The small French Clio has recently undergone an upgrade that has had a significant impact on its design. However, the technology has remained more or less the same, which in this case is no bad thing at all.
The fifth-generation Renault Clio was officially unveiled to the public back in early 2019, with its design following on from its predecessor, with which it was produced alongside for a while. In April 2023, the carmaker officially unveiled its facelift, which we already had on test last year, but we’ve only just got our hands on the hybrid and range-topping E-Tech full hybrid Esprit Alpine version, which replaces the R.S. Line trim in the lineup.
The more modern look is thus one of the most striking new features that the facelifted Clio has been introduced with. You’ll recognise the new Renault Clio quite easily on our roads, as the main feature of the updated design is the new light signature.
This creates a new arrow-shaped daytime running light with the tip pointing towards the emblem in the center of the radiator grille. The LED light design is (supposedly) actually a split brand logo, as its segments are shaped like a half diamond. The grille is additionally filled with a valuable-looking checkerboard chrome decoration.
Another notable new feature is the headlights, already full LED as standard, which break away from the distinctive C-shaped signature. Instead, we see two horizontal segments in each reflector that are optically connected across the mask. These segments also function as turn signals.
In addition, the front bumper is differently, sportier shaped in the Esprit Alpine trim and impresses with a dark, silver painted decoration, referring to the spoilers of F1 racing monoposts. On the front fender we find a large new Esprit Alpine logo and the rear bumper also gets new aerodynamic elements and a silver painted line.
The taillights are in a clear-cover design, but to my taste they look quite “cheap” compared to the rest of the styling and reminiscent of various tuning lights from a decade ago. But the hidden rear door handles, for example, quite capably create the illusion of a three-door car.
The new Clio has always looked sleek, but with the modernisation it brings back a bit more of that distinctive French avant-garde, which means it certainly won’t get lost on the road. What’s more, the blue Iron paintwork really suits the test car.
Even in base Esprit Alpine top-spec trim, the Clio has a larger 10″ digital instrument cluster and also a better 9.3″ Easy Link infotainment system with a typically Renault-esque vertical touchscreen. In the very basic version and Evolution trim, the Clio has a smaller 7″ digital cockpit and a flat only 7″ touchscreen infotainment system. In both versions, however, the infotainment runs on an older system and the state-of-the-art R-Link infotainment, which uses Google’s services, isn’t in this city compact.
With the top of the range Esprit Alpine, the sporty seats, which have a pleasant lateral guidance, catch the eye at first glance. Thanks to the Winter Comfort package, the seats are also heated, as is the steering wheel. The buttons for heating the seats are on the physical keypad below the infotainment display, but the one for heating the steering wheel is illogically to the left, next to the dashboard illumination and lane assist functions.
Esprit Alpine’s specialty equipment also features unique stitching. While the seats and dashboard are trimmed in blue thread, the perforated leather steering wheel is stitched in the colours of the French tricolour. This also appears on the dashboard in front of the passenger or on the backrests with the distinctive letter A, again a reference to Alpine’s sports division.
The top trim also offers adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, rear cross traffic alert or blind spot monitoring as standard, for example. The City Premium package adds a 360° camera system with autonomous parking in all possible directions, and the Bose package delivers great sound thanks to a subwoofer in the boot.
In terms of spaciousness, nothing has changed and the little Clio can still carry four adults without too much trouble, but its primary role is more of a second family car, where children are more likely to feel more comfortable in the back seat. At 186cm myself, I’ve already had a bit of a problem with my knees. The boot offers a capacity of 301 litres, but it has an excessively high loading lip and a nonsensically placed fifth-door opening button under the bumper lip, where the microswitch is perpetually dirty.
The Renault Clio is sold on the Slovak market with two conventional combustion engines and one conventional E-Tech hybrid. The latter is the most powerful hybrid unit, the E-Tech full hybrid 145. When first launched, Renault announced that the innovative technology was protected by more than 150 new patents and used technology from F1 and has not changed in any way with the facelift. And that’s probably a good thing this time.
The Clio Hybrid combines a proven 1.6-litre atmospheric four-cylinder petrol engine with a robotic sequential gearbox and a complementary electric motor. The combustion engine is coupled to the transmission without a clutch or hydrodynamic converter. The gearbox itself, with four speeds for the combustion unit and two speeds for the electric motor, then has no mechanical synchronisation of the gears, which is just replaced by a more powerful starter-generator.
The combined system output of the hybrid powertrain is 105kW (143k). Of this, 69kW (94k) is generated by the combustion unit, 36kW (49k) by the electric motor and 15kW (20k) by the starter-generator. Maximum torque is quoted individually by Renault for separate power sources. 148Nm is delivered by the petrol four-cylinder between 3200-3600rpm, 205Nm by the electric motor and 50Nm can be delivered by the starter-generator. So even after the facelift, the parameters of the individual systems have not changed.
Despite the sporty styling of the Alpine Esprit trim and the powertrain’s roots in the F1 world, the Clio E-Tech Hybrid is more likely to please quieter drivers. The Clio Hybrid always starts up on electricity, offering quite agile responses, but then activates the combustion engine when continuous acceleration is needed. In quiet driving, the drive changes are beautifully smooth and with a minimum of any distractions.
However, under harder accelerations or at higher speeds, there may be a slight lag, accompanied by a slight twitch when shifting gears. In addition, when driving with a petrol engine, it sometimes takes a little time for the control unit to work out which gear it is currently in and then shift. That’s certainly not to say that the hybrid Clio can’t be nimble. Especially in the city and on motorways, it feels quick and agile. After all, it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 9.3 seconds and has a top speed of up to 180 km/h.
But those who can drive with a lighter foot will be rewarded by the hybrid Clio, above all, with very pleasant consumption. Incidentally, thanks to a 1.2 kWh battery, the small hatchback can also drive purely on electricity. Although the emission-free operation isn’t the longest, it shuts down the combustion engine at every opportunity and the electric motor very often helps out. So in the city, you can easily go purely on electric power for a nice few hundred metres, and the combustion engine doesn’t have to come into play at all on short journeys.
In fact, Renault engineers are giving us the option of driving in all-electric EV mode, activated by a button on the dashboard. However, this is only possible with the battery almost fully charged. At the same time, the electric motor also helps to make the drive more agile and responsive to the throttle when you need to move quickly from lane to lane or merge into an oncoming traffic jam, for example.
Average fuel consumption is expected to be around an impressive 4.3 l/100km, according to the carmaker. Considering the spring conditions during the test, and with the tester’s more agile driving style, I virtually always got within 5 l/100km with the Clio E-tech Hybrid. After a week and almost 800km, consumption had settled down to a sympathetic 4.9 l/100km. For a 143bhp car and using its potential, decent.
I must also mention the excellently handled B-mode, which offers a precisely pitched form of recuperation. After about two days of testing, I learned to drive almost completely without using the brake pedal, even when sport driving through twisties and corners. I like this kind of saving of brake pads and discs. Plus, the discs get less dirty.
These are 17-inchers, with 205/45R17 tires, a distinctive design, and center knobs covering the bolts that feature the new logo. Small and nimble hatchbacks are currently a dying category of mainstream cars, and I’ve been saddened from the first moment that we’ll never see a state-of-the-art Clio in a sporty version from Alpine’s factory division, once Renault Sport. However, with wheels positioned almost at the corners and an overall small footprint, the current Clio is extremely agile and playful. It just lacks power.
The last thing that deserves a mention is the soundproofing. This applies both to the soundproofing of the combustion engine, whose connection you sometimes don’t even notice during quiet driving, and to the soundproofing of the cabin and chassis. For this segment, the Clio really does have an unusually grown-up feel to it.
In top Esprit Alpine trim, the hybrid Clio costs from €24,450 €24,450 The test car’s optional extras eventually screwed the price up to €26,420. And that strikes me as quite a lot for a small city hatchback, mostly fulfilling the role of a second car in the family. However, if you’re looking for a nice little stylish car with the ability to entertain on the backroads and you want to drive eco-friendly and economically, the Renault Clio E-Tech will definitely not disappoint you
