Yaris hybrid vs Clio hybrid

[Pumatron]

So, after dabbling with a Tesla for a while I decided to come away from a full EV, so ended up (after many road tests and deliberation) a 2024 Renault Clio Hybrid.

Three months of ownership later and I’m able to give a short but honest opinion between the wife’s 2022 Yaris and the Clio.

Looks- mixed bag here and it’s down to taste, the Yaris has its Jap hues and the Clio is typically French, down to taste, but quite like the look of both cars.

Quality- The Clio is surprisingly good in key areas with nice materials used on the seats and soft touch areas on the dash and door cards, switch gear is a little cheap, compared to the Yaris and the trim quality probably just beats the Clio if I’m honest, but it’s definitely closer in quality than previous versions.

Infotainment- Clio beats the Yaris in this area quite easily, wireless Apple car play and wireless charging, crisp display with a cockpit style instrument display, very intuitive, does show the Yaris’s design and features up as quite dated now (the fact the Yaris display faces away on a RHD car has always bugged me).

Hybrid system. The Clio system is not quite as smooth, transition between EV and Petrol is not quite seamless, it’s not bad, but can be a little bit slow, however it’s goes a lot further in EV mode, so is smashing the MPG figures from what the Yaris can achieve by some 10 mpg over the same journeys, the Clio is a 4 pot 1.6 compared to Yaris 3 pot 1.5, so the Clio is smoother for that extra cylinder, the engine is very quiet and well insulated as well compared to the gruff 3 cylinder affair of the Toyota. The Clio is near 140 bhp so performance is quite sprite compared to the Yaris, but to be fair the Yaris is not far behind. The Clio is a 4 speed automatic, while the Yaris is obviously a CVT, both can sound a bit revvy because of lack of Clio gearing and the natural operation of a CVT.

Comfort- The Clio has less wind noise on a motorway and the engine is quieter, ride is firm but comfortable (both cars have the same size tyres), the Yaris is very firm in comparison and can make you feel quite jaded after a longer journey and tends to crash over pot holes. 
 

Reliability- The biggie here, the Clio feels fairly well put together but the Yaris does beat it, and overall I’d like to think the Yaris would still be going long after the Clio has met its maker, the intention is to keep the Yaris long term, but the Clio will be gone as soon as the warranty expires as a French car beyond 3 years scares me silly 😅.  
 

Conclusion- The Clio was the same price as the Yaris was two years ago, and now the price difference is some £6k for an equivalent Yaris model, the Clio has heated steering and seats, wireless Apple car play etc, so on spec actually beats the Yaris on this and price, I have been impressed so far with the Clio, but won’t be keeping it long term, but it is interesting the offerings from other manufacturers has improved somewhat, and I wonder if you can buy a bad car compared to the offerings we had in the 80’s/90’s. 
I’m sure someone is going to come along and tell me I’m wrong blah blah blah, and have a cardiac arrest over someone having a differing opinion over a Toyota (you know who you are 😉), but the Toyota will remain on the drive long term, and the Clio will be history in a few years, so please don't choke on your dentures just yet…🤣

 

[BlueMike1972]

Interesting stuff, thank you!

[Cyker]

The Clio was the 3rd car I was considering (The others were the Honda Jazz and the Yaris I currently have).

The Clio was more powerful by far, but I'm surprised you were getting better mpg than the Yaris as I found very much the opposite!! That was partly what dropped it from the runnings early on, as the Jazz and Yaris blew it out of the water mpg-wise when I was testing them!

I know what you mean about the interior; I was expecting it to be much nicer, as they normally put more zots into the interiors than Toyota do, but I guess they were trying to keep the cost down so it ended up being about par with Toyota.

 

[Primus1]

I’m outraged…not sure why yet but I’ll think of something..

 

[MardyMarvin]

having had a few reno's I have found they are good for the first 3 or 4 years when new and then seemed to fall apart after that. But they may have got better since I last owned one. I used to not like the reno as the steering wheels never were fully centre to the drivers seat and always at a slight offset.

I am surprised about the fuel economy as well since the brochure for Reno says maximum 67.3mpg and the Yaris says up to 70.6mpg. Mine is on average doing 64mpg ish per month with some days at 72.8mpg

You are comparing a 2022 yaris to a modern reno not really the same as tech moves on. My 2024 Yaris has wireless car play/android and charging and full Digital display dash that I can configure how and what I want on the screen with up to three different configurations I have created and I can scroll through. I do agree I hate the fact the screen point slightly towards the passenger seat and not more towards the driver or even just straight but its only slight.

[TonyHSD]

Actually very accident and honest comparison and shared experience, much appreciated. 
Just a note to everyone about the opposite angled screens in Toyota cars- it is purposely made to reduce sun glare. 
LHD cars has screens oriented in the opposite direction too. Child and confirmed 👍

[MardyMarvin]

14 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Actually very accident and honest comparison and shared experience, much appreciated. 
Just a note to everyone about the opposite angled screens in Toyota cars- it is purposely made to reduce sun glare. 
LHD cars has screens oriented in the opposite direction too. Child and confirmed 👍

now that is interesting to know and I will go with that theory as it sounds good and will stop me thinking I am hard done to with wheel on the wrong side. 😉 🤪

[jthspace]

53 minutes ago, MardyMarvin said:

now that is interesting to know and I will go with that theory as it sounds good and will stop me thinking I am hard done to with wheel on the wrong side. 😉 🤪

It's a Japanese car, their steering wheel is the same side as ours! Albeit made in France.....😵‍💫

[Mojo1010]

Am surprised by the clio beating the yaris on mpg figures, I had a belter the other week on a 26 miles return leg of 97.5 mpg. Overall summer mpg is around 75 or so. 140bhp is nice, though I find 116 on the yaris adequate enough, ride on the 16" wheels/tyres combo are good for me, perhap yours is 17" low profile tyre. 

Imo the clio looks dated while the yaris is about 4 years old still look great and sporty. 2024 has improved upgrades as said, though maybe still lack the heated steering and seats. I did have a browse on the clio hybrid for equipment, price, mpg comparison to the yaris last year, there wasn't too much difference in price, clio perhaps a little cheaper. As said, toyota will outlast the reno, there was no chance i would be a clio owner over the yaris, on a pcp lease maybe.

[jthspace]

Yep, potential Toyota 10 year warranty, 15 years on Battery are a major plus point if you are keeping a car long term rather than a lease.

[flash22]

my yaris is now doing 74.4 for the last 200+ miles, even in the mid 60's im happy

 

I will not touch a French car Nissan being Renault and Vauxhall since 2019 is all Peugeot

being around a lot of cars from the 80s, 90s, and 00s, it's always the French cars that had electrical issues and catastrophic cascade failures, a lot of issues in the Aygo come from the PSA electrical and the accountants

[jthspace]

Pot? Kettle?  Your VIN starts VNK? 😂🤣

Edited August 12 by jthspace
Tongue firmly in cheek 😎

[Cyker]

It's okay! It's okay! They didn't make any of the electronics, they just had to put everything together, so nothing fits properly but it all works!!......?  

 

[RedToyota]

I have a MY21 Yaris Cross Dynamic with an add-on pack (can never remember which one) while wife has a MY24 Renault Clio Techno e-Tech (mid range hybrid).

I prefer YC seating position as I drove 4x4 previously but Clio seats are comfortable and driving position is ok. The Clio does feel longer even though it is roughly the same size.

LED lights and speed recognition system has same issues 😁

The Clio interior feels slightly more refined but dark material makes it very dark/ less airy. However Clio does have a rear interior light....

Engine has slightly more power and transition from ICE to Battery is smooth. The clutchless gearbox has similar response to Yaris eCVT. It just works.

The tech toys are similar but no adaptive Cruise Control (that's on the top model. The central infotainment screen is smaller than YC Smart Connect and feels more crowded. Setup is different but I might just be used to YC way of working. It does have wireless charging but we have not tried that.

Driver info screen is configurable but I cannot make sense of the way they display information. It feels less techie and seems to hide info such as power flow. Toyota wins here.

Back seat space is similar and door access is slightly better. HOWEVER this comes at expense of boot space. I would just get 2 small Labradors in the YC but not in Clio. The boot floor also seems deeper.

Overall a worthy alternative to the Toyota Yaris or YC and worth a look.

[Cyker]

For rear space I found the Jazz was the best of the 3 - It has the super adjustable rear seating I'm really missing from my Mk1 and Mk2 and if it wasn't for the driving dynamics and HUD in the Yaris, that could have swung it for the Jazz for me!!

 

[flash22]

15 hours ago, jthspace said:

Pot? Kettle?  Your VIN starts VNK? 😂🤣

The irony isn't lost on me, it is the methodology and constant cheapening out on parts that gets to me with the French brands

[TonyHSD]

I don’t think I can own another brand different from Toyota. 
I can drive any car as company one, long term lease, rental  or any other form but my money will still most likely go to Toyota. 
The reason is that I buy cars not for how they look outside, inside, but what they have under bonnet and how they are made. 
 

[Cyker]

1 hour ago, flash22 said:

The irony isn't lost on me, it is the methodology and constant cheapening out on parts that gets to me with the French brands

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

I don’t think I can own another brand different from Toyota. 
I can drive any car as company one, long term lease, rental  or any other form but my money will still most likely go to Toyota. 
The reason is that I buy cars not for how they look outside, inside, but what they have under bonnet and how they are made. 
 

This is the problem with most other marques - They tend to spend less on the mechanicals and more on touchy-feely parts of the car like the materials and plastics.

I think we can all understand why, given how many new people post on here complaining about the interior of the cars - That's what most people think of good value; They'd rather pay for a weighty-feeling door, nice paint and contrast stitching than think about a £1 bolt vs a 10p bolt or more higher quality gaskets.

But that's why I don't think I could go to another manufacturer - I used to think it was normal to replace suspension arms, wheel hubs, shocks, springs, bushes etc. every few years until I got a Toyota!

 

[MardyMarvin]

3 hours ago, Cyker said:

I think we can all understand why, given how many new people post on here complaining about the interior of the cars - That's what most people think of good value; They'd rather pay for a weighty-feeling door, nice paint and contrast stitching than think about a £1 bolt vs a 10p bolt or more higher quality gaskets.

This is a good point and why I went toyota again as we had an old avensis that was 11 years old and sailed through the MOT every year and on a service never needed any extra this or that.

I do wonder though if Toyota are starting to get a little tighter on things you don't see. Watching some of the "The Car Nut Channel" videos you can see him saying I wish Toyota had not replaced these with cheap plastic clips and so on. I guess as long as they don't skimp on the main hardware then they will keep the reliability status.