New Renault Clio styled up

And Renault is promising the same cutting-edge approach to Clio pricing to finally give it a serious light car contender. A full Renault Clio range presumably including the SportsTourer wagon recently spied testing in Europe will go on sale in Australia midway through next year, replacing the existing Renault Clio Sport, which was the only model of the third-generation car offered here.

The new Renault Clio adopts the styling of the widely-praised DeZir concept car. As a result, it sits lower and wider on the road. The gap between the tyres and the flared wheel arches has also been reduced to improve its profile and the combined changes make it one of the best-looking light cars on the road.

Renault is following the Mini and Audi A1 lead in having a huge range of exterior colour options for the Clio, which will come with LED daytime running lights and scalloped doors with chrome-highlighted lower inserts. The same customization will apply inside with options for the air vent surrounds, gear-shift base, door panels and dash.

The interior picks up the seven-inch tablet-style display screen, set in an otherwise uncluttered dash. Renault Australia spokeswoman Emily Ambrosy says the company is working hard to ensure the touchscreen’s optional “R-Link” applications-based functionality comes on line soon.

The R-Link launches in Europe with around 50 apps that be downloaded from within the car (using a connected Bluetooth smartphone) or loaded via PC. “We want R-Link. It’s the latest in-car technology and works off the steering wheel controls or with voice recognition, but we need to verify which apps will be available in Australia,” Ambrosy says. “We’re likely to launch with (the basic) MediaNav system, but expect to see R-Link sooner rather than later.”

Renault Australia has yet to confirm which engines we’ll take, but the likely candidates are the three new engines announced for the car which will be officially unveiled at this week’s Paris Motor Show. The entry point is a 900cc triple-cylinder with 68kW/135Nm that uses a meagre 4.3L/100km, followed by a direct-injection turbo 1.2-litre four-cylinder that ups the power ante to 90kW/190Nm and will come with the option of a dual-clutch automated manual transmission.

The headline act at least in terms of fuel use is a 1.5-litre turbo diesel that in European spec is said to use just 3.2L/100km while generating 68kW/220Nm. The hot-hatch RS version will follow late in 2013 and is expected to use a 150kW turbo 1.6-litre engine mated to a dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters. If existing Renault Sport models such as the Megane RS 265 are any example, expect it to be one of the best driving cars in the class.