Why we’re running it: To see if the Clio is the heir apparent to the Ford Fiesta’s ‘default buy’ throne
Month 1 - Month 2 - Month 3 - Month 4 - Specs
Life with a Renault Clio hybrid: Month 4
It's not all perfect! - 6 March
Recently Renault’s software failed to detect when a few phone calls had ended, despite Apple CarPlay having done so, leaving me with no way to get any audio back. Then the parking sensors went into a continuous beep when I fired up in the work car park and stayed like that until I reached a red light and so could turn the car off and on again. At least that glitch left me laughing, rather than bored.
Mileage: 6262
Life with a Renault Clio Hybrid: Month 3
Its Alpine badges aren’t quite as gratuitous as you might think - 21 February
In my initial report on our Clio, I was pretty dismissive about its sporting credentials, disappointed as I was that its Alpine badging wasn't matched by chassis or powertrain alterations.
This disappointment stemmed from several sources. First, it's just so lame when things appear to be what they patently are not. Fake exhausts and fake air intakes do not make your BMW X1 an M1.
Second, the Alpine brand has enough cachet these days that a good number of people will know what the blue A stickers on the sides are meant to imply: Formula 1, Le Mans hypercars and delightful little sports coupés.
Third, I have countless times read and watched motoring journalists struggling to maintain their composure when talking about hot Clios - first the Williams and then the Renaultsport series. In tact, many see those as among the best hot hatches of all.
However, the point I want to make here is that actually my Clio is sporty enough anyway that the sporty makeover brought by Esprit Alpine trim doesn't make me feel like a twit, at least not in the way that it would if I were driving an Austral or, for goodness sake, a bloody Espace.
And yes, this even though it is an outstandingly economical electrified automatic (at least if you don't habitually use revomaniac Sport driving mode).
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Sorry but did I miss how Mark got a new Clio for 29 pound a month.
I think he put down such a large deposit that it wasn't much less than the guaranteed future value, oh and with the APR 0.0% offer it meant there was minimal outstanding balance to cover
That will be the case. AutoExpress were recently promoting another low monthly cost deal, this time on the Arkana, but hardly mentioned the large deposit (over £7500 I think). I guess this is how people think about car purchases these days.
Personally I think the practice of selling on the basis of absurdly low PCP monthly payments should be outlawed - it's the total payments including deposit over the term that counts.
The same goes for manufacturers who quote mpg figures for plug-ins, while ignoring the electrical energy expended, it's just plain deceptive.
And incidentally, while I like hybrids (and even own one) I'd be very surprised if this Clio achieves anything like the promised 66mpg. There's only so much that braking energy recovery and subsequently re-deployment can do: Let's have some proper measurements autocar, and I don't mean dooooownhill with the wind behind trip computer readouts.