The French follow
Go for it only if you really like its styling and don’t mind the price
No more poseur-paddles, good handling 
Pricey for this type of car, needs to insulate sound better With these changes to the face-lifted Clio, have the French decided it’s okay to say “okay”?
By Andy Hum
‘D’ACCORD’ IS THE French word (pronounced da-kor) for ‘concur’, or, when used during informal conversation also means ‘okay’.
“Voulez vous bruler quelques voiture ce soir?” – French for “would you like to burn a few cars tonight?”
“D’accord.”
So it should be a commonly used word, as one would expect. After all, they did burn 1,147 cars last New Year’s Eve, according to a TIME magazine report. But apart from agreeing to torching cars and munching on garden slugs as appetisers, you know you’ll not get the same answer if you asked them their opinion on politics.
Which also contributed to the reason why the 1950s Citroen DS had its signal stalks at the upper corners of the rear windows, and also why so many French cars have the bonnet-release lever on the passenger side, instead of the normal driver’s side.
They just want to be different.
When the third iteration of the Clio arrived in Singapore last year, Renault, presumably hoping to drive up the car’s popularity, had introduced something special – paddle-shifters. It’s a great feature, if you have a powerful engine and an equally sporty gearbox. But with a 110hp 1.6-litre engine that takes 12.2 seconds to get the car from 0-100km/h, it’s not the brightest idea.
The last Clio’s paddle-shifters stuck out from the steering column like a ‘friendly’ gesture, instead of following the perfectly functional ‘F1-style’ of having them behind the fingers at three-and-nine o’clock. And that sort of design feature really didn’t increase the peoples’ vote of confidence.
Now, things have changed, again.
Perhaps maintaining the tradition to stand out from the crowd and be different, Renault probably decided that the rest of the world having paddle-shifters is too passé, so those have been dropped. And it’s a good thing.
For one, (again contrary to typical French school of thought) it’s a sensible move. Those who don’t know their ‘Napoleon’ from their ‘Napolitain’ definitely won’t be coveting a car for its paddle-shifters. And especially with this engine and gearbox, the two clicky pieces of plastic won’t be getting people jumping for joy.
What they can be happy about, however, is the fact that the Clio is a brilliant little hatchback that handles sweetly. Set-up with an unusually conventional MacPherson strut front and a torsion beam rear suspension, the Clio does an impressive job of clinging onto the road and still delivering good ride comfort. However, the engine noise can get a little intrusive and it certainly needs more torque. Still, where it’s lacking in excitement, it’s made up with comfort.
It’s also grown longer by 41mm and still seats tall people in the back – more than 1.88m-tall, according to the press release.
Some say that that sort of sensibility, coming from the French, is a tall order. We’d prefer to, after having tested the car, agree with the changes and say “d’accord!” Now, if only we could say the same about its price…
NEED TO KNOW
Renault Clio 1.6 (A)
ENGINE TYPE 1,598cc, 16V, in-line 4
MAX POWER 110bhp at 6,000rpm
MAX TORQUE 151Nm at 4,250rpm
GEARBOX 4-speed automatic
TOP SPEED 186km/h
0-100KM/H 12.2 seconds
PRICE $63,999 with COE
WARRANTY 3 years / 100,000km
CONTACT Wearnes Automotive
TELEPHONE 6471-3313
