Passenger space in the Clio is up there with the roomiest models on sale – offering class-leading boot space, albeit with less rear passenger room than the Ford Fiesta and SEAT Ibiza.
It’s not all good news, though. Thanks to the shape of the dashboard with its protruding section to accommodate the gearlever, the driver can feel rather hemmed-in. It’s likely to bother taller and broader drivers the most, but to help negate the effect, Renault has slimmed-down the steering column to provide more knee room for those with longer legs.
Both driver and front passenger are very well catered for with comfortable seats. Four six-foot adults will fit in here at a push, with those in the back feeling rather cosy – and while that’s a criticism that could be levelled at any supermini, the lack of legroom could soon prove irritating.
Boot space and storage
The Clio’s boot has 391 litres of space on offer with the rear seats in place. That’s a really impressive figure, offering more space than some larger hatchbacks such as the Volkswagen Golf.
There are two cupholders up front right beside the handbrake and a tray just ahead of the gearlever to place your smartphone beside two USB ports and an aux-in socket. While this tray is large enough to accommodate most smartphones, it’s too small to fit them when they’re plugged in – meaning you’ll either have to bend the cable or rotate your phone and contend with a trailing cable as you change gear.
Thanks to the high sill the boot itself is rather deep, potentially making it awkward to lift heavy items of cargo upwards before removing them. Easing this burden, as well as given greater flexibility in the boot, there’s a variable height floor that allows goods to be slid straight out.
For added practicality, the 60:40 split-folding rear seats can be tumbled forwards to liberate up to 1,069 litres of space, ideal for those times you need an impromptu small van – that’s enough space to make the Fiesta and Polo look tight in comparison.
Is it easy to park?
The Renault Clio is a typically-sized supermini, and it’s fair to say that there won’t be too many issues fitting it into the all but the tightest of spaces. Rear three-quarter visibility and through the rear window isn’t great.
But the mirrors are good, and there are options to add front and rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera or 360-degree view. With any of those aids in place, parking a Renault Clio should pose no problems.
Semi-autonomous driving pack available as an option
Renault’s rightly very proud of its safety record, and the Clio scored some of the highest results in its class in Euro NCAP’s crash tests, with the accompanying five-star rating to boot, when it was tested in 2019. This makes the Clio the 23rd Renault to achieve a five-star Euro NCAP rating.
With six airbags and a very stiff structure, it performed well in crashes. All cars get Renault’s suite of safety aids, named ADAS or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. These include lane-keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking and traffic sign recognition, plus cruise control with a speed limiter.
Various option packs are available, with the Traffic and Motorway Assistance Pack combining advanced lane-keeping assist with adaptive cruise control to provide semi-autonomous driving under certain conditions.
Plus, it’s possible to spec a 360-degree camera and automatic parking system as part of the Techno Pack. In terms of safety tech, then, this is one of the best-equipped small hatchbacks around. LED headlights are standard on all models and claim to have improved visual range by 70 metres over the previous model’s halogen set up.
Watch: Renault Clio Euro NCAP crash test video
Basic equipment
The basic equipment list includes equipment that is standard across all versions of the Renault Clio Hatchback.
3x3 point rear seat belts
ABS
Audio remote
Body coloured bumpers
Driver`s airbag
Front electric windows
Height adjustable drivers seat
Isofix child seat anchor points
PAS
Passenger`s airbag
Remote locking
Side airbags
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Steering wheel reach adjustment
Traction control
Equipment by trim level
To view equipment options for a specific trim level, please select from the following list:
Equipment included on some trim levels
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Front fog lights
Heated mirrors
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Steel wheels
Evolution equipment
Evolution standard equipment
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Parking sensors
Sat Nav
Evolution optional equipment
None available
Iconic equipment
Iconic standard equipment
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Iconic optional equipment
None available
Iconic Edition equipment
Iconic Edition standard equipment
Air conditioning
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Sat Nav
Iconic Edition optional equipment
None available
Launch Edition equipment
Launch Edition standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Launch Edition optional equipment
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
Metallic Paint
Lutecia SE equipment
Lutecia SE standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Heated mirrors
Heated seats
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Lutecia SE optional equipment
None available
Play equipment
Play standard equipment
Air conditioning
Central locking
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Heated mirrors
Steel wheels
Play optional equipment
Sat Nav
R.S. 18 Nav equipment
R.S. 18 Nav standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Front fog lights
Heated mirrors
Metallic Paint
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
R.S. 18 Nav optional equipment
None available
RS Line equipment
RS Line standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
RS Line optional equipment
Cloth seat trim
Folding rear seats
Heated seats
Leather seat trim
RS Line Bose Edition equipment
RS Line Bose Edition standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Heated mirrors
Leather seat trim
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
RS Line Bose Edition optional equipment
None available
S Edition equipment
S Edition standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
S Edition optional equipment
None available
SE Edition equipment
SE Edition standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Folding rear seats
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
SE Edition optional equipment
None available
Techno equipment
Techno standard equipment
Alloy wheels
Central locking
Climate control
Cloth seat trim
Cruise control
Electric mirrors
Heated mirrors
Parking sensors
Rear electric windows
Sat Nav
Techno optional equipment
None available
Euro NCAP Rating – 5 stars
The Renault Clio Hatchback was tested by Euro NCAP in 2019 and was awarded a 5 star overall rating.
This overall rating is calculated from the following individual ratings:
Euro NCAP provides motoring consumers with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe.
The safety ratings are determined from a series of vehicle tests, designed and carried out by Euro NCAP.
These tests represent, in a simplified way, important real life accident scenarios that could result in injured or killed car occupants or other road users.