Renault Clio running costs and mpg

• Impressively low CO2 and high fuel economy
• Pricey diesel is the economy champ
• 100hp petrol the pick of the range for company car drivers

The Clio has a selection of small, efficient engines from day one, with the petrol-electric hybrid to follow in 2020 for those seeking even greater levels of efficiency.

Opt for the diesel for the lowest running costs: it emits just 94g/km of CO2 and returns a very impressive 73.9mpg on the WLTP cycle, aided by its six-speed gearbox. Bear in mind however that the emissions systems on modern diesel engines don't take well to repeated short runs - so we'd only recommend this engine if you do regular high mileage. Even with its low running costs it'll take you quite some time to recoup the purchase price, too - diesel models are around £2,000 more expensive than the more powerful, 100hp turbocharged petrol.

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With careful use though, you should be able to post impressive economy figures in either of the two turbocharged petrol engines too. Renault’s worked very hard on CO2 emissions, with its headline TCe 100 engine boasting 100hp and 99g/km of CO2. Even the most powerful 130hp 1.3 emits just 118g/km.

Fuel consumption is equally impressive for both of those engines. The 100hp model returns 54.3mpg when paired with the five-speed manual gearbox - figures aren't yet finalised for the CVT automatic. The powerful 130hp model, paired to its standard seven-speed automatic, returns 49.6mpg.

We averaged 46mpg with the TCe 100 during our time of testing and would be confident in seeing a higher figure if you drove it on a long distance cruise.

The hybrid E-Tech model arriving in 2020 claims to improve urban efficiency by up to 40%.