New Renault Clio arrives

The new Renault Clio has been revealed ahead of a debut at the Paris Motor Show with a new look and five doors.

Although it’s still based on the underpinnings of the current Clio, the new Renault Clio is a lot more than a facelift of the current car.

For a start, it comes as a five door only, with the back door handles hidden so it looks like a three door, and gets a bold new style that’s been influenced by the Renault DeZir Concept with a new corporate nose featuring a big front grill and Renault badge and big, swoopy crease lines down the doors.

The new Clio is longer, wider and lower than the Clio 3 with an altered wheelbase, wider tracks and a revised electrically assisted steering setup which, Renault promise, will make the new Clio an improved driving experience.

Inside, the Clio goes upmarket with chrome and gloss black trim, a dash shaped like an aircraft wing, a wide range of colour options and comfortable seats with clever stuff like R-Link, an internet-ready touchscreen tablet which even offers an App for selecting engine sounds, reversing camera, keyless and a bass reflex system.

Engines include the new 900cc three-pot petol TCe 90, 1.5 litre turbodiesel dCi 90 and 1.2 litre turbo TCe 120 with the four pot engines getting the option of Renault’s six-speed EDC auto ‘box.

In addition to the more prosaic Clios there will also be a Renaultsport Clio (which we saw at Goodwood this last weekend) which is likely to offer a turbo version of the 1.6 litre petrol with around 200bhp.

The new Renault Clio goes on sale in October after a launch at the Paris Motor Show in September, with the Renaultsport Clio likely to arrive in Spring 2013.

The new Renault Clio looks good, but whether it’s enough to stem the decline of the Clio remains to be seen. But with starting prices around £11k it should be in with a fighting chance.