Good points
It looks good and exterior build quality seems good. The interior is rather bland, but the controls are all well designed, and the silly stubby indicator stalks feel good to use. Renault has eliminated the awkward offset pedals the previous generation had. Steering is very positive, even if a little numb, and 3rd gear pickup is excellent. In fact the 1.4 has a lot of ‘guts’ at what I suppose you would call overtaking speeds. (40-60mph acceleration)It isn’t old enough to break yet, but it looks well put together inside and out so I’m not worried.

Bad points
seems quite sluggish in the lower gears and little faster here than the 1.2 model. Gearbox is not as fun to use as Ford’s are. In fact it is no where near as much fun to drive as a 1225cc Ford Fiesta (which is directly comparable in price). Predominance of black exterior trim on this (not base) model looks a little cheap as well. If you pay full retail prices, they are really quite expensive. The ‘Expression’ spec is not well equipped considering the price premium over the base ‘Extreme’. Only a tempting dealership deal on a pre-registered car with a significant reduction in price and free Panoramic sunroof option made this good value. It makes the Grande Punto look (very) cheap in comparison.

Other comments
very substantial car which is completely different in character to the previous generation of Clio. I’ve seen magazines state that it carries on the ‘cheeky spirit’ of the previous Clio, but I’m not sure it does. Compared to a Ford Fiesta, it is positively boring to drive! You are very much aware you are driving a bigger, more substantial car. This car was chosen over a Fiat Grande Punto, VW Polo, Mitsubishi Colt and Ford Fiesta. As far as I am concerned it was a good decision.

Rating: 4/5
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