#01#First there was the flighty young Nicole and Papa. Then it was Thierry Henry and his 'Va-Va-Voom'. For the third incarnation of the Renault Clio, we have Ben and Sophie, an older, more sophisticated couple reminiscent of Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan in the coffee adverts.

The message here? Clio has grown up. The new Clio is more adult, less brash, built to appeal to a more mature audience while hopefully not losing the younger fans. After all, Ben and Sophie might be in their 30s but I'm sure plenty of teenagers of both sexes will find one or the other attractive. Clio has also grown, not just up, but in every direction. As each successive generation of a car gets larger than the last to answer criticism of space, and to add more safety equipment, it's still a surprise to see just how big a car the new Renault Clio has become. Papa may have been chauffeur-driven in his first series Clio, but there was never sufficient space there to take that concept seriously. Not so with the new Clio, positioned right at the largest end of the "super-mini" market place. Legroom and headroom in the rear of the new Clio would make occupants of '80s Mercedes and Jaguar limousines most envious.

The Clio has also grown up in terms of refinement and safety. Renault's transformation from maker of fragile little French cars with wafer thin body panels ("please don't lean on my car") to the Kings of Safety (first to achieve the Euro NCAP 5-star rating), is complete. All new Renaults are 5-star Euro NCAP cars.

#p##05# We tested the Clio 1.5 dCi 106 Dynamique S. Even the model name has grown! If you read the price list, it's even longer than that with "6 Speed A/C" to be appended. Thank goodness they abbreviated "common rail diesel injection" down to "dCi". The 1.5-litre diesel engine can be had in two flavours, coming with 86 or 106bhp. Naturally we chose the top of the range 106bhp diesel model. To the buyer, this version is an extra £625 over the less powerful option, although you also get the 6-speed gearbox as the full model name suggests. In Dynamique S trim, the Renault Clio is very well specified with the equipment count including 16-inch alloy wheels, air conditioning and electric heated door mirrors over and above those items standard to the entire model range. This being Renault, the re-inventors of safety, the Clio airbag count is high: eight to be exact. The usual front dashboard airbags are supplemented by front lateral, front anti-submarining, and on all but the base Extreme model, curtain airbags too.

Some may say that 106bhp doesn't sound like very much, a little more than the warm supermini average, but little more than half the 197bhp present in the top of the range Renaultsport Clio. But this is a diesel engine of course, and the torque figure is more important when talking diesel. All 177lb.ft of it is available between 2000 and 2500rpm. That's enough to pull the Clio from 0-62mph in just 11.1 seconds and on to 118mph, faster than any other Clio (petrol or diesel) save for the manic Renaultsport 197 of course. Subjectively the Clio dCi feels a lot quicker than that; standing start acceleration is a poor guide to real world performance, as in reality cars are rowed along on torque, and diesels win here every time. The Clio feels more than quick enough to hold its own in traffic and has plenty of acceleration in hand on motorway inclines.

It's a shame it all goes to pot when corners get in the way. Drive the Clio at 70% and all is fine, it's all grown up and refined, handles corners with little drama or fuss and gives the passengers a relaxing ride. Up the speed and it's not so good, fast sweeping bends betray a lack of ultimate body control, big understeer sets in and finally the weight of the diesel engine up front becomes apparent. It's a shame; the halo effect of both F1 and Renaultsport models has earned Renault a well deserved reputation as manufacturer of drivers' cars, and Clios have always been fun. Somewhere in the growing up process, the fun has been toned down. Clio has not only grown up, she's more sensible now as well.

Passengers love the new Clio though; there's legroom that's simply unbelievable in a car this size, and despite the lack of leather, the interior still looks more expensive than a £12,960 list price suggests. If all those airbags don't instil a sense of confidence, an untroubled ride leaves them fully relaxed providing the driver doesn't press on too hard. At night time the excellent Xenon headlight turn dark into day, and they even look round corners at low speeds, such as manoeuvring round car parks or exiting your driveway. There is space for everything, the 288 litre capacity boot can be enlarged by folding down the rear seat (split 1/3-2/3), and inside the car there is space everywhere including door pockets large enough to take bottles.

I've saved the best bit until last - it's a diesel, but even so, its fuel economy is staggering. I was almost in disbelief as we averaged 60mpg over the week with the Clio, and even the official urban figure is 49.6mpg. With an extra urban figure of 68.9mpg plainly the scope is there to do even better than our figure.

So, Clio has grown up. Clio is a more rounded performer than the Clio of old. The twenty and thirty-somethings will love her, those older than that will probably love her even more. Renault invested £650 million in the development of the new Clio and it has been money well spent. The new Clio is more comfortable, more luxurious and more refined. Can't wait to try the Renaultsport version though...

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Renault Clio UK range overview

- Renault Clio Authentique 1.2 16V 75 - 5Dr : £9,225
- Renault Clio Authentique 1.5 dCi 68 - 5Dr : £10,225
- Renault Clio Extreme 1.2 16V 75 - 3Dr : £8,995
- Renault Clio Extreme dCi 68 - 3Dr : £9,995
- Renault Clio Expression 1.2 16V 75 - 5Dr : £10,280
- Renault Clio Expression 1.2 16V 75 - 3Dr : £9,610
- Renault Clio Expression 1.4 16V 98 - 3Dr : £10,110
- Renault Clio Expression 1.4 16V 98 - 5Dr : £10,780
- Renault Clio Expression 1.6 VVT 111 - 5Dr : £11,280
- Renault Clio Expression 1.6 VVT 111 - 3Dr : £10,610
- Renault Clio Expression 1.6 VVT 111 Auto - 3Dr : £11,710
- Renault Clio Expression 1.6 VVT 111 Auto - 5Dr : £12,380
- Renault Clio Expression dCi 68 - 5Dr : £11,280
- Renault Clio Expression dCi 68 - 3Dr : £10,610
- Renault Clio Expression dCi 86 - 3Dr : £11,110
- Renault Clio Expression dCi 86 - 5Dr : £11,780
- Renault Clio Dynamique 1.4 16V 98 - 3Dr : £10,410
- Renault Clio Dynamique 1.4 16V 98 - 5Dr : £11,080
- Renault Clio Dynamique 1.6 VVT 111 - 3Dr : £10,910
- Renault Clio Dynamique 1.6 VVT 111 - 5Dr : £11,580
- Renault Clio Dynamique 1.6 VVT 111 Auto - 3Dr : £12,010
- Renault Clio Dynamique 1.6 VVT 111 Auto - 5Dr : £12,680
- Renault Clio Dynamique dCi 86 - 5Dr : £12,080
- Renault Clio Dynamique dCi 86 - 3Dr : £11,410
- Renault Clio Dynamique dCi 106 6 Speed - 5Dr : £13,330
- Renault Clio Dynamique dCi 106 6 Speed - 3Dr : £12,660
- Renault Clio Dynamique S 1.4 16V 98 - 3Dr : £10,710
- Renault Clio Dynamique S 1.6 VVT 111 - 3Dr : £11,210
- Renault Clio Dynamique S 1.6 VVT 111 Auto - 3Dr : £12,310
- Renault Clio Dynamique S dCi 86 - 3Dr : £11,710
- Renault Clio Dynamique S dCi 106 6 Speed - 3Dr : £12,960
- Renault Clio Privilège 1.4 16V 98 - 5Dr : £11,980
- Renault Clio Privilège 1.6 VVT 111 - 5Dr : £12,480
- Renault Clio Privilège 1.6 VVT 111 Auto - 5Dr : £13,580
- Renault Clio Privilège dCi 86 - 5Dr : £12,980
- Renault Clio Privilège dCi 106 6 Speed - 5Dr : £13,730
- Renault Clio Initiale 1.6 VVT 111 - 5Dr : £14,180
- Renault Clio Initiale 1.6 VVT 111 Auto - 5Dr : £15,280
- Renault Clio Initiale dCi 106 6 Speed - 5Dr : £15,430
- Renault Clio Renaultsport 197: £15,995