Renault Clio interior

However, it does suffer from some shortcomings relating to practicality. It would seem that by opting to give the Clio one of the largest boots in its class (there’s 391 litres of seats-up storage capacity on offer here), Renault has compromised the amount of space available to occupants in the second row. 

Our tape measure recorded typical rear leg room at a restrictive 620mm and rear head room came in at 910mm. By contrast, the Polo conjures 690mm of rear leg room and 950mm of head room, with a boot capacity of 351 litres.

No prizes for guessing which car a grown adult would sooner travel in the back of. Even those of average height would likely feel cramped in the back of the Clio. But Renault’s decision to sacrifice some rear practicality in the pursuit of greater boot space could well please owners who would rather take acceptable room for younger children and more space for buggies and baggage than have an adult-sized four-seater – and you’d imagine that describes plenty of supermini owners.

Despite running newer software than its predecessor, this infotainment system remains one of the more graphically basic suites on the market. That said, there’s still enough detail in the mapping software to easily make out where you’re travelling and the display itself is generally easy to read. It’s usefully customisable, too, allowing you to select which shortcuts you’d like displayed on the home screen. Although it’s simple enough to navigate, it could do with an additional level of responsiveness.

Standard equipment is good, though. Satellite navigation, DAB radio, Bluetooth connectivity and rear parking sensors are all included, as are Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The quality of sound from the car’s four 20W speakers is sufficiently good without being excellent, ably providing enough in the way of volume to drown out road and wind noise without becoming distorted.