2016 Renault Clio vs 2017

What's the difference?

I reckon you know what I think. The Clio is beautiful, it looks tough and it feels great to sit in, but the GT Premium doesn't have the grunt to go with its athletic looks. If it was my money I'd spend a grand more and take home the cracking Clio RS Sport instead.

The Zen is well-equipped, fun to drive and has a good after-sales package. In Europe, the Clio runs rampant, partly because the cars that tread all over it here are more expensive and partly because the car is designed to European tastes.

While Renault has improved the value proposition of the Clio, it is still missing a couple of bits and pieces that are important at this level - mostly around safety - and a few more trinkets in the interior would bring it right up to speed. The Zen hasn't got a price problem so much as a perception problem.

Which is a pity, because it is my personal favourite light hatch, even if there are better overall cars out there. It's got that French zing about the way it looks and, if you buy one, you'll definitely stand out.

Here's some trivia to amaze your friends or help you pick-up in a bar – Laurens van der Acker is the bloke who designed the current Mazda2 but then he left Mazda for Renault where he designed this current Clio from the ground up. So that's two rivals, one selling eight times as many as the other, but both drawn by the same guy. So can I buy you a drink?

The Clio is much sexier and angrier looking than the Mazda and the GT Premium spec is even more so than the ones under it in the range with its tough body kit, LED running lights, chrome exhaust and 17-inch alloy wheels.

At 4063mm end to end the Clio GT Premium is 133mm longer than a Toyota Yaris, and the Renault also has a 79mm longer wheel base at 2589. The GT Premium is 1945mm across (including wing mirrors) the Yaris is a skinnier 1685mm. From tarmac to roof top the Clio stands 1448mm while the Yaris is taller at 1510mm.

The overall look for the Clio is low, wide and with a planted stance.

The cabin is super French in that it's stylish, quirky and sometimes confusing, with a fairly high quality feel.

This Clio was born good looking, in a masculine kind of way. The front is quite French, bucking the current trend and going with big, chunky headlights that put me in mind of the Renault 12 and 16 of decades ago. 

They didn't have Renault's now-signature C-shaped LEDs DRLs, though. 

As you head towards the rear of the car, it gets all muscular and athletic, which is unusual in a segment that goes for svelte (Mazda2) or dull (everything else).

Inside bears the hallmarks of a design idea that has persisted for almost two decades. Big friendly curves and blobby shapes abound, meaning no hard edges or shiny surfaces to dazzle you in the sunlight. It's a bit Fisher-Price, but in an inoffensive, grey plastic kind of way. 

The one concession to trend is the control cluster and touchscreen mounted on the dash, in a big piano black frame. Like most of its competitors, it's dark in here but at the same time, well made and feels like it will last for many years. Which is nice.

It depends what you mean by practicality, if you want good rear legroom for your six foot sons then you'll need to move up to a small car, this is a light car and at 191cm when the driver's seat is in my position I can't sit behind it no matter how small I scrunch myself up.

The boot size is 300 litres, the Holden Barina's is 290 litres, Toyota measures the Yaris' boot volume in 'block shaped' VDA litres which can't be compared to Renault or Holden's 'liquid litres' (if you must know it's 286 litres VDA). Perhaps this might help – the load length of the boot in the Clio is 649mm, while in the Yaris it's 710mm – that 60-odd mm could be the difference between fitting a pram in or not.

There's a three-position cupholder in the front with space for cups at a time, but no cupholders in the back. Each door has a small bottle holder, so you won't go thirsty.

The Honda Jazz is hard to beat for practicality in this segment with its clever use of space and adjustable seating, but if you want to look as good as the Clio you need to sacrifice some functionality.

While we're discussing functionality the Clio's multimedia unit can be frustrating, although the digital speedo is excellent.

The worst bits of the Clio are the ridiculous cupholders, which are also in the Captur. Placed between the front seatbacks, they're assymetrical and even the bigger one doesn't fit a standard-sized Keep Cup. The rear one will take a Red Bull can but it will fall over under acceleration.

Once you're over that peculiarly French foible, you'll notice the Clio is a surprisingly spacious car for its size. Front seat passengers enjoy lots of head, shoulder and legroom, and comfortable seats. Rear seat passengers enjoy good legroom but marginal headroom as the roof gently falls towards the top of the hatch.

The boot is 300 litres, although you wouldn't think it to look at it. The loading lip is high, too, which is kind of annoying - a Mazda-like falsie would be quite handy here for when you need all the space. Drop the 60/40 split fold back seats and you'll have 1146 litres to play with, which is not bad at all, despite the big step in the floor.

The Zen is the second step in the line-up, which also includes Life, Intens and GT-Line versions. The Zen auto (there is no manual) we had starts at $19,990, $2000 more than the Life Auto and $4000 more than the 1.0-litre Life manual.

The Zen spec includes 16-inch alloys, reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, auto LED headlights and daytime running lights, cruise control, six-speaker stereo with 7.0-inch touchscreen, keyless entry and start, sat nav, heated powered door mirrors, leather steering wheel and gear shifter, auto wipers and a space-saver spare tyre slung under the car.

The touchscreen media system is the down-spec colour version of Renault's own R-Link. It's perfectly useable but slow to boot up and doesn't support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which is a shame. Having said that, few of its obvious competitors do... if you count the Hyundai Accent as an obvious competitor.

The Clio GT Premium has an 88kW/190Nm 1.2-litre turbo petrol four cylinder engine, it's a step up from the 1.0-litre four cylinder in the Authentique and Expression, but at with a 0-100km/h time of 9.4 seconds it's not particularly fast. The Clio RS Sport can do it in 6.7 seconds.

Changing gears for you is a dual clutch automatic transmission.

The 1017kg Zen is powered by a 1.2-litre turbocharged four cylinder, developing 88kW/190Nm. Power is transmitted to the front wheels via a six-speed twin-clutch auto and will motor the Zen from 0-100km/h in under 10 seconds, which isn't bad for such a small engine.

Renault says that you can expect an average combined fuel consumption of 5.2L/100km, my style of driving requires more fuel and I saw 11.1L/100km on the readout, but that was mainly city driving which will make a car thirsty.

Renault claims 5.6L/100km for the combined cycle, and we managed 6.7L/100km in a mix of mostly suburban and some highway running, which is a pretty good effort. Only downside is the 1.2 prefers the good stuff (95RON unleaded).

There's so many things that are right. The sport seats are great and hold you like an egg in an egg carton, the steering wheel feels great in your hands, so too the pedals under your feet – all of the 'touch points' are spot on. The ride is excellent – soft enough to be comfy but firm enough to give great handling.

The dual clutch auto isn't smooth in slow moving traffic and there's a noticeable lag in power until the turbo spools up. If only we also got the six speed manual they do in France.

The Clio was perfectly suited to city duties although those pillars either side of the windscreen get in the way a bit, too.

Thing is, the car feels all ready to race but lacked the grunt to do it and that just made me pine for the Clio RS Sport with its 67 per cent more power and 25 per cent more torque.

The thing about the Clio is that it weighs almost nothing - at 1017kg, it's one of the lightest cars in its class. That means not only does 88kW feel like 100kW in a heavier car, the Zen is light on its feet.

While it's obviously not a rip-roaring super-fun box like the RS variant, the DNA of the hot hatch has filtered down to the Zen. With light, sharp steering (that could do with more feel), the Clio darts around at will and remains one of the best true city cars you can buy. 

The ride is also impressive for such a small car, again level-pegging or bettering the Mazda2. Even when you're tossing it around a few favourite corners, the ride maintains composure while the cabin remains remarkably racket-free into the bargain. 

It can be upset by big bumps, though - the rear is held up by torsion beams - and will skip over those nasty sharp rubber speed bumps.

The engine really could do with a little less lag (its French compatriot, the 208, is peppier) and I imagine a manual version would be a hoot - as it is, the 1.0-litre manual is a barrel of (slow) laughs. Once you work out how to get around the lag, you can really zap along in the Clio and have quite a bit of fun.

The last thing we'd change is the silly, oversized credit card-shaped key. Yes it's different and we as journalists moan when things don't change, but really. When you leave it in your pocket, it's better off being smaller.

The Clio's maximum five star ANCAP safety rating comes courtesy of six airbags, ABS, brake assist, stability and traction controls, brake force distribution and reversing camera.

Frustratingly, unlike Mazda's class leader, the 2, there isn't even the option of forward AEB.

The Clio GT Premium is covered by Renault's five-year unlimited kilometre warranty. Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km and is capped at $299 each year for the first three years.

Renault claims its five year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with five years roadside assist is a first for a European manufacture, bringing la Regie into line with Korean manufacturers. Also offered is three years of capped-price servicing.

New Clios (except the Clio RS) from May 2017 have long service intervals, set at 12 months or 30,000km, whichever happens first, and pricing is capped at $299 per service.