The history of the Renault Clio is indeed rich, after all, the first generation of the young Frenchman arrived in 1990. To date, 16 million units have been produced, and the plant in Bursa, Turkey alone produces fourteen hundred cars every day. For many years, the model was offered with gasoline and diesel engines, in the third generation diesel even prevailed with a 55% share. Today, you would ask for a diesel engine in vain, the Clio is offered with a petrol engine, an LPG engine and also as a hybrid, which today accounts for roughly a quarter of sales. But let’s go in order.
Hockey sticks are a thing of the past
As part of the launch of the new product on the Czech market, we have the opportunity to see the cars for the first time in the center of Prague and also take a short ride. The older Clio stands right next to it for comparison, and the differences are really striking. The bumpers are completely new, but above all the lighting technology. The one at the front is diode as standard and said goodbye to the so-called hockey sticks stretched into the bumpers. These replace a kind of light boomerangs, which are meant to symbolize the halved Renault logo.
Photo: Renault
In its interiors, Renault set out towards sustainability. For example, the upholstery of the steering wheel in the highest equipment has specific “eco” leather.
The clear rear lights have also been changed, a simplified car company emblem has found its way to both ends of the body, and the design of the alloy wheels has also been revised. The rejuvenated Clio is said to indicate the appearance of future Renaults.
Three engines…
Clio can still be bought with a pure gasoline engine, the TCe 90 abbreviation hides a liter three-cylinder with an output of 67 kW and 160 newton meters. A less common alternative today is the TCe 100, which can burn both gasoline and LPG. It also has slightly better parameters – a power of 74 kilowatts and a torque of 170 newton meters.
However, the share of twenty-three percent in the current Clio is held by the E-Tech hybrid, which is also the only way to a four-cylinder and automatic transmission for this model. The six-cylinder cooperating with an electric motor delivers 105 kW and 147 newton meters and boasts a table consumption of 4.2 l/100 km. But you just have to settle for a smaller boot – the petrol version offers 318 to 391 litres, the LPG 318 litres, and the hybrid from 243 to 301 litres. But again, you get technology inspired by the world of F1, because Renault has been building its own power units for the Alpine factory team for some time. Not that the new Clio should whiz by at three hundred, but it borrows, for example, the know-how acquired for the management of electrical energy recovery.
…three equipments
The entry-level equipment called Evolution has also improved as part of the facelift. In addition to standard full LED headlights, manual air conditioning or a seven-inch infotainment screen, it also comes with sixteen-inch FlexWheel wheels, rear parking sensors and a seven-inch instrument panel, wireless smartphone mirroring and orange metallic paint.
Photo: Renault
Digital alarm clocks are standard in all variants sold by us. Depending on the equipment, only their size differs.
The middle Techno equipment already has automatic air conditioning, a hands-free card, rear parking camera, inductive phone charging, upholstery combining leather and fabric, and ambient lighting. At the very top sits a sporty version of the Esprit Alpine. The latter has larger screens (10-inch cockpit and 9.3-inch multimedia), automatic switching of high beams, specific decors, sports seats or padded 17s. Engines and equipment can be combined in any number of ways, but you cannot have the highest one with an LPG drive.
Quiet and economical
Not much has changed on the chassis and power units, so we take the short ride through the center of Prague as a small reminder. So Renault says that the hybrid’s transmission software has been modified to make the transitions between petrol and electric driving even smoother. So for the first handful of kilometers, we take the E-Tech in the snazzy “Alpine” design.
Inside, it’s still a pleasant and ergonomically friendly car. In short, the kind of “sit down and drive” that we praised almost all Volkswagens for just a few years ago. The hybrid starts up on electricity, so quietly and smoothly, it has enough power not only for cruising around town, but it will also be a pleasant companion on longer routes. A roughly twenty-five-kilometer section through the city center showed that the table consumption would not be far from the truth. We were only two tenths away from the declared 4.2 liters. After all, the car promises a range of up to 900 kilometers with a full tank. We will be happy to check this in a full editorial test.
Photo: Renault
And we’ll see you soon. The first pieces of the rejuvenated Clio are already in the Czech Republic and customers can order them. The basic price of CZK 393,000 for the petrol engine remains the same, although the equipment is richer today. The LPG drive costs an additional 20,000 CZK, the hybrid variant starts at 513,000 crowns. Our secret tip for city and suburban trips is the TCe 90 Techno, i.e. a basic 91-horsepower three-cylinder with richer equipment. You will still pay a nice 433,000 crowns for such a car.
2023-09-01 12:01:59
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