RENAULT

TEST: Renault Clio TCe 130 EDC

At first glance, the Clio in the test is a standard car. There are no sports badges, not even the RS Line package. On the other hand, the car matches the recent sports versions, with a very short fuse and a desire to surprise in acceleration.

Shortly after the international presentation held in Portugal, the new fifth generation Renault Clio arrived on our market.

As is often the case, the car that just appeared has, logically, a slightly higher price than its predecessor, as a result of which it is now only a few thousand cheaper than the “Megan”

Of course, an urban car cannot be bought by the meter, but according to needs. For this reason, the rear seat is not intended for long journeys, at least when it comes to adults.

This type of car is driven by someone for whom the urban environment is the first sphere of circulation, with the European average still being one and a half people per car.

It is even a tone shorter than its predecessor, precisely for the reasons mentioned, to move more easily in the middle of the city crowd.

While the Twingo is undisputed at rush hour, the Clio offers much more comfort and advanced equipment, both in terms of safety and comfort.

Therefore, the Clio is the best possible compromise between the characteristics of a city car and a passenger car.

The test sample is the top model on our market right now. “Edition One” the name of the equipment has, above all, a marketing function to associate us with all possible packaged equipment in honor of the start of sales.

It will later receive another name, but the equipment list itself will not change much, except for the Paris Initiale package with leather seats and many additional details.

Soft surfaces are everywhere, on the dashboard and door upholstery. In this regard, Clio is practically at the level of yesterday's representatives of the class above.

The large screen with a diagonal of 9.3 inches absolutely dominates and is standard in this higher package. For those who like to make a good impression, it's the right thing to do, but it's usually not necessary.

What's more, the situation with the menu and settings is quite complex. In their desire to create a sophisticated system, Renault's builders have confused drivers a bit, considering that the menu and settings are not very intuitive.

For example, the user must open his own profile that allows the car to remember all settings. Otherwise, it will not be remembered.

It's not very difficult, but it takes practice. It happened to us that we couldn't remember where, for example, to adjust the attractive ambient lighting.

Or, when we were driving on dark roads at night, we needed the automatic activation of the high beams and it just wasn't active by default.

So if you're buying one of the lesser equipped versions, something like this won't worry you.

It is interesting that even these weaker versions are not poorly equipped. On the contrary.

It is true that the basic Life does not have “air conditioning”, but for that reason it has LED headlights and taillights, cruise control, automatic braking, lane departure warning and even a camera to recognize traffic signs.

For another thousand euros, that is, for 12,290 euros, you get manual “air conditioning” and a sound system with bluetooth connection. Under the hood is a well-known 999 cubic meter turbo with 72 horsepower.

For those who want a more powerful engine, the same machine but with a turbo, which develops around 100 "horses", is recommended for all recommendations. You'd be amazed at the performance it delivers, regardless of the numbers on paper.

However, if you want an even bigger surprise, we recommend the engine we are currently testing. It is still a new four-cylinder turbo-petrol with a volume of 1.3 liters developed in cooperation with Mercedes.

The Clio is equipped with an intermediate version in terms of power, with 130 “horses”. It comes exclusively with a seven-speed dual-plate EDC gearbox.

For a 1300 kg car, the engine is a real rocket. This regular Clio is just as fast as recent performance versions of B-segment cars.

A little stronger gasoline, on the other hand, causes the yellow light on the instrument panel to come on; ESP and ASR do their best to optimally transfer power from the wheels to the ground even in the case of “seventeen”.

Yep, this is one of those bikes where you can't hold the throttle for more than a few moments, you have to release the pressure on your left foot. It might even be too fast for the average driver.

Its powerful accelerations are challenging, so you have to be a character to avoid breaking the rules too often.

The electronics are tuned to monitor how aggressive you are with the gas pedal; for example, if you push it harder, it will hold first gear much longer and go into high revs.

Each release of the throttle gives the electronics the right to jump to a higher gear. One gets the impression that the Clio is smart enough to recognize the driver's mood, so the gearbox behaves accordingly.

Sport mode is, as we'd expect, a story in its own right. The steering wheel is even more rigid and the injection system more aggressive. The gearbox, of course, changes gears later.

Here, he already knows how to sign a much stronger movement outside the city, even if his intentions are meek. And just driving...

The programming of the gearbox and injection system is such that the “clio” reminded us of the serious sports cars of just a few years ago.

Firstly, because of the quickness of reaction to the gas command, and then because of the gearbox's willingness to always be in the right gear.

It is evident a serious work of engineering that will positively surprise even the most demanding. True, only in automatic mode.

The manual does not measure up for several reasons; one click of the button on the steering wheel at optimal speeds leads to a very quick gear change, however, several clicks in a row will not lead to the desired effect.

Firstly, the electronics does not allow the engine to spin; Specifically, it will not allow the tachometer needle to reach more than 5000 rpm when shifting from third to second, even though the red zone starts at 6000.

Also, you cannot bring the engine to the rev limiter in manual mode, even in sport mode, the transmission will automatically switch to a higher gear.

But that's why the automatic shows that it's up to the task, like a serious sports car.

Compared to Clio 4, Clio 5 may look similar, but there is a big difference under the skin. It behaves completely differently on the road.

It's more stable, holds the steering better at high speeds, and most interestingly, it's much stiffer. There's no swimming or banking, so you can take tighter turns than you'd expect.

The steering wheel is much more direct, with a more natural feel and better surface feedback, especially in "sport" mode.

Make no mistake, it's not very hard, but it absorbs irregularities well. Major damage to the road was not in the engineers' plans.

The only downside to the EDC automated transmission version is that the driver relaxes too much in terms of comfort, allowing himself the freedom to move the seat back further compared to the manual version, where the clutch is farther away.

So, there isn't much space left behind… It is true that we are returning to the European average of one and a half people per vehicle.

In that sense, the Clio is a true European car. Completely in line with trends, aesthetics and, of course, techniques.

Bose sound system...The Clio has a Bose sound processor programmed in a slightly different way compared to other cars.

Here you don't need to have a top quality sample for the system to shine. For example, bass sounds good even in average mp3 files.

Otherwise, the subwoofer is placed in the trunk wall to save space. Bose audio system surcharge is 400 euros.

Automatic parking and 360-degree vision... Our test model also features the City MultiSense package, which includes 360-degree cameras, blind-spot monitoring, automatic parking and driving mode selection. In addition to the usual parallel parking spaces in “garages”, you can also choose angular parking spaces.

Clio TCe 130 EDC: 

-Engine: volume 1333 ccm, power 96 kW (130 hp) at 5000 rpm, max. Foot. torque 240 Nm at 1600 rpm, automatic transmission, 7 degrees

-Dimensions: L/W/H 4050/1798/1440 mm, intermediate shaft. distance 2583 mm, trunk 391 l, tank 42 l, tires 205/45 R17, weight 1248 kg

-Actuation: max. speed 200 km/h, acceleration 0-100 km/h 9.0 s, consumption 6.7/4.3/5.2 l/100 km, CO2 emission 119 g/km

Reporter: Aleksandar Bursać(Auto Magazin)