Renault Clio

Great drives start with a great driving position, which our Clio finally gets right

Are you sitting comfortably? Really?

but impossible to find a position where the wheel obscures your view of the digital dash, which itself is a big improvement over the outgoing analogue instrument cluster. There’s not much in the way of customisation, but it does have different display settings based on what driving mode you’re in: Eco prioritises smooth and steady driving, while Sport enlarges the rev counter and turns everything a mean shade of red. It might not be a fully fledged Renault Sport model, but it does a great impression of one.

A weekend spent in the road test team’s Volkswagen T-roc R (arriving on these pages in a few weeks’ time) highlighted just how much progress Renault has made in the technology department. VW’S digital dash might be more detailed but, to these eyes, the French supermini has the higher-resolution reversing camera. The T-roc’s three-button key fob also feels positively antiquated when the Clio gets keyless entry and exit with its credit card-style remote control.

I was expecting the T-roc’s EA888 engine to put the more modest TCE 130 firmly in the shade, but it’s actually done the opposite: you can use more of the Clio’s power more of the time, which means there’s more fun to be had at road-legal speeds. I’m a lot happier with the Clio’s indicated economy, too – I think 50mpg should be achievable with little effort.