Renault Clio 1.4

I recently got a new Clio as a hire car while my own car was in for a clutch replacement. While it was only for ten days, I drove it everyday and thought I might share my view of it.

Postives
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The car is lovely to drive, the steering is poised and the car handles incredibly smoothly, exactly what you would expect from a Renault. The interior is very up to date, and all the controls for radio, air con etc were all easy to reach and well positioned. The seats were comfortable and there was plenty of headroom as well as room in the back.
Previous to this I had always thought the new clio was big and ugly, but in black it looked very stylish and was pretty happy to have it sitting on my driveway.
The thing that impressed me most about the car wasn't the styling or the interior, it was the headlights. When you turn the steering wheel further than you would just changing lanes, a section on the outer edge of the headlights illuminate the direction you are turning! This is fantastic if you are turning into your driveway or a tight parking space - letting you know if you're about to run over your cat!

Negatives
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Unfortunately there are a number of things that ment I would never buy this car - they may seem small and trival, but they all add up to big disapointment.
Road noise - anything above 30 mph and it sounds like your tyres are three feet wide and you are driving along a road made primarily of very small seashells, quite an amazing feat considering the large amount of noise reduction and sound deadening in this modern car.
Steering wheel - Anyone remember the 'dead flesh' keyboards of the pre-PC ZX81 computer? No? Well imagine slightly cold, vaguely rubbery material that feels slightly creepy to the touch - now imagine driving around touching it all day. *shudder*
Brakes - Maybe its just because my hire car had only 1200 miles on it, but it seemed as though the brakes on the new Clio only had two stages - Not slowing down fast enough, and Throw you through the windscreen.
No middle ground at all - slight pressure on the pedal does nothing, 2oz of pressure more and your seat belt is the only thing keeping you from sitting in the back seat of the car in front!
Performance - With VW managing to get a 170BHP from a 1.4litre Polo, and the new Modus GT producing 100BHP from a 1.2 Turbo, you might expect that a 1.4 16V with 98BHP would be a stalwart performer - nippy and quick, the small car with a lotta go. Unfortunately the size and weight of this clio is like having three disgraced Weight Watchers in the back - It feels about as speedy as my girlfriends 1996 MK1 1.2 Clio, i.e. you can get quite decent performance as long as you thrash the hell out of it and don't change up until lots of red lights appear on the dashboard!

Oh and I never managed to work out how to program a radio station - I had to get my girlfriend to do it - The final nail in the coffin.

Overall view
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The new clio is a fantastic car, but it can neither be called 'small' or 'light' or 'nippy' or any of the other terms used to discribe previous incarnations. As a rival to other 'previously small' cars like the Polo and the Corsa it holds its own, but as a small family car its just far too overweight.

My Girlfriend's MK1 Clio doesn't have Airbags, Aircon, ABS or cool lighty up turny headlights, but it is as quick if not quicker, cost much much less and gets better fuel economy.

Whats worse is the negatives on the Clio actively annoy, rather than disapoint. Having to turn the radio up so loud to drown out the road noise that you can't comfortably talk to your passanger isn't a shame - its unforgiveable!