My day with Clio 4

[The Boosh!]

I have gloss black in my mk3 and it's fine. No scratches after 7k miles either. Dave the picture you posted (like mine) aren't exactly flattering! Having seen the RS interior in person, it's awesome.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Having seen the RS interior in person, it's awesome.

Good. If you could provide the UK press with a car to drive asap that would be lovely. Stop all the sodding speculation.

 

[Heez]

I have gloss black in my mk3 and it's fine. No scratches after 7k miles either. Dave the picture you posted (like mine) aren't exactly flattering! Having seen the RS interior in person, it's awesome.

But do you like it? The glossy finish that is.

 

[The Boosh!]

But do you like it? The glossy finish that is.

I wouldn't have specced it myself if I ordered the car no, but it's by no means the vomit inducing toxic mess that everyone seems to be making it out to be in here. It's acutally quite nice. That's the beauty with New Clio though, if you don't like gloss black, fine, there's plenty other colours to chose from. Press get a car end of Feb/early March as far as I know, Dave.

 

[Tiababy]

Saw one in this colour on the road locally.

You'll definitely notice it that's for sure. It looks so bulky even compared to the mk3.

imo after seeing it in the flesh (well metal) pictures flatter it.

the back end isn't offensive. The side view is forgivable but that front is so LOOK AT ME IM HERE IM A RENAULT IM DIFFERENT!

 

[dare!]

Its the fact its Gloss... Aint nobody want gloss plastics in their interior.

Totally agree – what were they thinking – it will look a mess in next to no time. A practically impractical interior.

 

[Matthew]

Must admit, I hate that cabin more than any I have seen in a long while.

We hired a Hyundai a few months ago and it looks 10 years newer than that Clio cabin.

The first Clio I have zero desire in owning. RS or no RS.

Id have the new Fiesta over that any day.

 

[dare!]

The trouble with the interior is that they appear to have responded to previous criticisms regarding the dullness of previous models. However, they've obviously gone totally the other way and thrown everything they can at it (apart from the odd new knob/button!) creating the ideal environment for inducing a headache. It makes the interior of my 200 look considered and functional, both core features of good design.

 

[brassmaster]

This will probably be my first and only post on this forum but I thought it may be of interest to some! There appears to be a lot of negativity towards the new clio here and I feel some of it may be a little unjustified.

Today the girlfriend and I just happened to pass a Renault garage and decided to pop in to see if they had a new Clio. At this point I should say that the girlfriend drives a mk3 Clio 1.2 Dynamique and I have a BMW 116i (F20). We were kindly offered a test drive of a 0.9TCE Dynamique on our own without the salesman present, which allowed us to relax and enjoy the test drive without worrying about the guy in the back! I have to say I was more than impressed with the car. It feels light years ahead of the mk3 in every way. A few things I noticed:

1) It is very refined. We took it onto a dual carriageway and quickly got the car up to 80+ mph. For such a small 3 cylinder engine, in a supposed super mini, it was surprisingly quiet. We both didn't realise how fast we were going.

2) The 0.9 engine is great. OK, it's a little sluggish at low revs before the turbo kicks in, but once it's above 2.5k revs the there is plenty of torque meaning effortless driving. Pulls in all gears well.

3) The dash is really getting a lot of criticism here but it's much better when you are sat in the car. The red actually looks quite good and no where near as tacky as in pictures. It's also soft touch which was a surprise as I had read els were that it wasn't... The gloss and the Chrome make the cabin feel a bit more interesting and the overall impression is solidity. Overall I was more impressed than I though I'd be, as I too wasn't keen it judging by the pics alone.

4) Also, some have picked up on the old switchgear... Although it looks old it feels a lot tougher. The indicator and wiper stalks, for example, have a much more solid click and the gear box feels weightier too.

Overall, for the money, I was left feeling very impressed by the new clio. Comfortable, quiet, roomy, great driving position, great engine and a very satisfying drive. I was even tempted to get rid of the BM and save some money.

One more thing, the Dynamique S with the 17" wheels looks the best of the bunch and has plenty of kit as standard. (including electric windows in the back )

Dunno if this is any use to anyone, but I don't think you'd fail to be impressed if you took one for a test drive

 

[Martin_172]

popped in for a look round one of these today out of curiosity, looks twice as good in the flesh as it does in pics, it doesnt seem to photograph very well! the low bonnet line and big smooth front bumper looks brilliant, massive badge doesnt look to bad either.

 

[@Spoonie]

I saw one today. Not for me. The sides look like the car has been t-boned.