Not once in my 40 years of driving has a passenger ever felt the need to scratch my dashboard or door cards. Not once. Nor have I felt the need. What is it about reviewers and scratchy plastic?
Years ago I had a brand new at the time (2002) Audi TT .. and my wife a brand new Ford Ka ... and the Ka was more fun ... (ended up selling the TT and getting a Lotus Elise)
You will almost certainly never drive a Lambo. They're without context to you - how could you empathise about the launch or feel of the gearshift? You do have experience with cars like these and are more likely to actually sit in one/drive them. That's why these videos are more interesting!
@@lowfeelsblvd you are probably right I may never drive a Lamborghini. Only ever drove a first gen Veyron and a few Porsches, M cars and hot hatches. But what would I know 😉
Nice review, obviously two closely matched cars. Scratchy plastics 🤔. My Sister 's Golf GTI had lotso of scratchy plastic, it's functional and easy to keep clean, no big deal. I've had Suzukis for 20 years and never had any problems. It's Suzuki's reliabiliability that would probably tip it for me again, but it's difficult to beat French flair, but every French I've had had been unreliable. I currently run a non hybrid Swift Sport and have been holding out to see if a new Sport will come out way. It will be a sad day if we don't get one. 😊👍👏👏
Got the 2023 Swift and we are generally quite impressed two big reasons the 7 year warranty and the price with a Tier 1 discount. I would like the 6 speed in the Clio and that extra smidge of refinement but as someone who buys and keeps rsther than leases i can see being swayed by price and warranty being more important to us. At £15k for the lower trim Swift and the generally better dealers that bit of extra space would need to really matter. We will give the new one a look in August to see whether its worth changing though the speed warning TSR needs an easier disable.
What’s a Tier 1 Discount? Is it by chance the unfair business practice of offering huge discounts to certain types of workers? Same as MG seem to do by advertising all their cars at knock-down prices providing you’re a state leaching public sector worker?
@MarthaMansbridge It's available to a very wide range of public and retired or veteran folk. If you have a problem with that go buy yourself a personality.
Dear Autocar, I am still subscribed as your channel, feels to me, the most literal translation of the ancient written car review medium to video format. Please though, up the production where needed (sound mainly and interior videography). However, I loved this video, your banter and chemistry - thank you. Another old car enthusiast at heart
Have to agree, the reviews are great, but the production has suffered recently and other channels are leaping forth so quickly. But Matt Prior is a legend, so they are lucky to have him. I think they would be dead in the water if they didn't have him, on RUclips at least.
I have the prfect automotive combination, an immaculate 2008 Jaguar XJR and a new Dacia Sandero. In honesty the Dacia is all the car 95% of people need, the Jag is for jollies and long journeys.
Nah it got that weird design that you begin to like over time. The Clio would look dated in 2 years. But the Swift would still be a fun little car to look at.
Ford stops making the Fiesta, and suddenly journalists think the supermini class/B-segment is dead. Given the boom in SUVs, I'd say nearly every traditional car class will be negatively affected, though really, it's the city car class/A-segment that has suffered the most.
Here’s my take on the Clio, we’ve got the mk4, and a 24-year-old mk2 (phase 1 D7f engine, which is to say, 8 valves and a friendlier front grille). The tce 90, the mk4, has never had a month when there wasn’t something wrong with it. Not to say it doesn’t have its great points, and it’s much longer legs than the older, smaller Clio mk2, so nicer on the motorway. But, you know how as you get older, you talk to older friends and they are carrying a couple of ailments that take forever to sort, if they ever do? Our Clio 4 was bought brand new in 2015 in cash/no loan, and was a big investment for my spouse at the time. Immediately I spotted the front door curve nearside, didn’t match the front wing curve, where they met at the hinge end…no big deal, if my spouse didn’t notice I wasn;t gonna mention it, nonetheless, it’s a fault. The number plate at the front was poorly attached. They just needed to gently bend it to the necessary curve, and use better sticky-tab glue pads. The rear one wasn’t on straight. I did the necessary, cutting my hands because for some reason, the aluminium backing plate was cut rough as a dog. This I understand to be a dealer task, so that’s down to them, but again, it’s a fault. So far, so little though, these are minor. At month 3, it’s summer properly, and I notice coolant needs added. It’s low in the reservoir. I assumed this was a service thing, and it wasn;t really losing coolant, it was just I was seeing it when it was particularly warm or cold. Anyway, by month 6 it was clear it was definitely losing coolant…and because I didn’t want to either burst my wife’s car-bubble, or have the experience of hokey-cokey with the dealer over a weird/persistent/intermittent fault, I solidly kept this secret to myself. I resolved, it would only be mentioned, when it became solvable without losing use of the car and inconveniently taking it back and forth to a dealer, multiple times. This experience, is EXACTLY what some people reporting the same fault with either Captur cars, or the Clio 4, on ‘Honest John’ online, were having. Weeks at a time without the car, money being requested despite it being a clear warranty claim, etc. Dunno what it is, it just goes on as you;d expect. Finally, I gave in about year 4. It was now needing topped up every week or less with coolant, which made me conclude, it was now going to leave a trail big enough to have it tracked down…and so it was. Went to Howarth’s garage in Mirfield and they tracked it to a plastic moulding buried under this that and the other, deep in the bowels of the engine bay, they’d found crystals suggestive of coolant being evaporated off. Fixed it with a new plastic moulding and gasket or whatever. I played this correctly. Others writing in, to Honest John, confirmed what would have happened. This stuff, can be milked for years by a stupid or unscrupulous dealer. They’ll say they’ve fixed it, but they don’t care. None of the disaster stories resulted in a fix by replacing the moulding Howarth’s did. We on the other hand, got it fixed on day 3 the garage had it, and there was no to-ing and fro-ing for months or years over it. We lost the car for just 3 days, that’s a win for this fault. This part, simply shouldn’t be plastic, I suspect, it gets a lot of heat deep down there, in a 900cc turbocharged engine. Anyway, that was 4 years ago. What next, well it’s suspension I think. On the old Clio, even the mk2 and mk3, they use a type of front subframe that is solidly connected to the front nose grille of the car by an inverted ‘U’ bracket. In the mk4/tce 90 since 2014, they eliminated that big bracket, opting for a high-tensile bolt of the sort normally found on cylinder heads. The idea must be, this exerts so much compression on the various parts, somehow, it doesn’t need a ‘U’ bracket. But it doesn’t actually firmly attach the front to the subframe. It’s held together by French spit and garlic. I literally don’t understand how this arrangement works. And, it’s got two tasks you will encounter as an amateur, where fixing the suspension or replacing parts, that require the detaching of this subframe-to-front section, will catch you out. One, the high-tensile bolt has a fancy, tiny head on it. It’s an E16 head, or ‘external torx’ size 16. It looks like a 13mm socket might do it - don’t try it, you’ll round things off then be unable to tighten it properly on reassembly. It’s a surprise, is my point. My work stopped on Friday night and the local parts store had no such socket types. This, blocked me doing the job, and i hadda finish up then we spent hundreds having the garage redo it all. The fact it was now easier as I’d de-seized everything, doesn’t make it cheaper. Renault got me good, I’d rather have had an old ugly ‘U’ bracket. But that’s not the worst bit - the front subframe is gagging to be jacked up near the wheel - however, if you do this, this hi-tension bolt is under a lot of strain and as SOON as you get it out, the subframe suddenly will bend upwards under the weight of the car. Like I say, Renault really got me. But now, I know these wheezes and have the necessary weird tools and won’t be fooled by jacking up at the wrong point, so I should be ok with this job the next time? I’m not persuaded. And, the lower control arm/wishbone fitted last year, at that MOT, failed this year’s MOT also. This, means our roads in the UK have the better of this vehicle’s suspension. This is a long time, doing all this, it’s occurring over a period of years, and that out-of-whack front curved wing, is still noticeably wonky now, plainly a manufacturing defect, but Renault wouldn’t fix it as such, we know this. The suspension plainly now is going to be getting parts replaced annually or bi-annually, so that inspires no confidence. £500 MOTs are so-so when the car is worth over ten grand. Down at half that, you think twice…oh but hold on I haven’t mentioned the clutch… …the clutch which actually developed that fault many dual-mass flywheels have, the damping grease gets lost from the springs in the clutch-plate, or wherever these are. Now you have a juddering clutch/take-up. The driver’s ‘fix’ is to rev the engine like a learner, and wear the clutch out faster, but it avoids most of the backlashing slop/judder when setting off. So, that’s been around since before the coolant leak got fixed…you see what I mean, about this car carrying ailments around non-stop, unbroken, its whole life? 9 years now. I have called it a bag of sh!t on more than one occasion. The overall impact is a feeling of impending disaster, of the manufacturer warranty being useless in practice, which also means really that service pack of three grand my wife paid, wasn’t worth jack either, because you only get that, to make the Renault warranty valid. I’d never get another service pack. So, what would make it right, as the car sits on the drive now after almost ten years of troublesome driving? There’s a clunk from the side that had the hi-tensile bolt issue, and the garage didn’t fit a new bolt, so it remains. That’s almost a thousand pounds and 3 years of clunking, it is never going away. The clutch judder, well, we’ll wait til the clutch wears out, and it’s not worth biting the bullet at 70k miles, it;s £500 to over a grand, depending who does the job. This is clearly a manufacturing defect also, but again you know Renault would never agree to fix it. The water bottle for the scoosher, has broken one of its mountings, I used a wooden block and a stainless steel screw to bolster it, so it’s not the thing clunking, but this ought not to break. It’s flimsy. Taken in any one singular aspect, you can make a case for how well-made the Clio mk4 tce 90 is. But the trouble is, our overall experience is of a car that has carried serious deal-breaking ailments since day one. Manufacturing defects that remain to this day because we cannot afford a grand or more to fix them, and Renault wouldn’t dream of helping out. £14,000 for the car, and £3,000 of wasted money for servicing to make the rubbish shirt warranty be valid. Absolutely awful. I just couldn’t buy one of these things. I made the mistake of fixing some stuff myself, and that’s made it affordable - wish I hadn’t, we’d have gotten rid sooner before the clutch exploded with grease, losing it’s damping of rotational backlash on setting-off. In other words, I kept my wife happy by not letting her in on, all the serious issues that plagued this car from day one. I strongly feel there’s more…there was a broken spring, but even the robust mk2 had that, it’s our rotten roads…I replaced the plugs with iridium, that helped as usual keep maintenance down…that’s probably it. Oh, inherently it’s got terrible torque low-down, it really needs a Honda-style electric motor slapped on the end of the three-cylinder engine, and a few kg of hybrid battery somewhere, but this seems to be another ten grand?! Phfft, as the French would say…but I love the little mk2, which was an altogether great experience! Oh, and the mpg is pretty awful. The mk2 gets 44mpg max, and drops to as low as 35mpg in the worst conditions (eg lots of cold-engine, 2-mile journeys)…the mk4 gets er, 44 mog max, and as low as 36mpg in the worst conditions - but it is a lot faster, and bigger/heavier of course. Oh, back-seat passengers, it’s an awful ride. Dunno, I just haven’t taken to it…I love the electric steering?! Not great for me, good-looking car though. I’d sell it or something a lot more final…!
There isn’t a car out there that doesn’t have faults or possible unreliability. My worst one was a Ford S Max which would need a post 3 times the length of this OP to explain what went wrong with it. Does that mean we shouldn’t buy a Ford? Of course it doesn’t.
This Clio is a little newer than the 2019, the facelift came I think this year, it's very refined, smooth comfortable quiet, an feels your driving a more heavier car than Suzuki, this Suzuki might look new but it's same as one that came in 2004 something, this new is weight saving car, feels cheap too, drives ok rides good but doesn't feel like a £16k car whatever it is.
Great review gents and refreshing to hear that you don't necessarily think of the Clio as a " car to be primarily used around town and for the proverbial school run" as most reviewers seem to think. I have the previous Clio e tech, i'm 76, the kids are off hand and the wife and i don't need a hulking great SUV to go on holiday like a lot of reviewers seem to think! Being of that age though i do mourn the loss of French soft seats ( which suit my meagre frame) and i think all small cars have seats that are far too hard - even my Renault salesman agrees with that. All in all though a very good car and deserves to be in the top 10 to challenge the very "grey" Corsa - why is it so popular?!
@@BrateTebra123 Yes, very true, car design is subjective. What one person considers ugly, another might appreciate. Though, if i had the money BMWs are not on my hit list.
Looks good? 😂 I know what you mean but you can't say look good and Suzuki Swift in the same sentence. I want the designers email so I can write him a strongly worded letter.
All new cars sold after July 2024 will have to comply with the new safety regulations. The Renaults and the Dacias have or will have a customizable button that allows you to chose which safety feature you want on with just one press.
Cracking little car. I had a Honda Jazz, that was equally practical and pointy, but not as refined. I suspect the Swift would be a bit more reliable, but the Clio will be a more plush companion.
Considering they were so close, would the fact that the Swift is £70 per month cheaper to lease sway your decision? We are currently looking at our next lease after a Fiat 500 and we're considering these 2 plus the 208 and Corsa. I'm leaning towards the Swift as it's so much cheaper.
Please don't say there won't be another Swift Sport. That's the one I'm waiting for! Having owned new Swift Sport's for the last two generations - I was hoping that Suzuki are bringing another 'all new' one to the UK market around 2025. I'm hoping you're wrong! 🤔
Swift is better to drive, amazing fuel economy, mild hybrid, so more modern, more features, better resale value, better looking , dream manual shifing, superb clutch, 100% more reliable than the cleo, simply because its japanese and the swift model has been around for a long long time, its one of the best selling small cars of all time, but loses to the Cleo because its slightly smaller with scratchy plastics ?
I think it's the bonnet shut line. They've left it out in the open and made it even more obvious by sticking the badge between the bonnet and the grille.
Me? I've had very good experience with Suzuki but this time around I'll probably opt for the MG3 Hybrid+. For me, it's simply a matter of economics & the MG3 is the cheapest. It bothers me not one jot that it's made in China.
I have the previous model SZ5 Mild Hybrid with 1.0L 3 cyl Boosterjet Engine which has 109bhp. Got to say very underwhelmed by the new model, it just looks lie a facelift of my car. Slightly different at the front, and the tail lamps slightly different as well. Interior is almost identical apart from the larger infotainment screen. Overall the car is not that much different. The main disappointment is the engine only delivering a measly 81bhp, don't get me wrong I love my Swift, but to release a new model almost identical with a lesser powered engine that is so much slower is a backwards step by Suzuki. BTW having now had a test drive in the new model last week can confirm it is like a snail on valium compared to The 1.0 SZ5 Boosterjet Engine, I was actually shocked at how much slower it was. Again I absolutely love my current Swift as it has everything, but current owners will be massively put off by a ridiculous loss in performance of a so called new model,and many like myself will not purchase this 'clone' of the previous model with a woefully underpowered engine.
Surely a better comparison with this Swifts power train would be the self charging hybrid Renault Clio Techno? This test is a bit of an unfair comparison whatever the price difference is.
No mention of the Mazda 2 hatchback ! Which is better than both of these. Sorry, but I have never really ranked Autocar that highly, being a "Motor" read for many years 😂
Have they improved the manual gearbox? I have driven Captur couple of years ago. It's gearbox was inaccurate, sloppy and vague. I liked the car and 0.9 litre engine but can't stand the gearbox.
Boo, where's the Alto and Twingo at? These new cars just keeps piling on the poundsg with no real variety provided for cheaper, smaller or more sustainable cars. But that's profit/inflation for ya...
Suzuki reliability v Renault reliability. Yeah Suzuki wins. I own a new Swift and the speed warning bing bong is annoying as hell. And it does read false on speed limit. I also once owned a Citroen which now means buying a French car is now off the table.
Another biased review against Japanese cars. In the important features such as reliability,economy the Swift wins hands down. Down under they are much cheaper than the UK and we don’t get the Clio. Like many on here I can’t understand the obsession with scratchy plastic which lasts forever. These two reviewers obviously know cars but my god they are boring in their approach
I mean, it's a review of sorts. 'The best small car' and the entire criteria is based around various vague ideas about 'driving feel' ? The day-day shite is what a small car like this is all about.
Haven't car prices rocketed upwards...????? I can't believe you're talking about a pretty-much entry-level supermini costing basically £20k...!! Interestingly, though, whilst you can buy the Clio for £16k and the Swift for £18k, you can also buy a brand new, 200 mile-per-charge Vauxhall Corsa-e with its auto gearbox and WAY better performance and refinement for £18,500... About £3.60 for 200 miles in the Corsa-e on a cheap overnight electricity tariff compared to about £22 for the 60mpg Swift or £27 in the 50mpg Clio...? I know which one I'd go for...
If you are lucky enough to get 200 miles away from home in a Corsa e remember you need to return and will have to charge on a public charger which works out way more expensive than diesel or petrol.
@@jp6275 not necessarily... the 'open-to-all' Tesla sites work out less than petrol / diesel and there are discounted rates popping up all the time. But, the likely buyer of such superminis will be doing mostly urban trips, so will no doubt charge at home, given the capability to do so.
The best small car is in my opinion the Honda Jazz hybrid 2024.small outside,roomy inside,fuel consumption is top in his class,well build,magic seats,build-in 10! Airbags and go on...
There is no way that a Clio is better than Fabia / I20 / Polo / Ibiza ... how can you do a test like these without even mentioning them ? not very professional.
I hope people will stop selling false info about german cars. Vw group will give you a Fabia for 2 k more expensive than a clio . The cheapest brand new Fabia is 19700 GBP. More expensive and less powerful than a clio and you also have to put up with that interior from the 90's. 0 to 60 is 5 seconds slower than the clio if you compare both cheapest models.
Still making polluting IC engines and selling it as "new"? Gotta say legacy auto loves to shoot themselves in the foot. Plus they look generic as hell, no style.
Not once in my 40 years of driving has a passenger ever felt the need to scratch my dashboard or door cards. Not once. Nor have I felt the need. What is it about reviewers and scratchy plastic?
I think Matt Watson started all that and they have all cottoned on...his favourites were "Scratchy plastics and Doesn't drive like a Fiesta"
Yup.... I meanif you're in a100k+ car maybe. But these things? C'mon
Haha they’ve got to come up with something!
Exactly! What are they expecting in a super mini? 😂
I am a bit sad, this interests me more than watching lambos drag race on a runway.
Years ago I had a brand new at the time (2002) Audi TT .. and my wife a brand new Ford Ka ... and the Ka was more fun ... (ended up selling the TT and getting a Lotus Elise)
Dont worry, I dont think that you will be in a minority
You will almost certainly never drive a Lambo. They're without context to you - how could you empathise about the launch or feel of the gearshift? You do have experience with cars like these and are more likely to actually sit in one/drive them. That's why these videos are more interesting!
@@lowfeelsblvd you are probably right I may never drive a Lamborghini. Only ever drove a first gen Veyron and a few Porsches, M cars and hot hatches. But what would I know 😉
@@user-rc4qh3lp7hThat is a beautiful reply 🙂. You enjoy cars. If you are like me you find them all interesting and just like checking everything out
Swift for fuel economy, long term reliability / durability and more fun handling.
Nice review, obviously two closely matched cars. Scratchy plastics 🤔. My Sister 's Golf GTI had lotso of scratchy plastic, it's functional and easy to keep clean, no big deal. I've had Suzukis for 20 years and never had any problems. It's Suzuki's reliabiliability that would probably tip it for me again, but it's difficult to beat French flair, but every French I've had had been unreliable. I currently run a non hybrid Swift Sport and have been holding out to see if a new Sport will come out way. It will be a sad day if we don't get one. 😊👍👏👏
Same here!
Hope there is a new Swift Sport...
😮
.p.lp
It doesn't matter if there is or not, even if there is it won't be sold in europe bc of stupid politics
One of them will probably last WAY longer than the other. Japanese engineering every time 😊
Agree. It's a no brainer in that regard.
Never had a problem with Clios, had a mk 2 for 14 years and it never let me down.
Clio is always the small car that my heart is with .. but the Yaris is the one we bought (my wife) - cracking car
Clio is ranked best supermini by 4/5 major magazines
Yaris is much more expensive
208 is better then all of them
@@BrateTebra123does that factor in the puretech engine with wetbelt in the peugeot?
@@juxty3102 it has chain now
My gut instinct tells me the Swift will be reliable for far longer.
Got the 2023 Swift and we are generally quite impressed two big reasons the 7 year warranty and the price with a Tier 1 discount.
I would like the 6 speed in the Clio and that extra smidge of refinement but as someone who buys and keeps rsther than leases i can see being swayed by price and warranty being more important to us.
At £15k for the lower trim Swift and the generally better dealers that bit of extra space would need to really matter. We will give the new one a look in August to see whether its worth changing though the speed warning TSR needs an easier disable.
What’s a Tier 1 Discount? Is it by chance the unfair business practice of offering huge discounts to certain types of workers? Same as MG seem to do by advertising all their cars at knock-down prices providing you’re a state leaching public sector worker?
@MarthaMansbridge It's available to a very wide range of public and retired or veteran folk.
If you have a problem with that go buy yourself a personality.
Dear Autocar,
I am still subscribed as your channel, feels to me, the most literal translation of the ancient written car review medium to video format. Please though, up the production where needed (sound mainly and interior videography).
However, I loved this video, your banter and chemistry - thank you.
Another old car enthusiast at heart
Have to agree, the reviews are great, but the production has suffered recently and other channels are leaping forth so quickly.
But Matt Prior is a legend, so they are lucky to have him. I think they would be dead in the water if they didn't have him, on RUclips at least.
An actual helpful road test which could help me to decide on my next car.
13:26, naughty bit of driving by the Lexus.....
I rented a Clio TCe90 in France, and loved it. The steering is awesome.
I have the prfect automotive combination, an immaculate 2008 Jaguar XJR and a new Dacia Sandero. In honesty the Dacia is all the car 95% of people need, the Jag is for jollies and long journeys.
That swift went from cool kid on the block to fugly but still capable
Nah it got that weird design that you begin to like over time. The Clio would look dated in 2 years. But the Swift would still be a fun little car to look at.
There is only one word for the front of the swift... Awful
Ford stops making the Fiesta, and suddenly journalists think the supermini class/B-segment is dead. Given the boom in SUVs, I'd say nearly every traditional car class will be negatively affected, though really, it's the city car class/A-segment that has suffered the most.
Here’s my take on the Clio, we’ve got the mk4, and a 24-year-old mk2 (phase 1 D7f engine, which is to say, 8 valves and a friendlier front grille). The tce 90, the mk4, has never had a month when there wasn’t something wrong with it. Not to say it doesn’t have its great points, and it’s much longer legs than the older, smaller Clio mk2, so nicer on the motorway. But, you know how as you get older, you talk to older friends and they are carrying a couple of ailments that take forever to sort, if they ever do? Our Clio 4 was bought brand new in 2015 in cash/no loan, and was a big investment for my spouse at the time. Immediately I spotted the front door curve nearside, didn’t match the front wing curve, where they met at the hinge end…no big deal, if my spouse didn’t notice I wasn;t gonna mention it, nonetheless, it’s a fault.
The number plate at the front was poorly attached. They just needed to gently bend it to the necessary curve, and use better sticky-tab glue pads. The rear one wasn’t on straight. I did the necessary, cutting my hands because for some reason, the aluminium backing plate was cut rough as a dog. This I understand to be a dealer task, so that’s down to them, but again, it’s a fault. So far, so little though, these are minor.
At month 3, it’s summer properly, and I notice coolant needs added. It’s low in the reservoir. I assumed this was a service thing, and it wasn;t really losing coolant, it was just I was seeing it when it was particularly warm or cold. Anyway, by month 6 it was clear it was definitely losing coolant…and because I didn’t want to either burst my wife’s car-bubble, or have the experience of hokey-cokey with the dealer over a weird/persistent/intermittent fault, I solidly kept this secret to myself. I resolved, it would only be mentioned, when it became solvable without losing use of the car and inconveniently taking it back and forth to a dealer, multiple times.
This experience, is EXACTLY what some people reporting the same fault with either Captur cars, or the Clio 4, on ‘Honest John’ online, were having. Weeks at a time without the car, money being requested despite it being a clear warranty claim, etc. Dunno what it is, it just goes on as you;d expect. Finally, I gave in about year 4. It was now needing topped up every week or less with coolant, which made me conclude, it was now going to leave a trail big enough to have it tracked down…and so it was. Went to Howarth’s garage in Mirfield and they tracked it to a plastic moulding buried under this that and the other, deep in the bowels of the engine bay, they’d found crystals suggestive of coolant being evaporated off. Fixed it with a new plastic moulding and gasket or whatever.
I played this correctly. Others writing in, to Honest John, confirmed what would have happened. This stuff, can be milked for years by a stupid or unscrupulous dealer. They’ll say they’ve fixed it, but they don’t care. None of the disaster stories resulted in a fix by replacing the moulding Howarth’s did. We on the other hand, got it fixed on day 3 the garage had it, and there was no to-ing and fro-ing for months or years over it. We lost the car for just 3 days, that’s a win for this fault. This part, simply shouldn’t be plastic, I suspect, it gets a lot of heat deep down there, in a 900cc turbocharged engine. Anyway, that was 4 years ago.
What next, well it’s suspension I think. On the old Clio, even the mk2 and mk3, they use a type of front subframe that is solidly connected to the front nose grille of the car by an inverted ‘U’ bracket. In the mk4/tce 90 since 2014, they eliminated that big bracket, opting for a high-tensile bolt of the sort normally found on cylinder heads. The idea must be, this exerts so much compression on the various parts, somehow, it doesn’t need a ‘U’ bracket. But it doesn’t actually firmly attach the front to the subframe. It’s held together by French spit and garlic. I literally don’t understand how this arrangement works. And, it’s got two tasks you will encounter as an amateur, where fixing the suspension or replacing parts, that require the detaching of this subframe-to-front section, will catch you out.
One, the high-tensile bolt has a fancy, tiny head on it. It’s an E16 head, or ‘external torx’ size 16. It looks like a 13mm socket might do it - don’t try it, you’ll round things off then be unable to tighten it properly on reassembly. It’s a surprise, is my point. My work stopped on Friday night and the local parts store had no such socket types. This, blocked me doing the job, and i hadda finish up then we spent hundreds having the garage redo it all. The fact it was now easier as I’d de-seized everything, doesn’t make it cheaper. Renault got me good, I’d rather have had an old ugly ‘U’ bracket. But that’s not the worst bit - the front subframe is gagging to be jacked up near the wheel - however, if you do this, this hi-tension bolt is under a lot of strain and as SOON as you get it out, the subframe suddenly will bend upwards under the weight of the car. Like I say, Renault really got me.
But now, I know these wheezes and have the necessary weird tools and won’t be fooled by jacking up at the wrong point, so I should be ok with this job the next time? I’m not persuaded. And, the lower control arm/wishbone fitted last year, at that MOT, failed this year’s MOT also. This, means our roads in the UK have the better of this vehicle’s suspension.
This is a long time, doing all this, it’s occurring over a period of years, and that out-of-whack front curved wing, is still noticeably wonky now, plainly a manufacturing defect, but Renault wouldn’t fix it as such, we know this. The suspension plainly now is going to be getting parts replaced annually or bi-annually, so that inspires no confidence. £500 MOTs are so-so when the car is worth over ten grand. Down at half that, you think twice…oh but hold on I haven’t mentioned the clutch…
…the clutch which actually developed that fault many dual-mass flywheels have, the damping grease gets lost from the springs in the clutch-plate, or wherever these are. Now you have a juddering clutch/take-up. The driver’s ‘fix’ is to rev the engine like a learner, and wear the clutch out faster, but it avoids most of the backlashing slop/judder when setting off. So, that’s been around since before the coolant leak got fixed…you see what I mean, about this car carrying ailments around non-stop, unbroken, its whole life? 9 years now. I have called it a bag of sh!t on more than one occasion. The overall impact is a feeling of impending disaster, of the manufacturer warranty being useless in practice, which also means really that service pack of three grand my wife paid, wasn’t worth jack either, because you only get that, to make the Renault warranty valid. I’d never get another service pack.
So, what would make it right, as the car sits on the drive now after almost ten years of troublesome driving? There’s a clunk from the side that had the hi-tensile bolt issue, and the garage didn’t fit a new bolt, so it remains. That’s almost a thousand pounds and 3 years of clunking, it is never going away.
The clutch judder, well, we’ll wait til the clutch wears out, and it’s not worth biting the bullet at 70k miles, it;s £500 to over a grand, depending who does the job. This is clearly a manufacturing defect also, but again you know Renault would never agree to fix it. The water bottle for the scoosher, has broken one of its mountings, I used a wooden block and a stainless steel screw to bolster it, so it’s not the thing clunking, but this ought not to break. It’s flimsy.
Taken in any one singular aspect, you can make a case for how well-made the Clio mk4 tce 90 is. But the trouble is, our overall experience is of a car that has carried serious deal-breaking ailments since day one. Manufacturing defects that remain to this day because we cannot afford a grand or more to fix them, and Renault wouldn’t dream of helping out. £14,000 for the car, and £3,000 of wasted money for servicing to make the rubbish shirt warranty be valid. Absolutely awful. I just couldn’t buy one of these things. I made the mistake of fixing some stuff myself, and that’s made it affordable - wish I hadn’t, we’d have gotten rid sooner before the clutch exploded with grease, losing it’s damping of rotational backlash on setting-off. In other words, I kept my wife happy by not letting her in on, all the serious issues that plagued this car from day one. I strongly feel there’s more…there was a broken spring, but even the robust mk2 had that, it’s our rotten roads…I replaced the plugs with iridium, that helped as usual keep maintenance down…that’s probably it.
Oh, inherently it’s got terrible torque low-down, it really needs a Honda-style electric motor slapped on the end of the three-cylinder engine, and a few kg of hybrid battery somewhere, but this seems to be another ten grand?! Phfft, as the French would say…but I love the little mk2, which was an altogether great experience! Oh, and the mpg is pretty awful. The mk2 gets 44mpg max, and drops to as low as 35mpg in the worst conditions (eg lots of cold-engine, 2-mile journeys)…the mk4 gets er, 44 mog max, and as low as 36mpg in the worst conditions - but it is a lot faster, and bigger/heavier of course. Oh, back-seat passengers, it’s an awful ride. Dunno, I just haven’t taken to it…I love the electric steering?! Not great for me, good-looking car though. I’d sell it or something a lot more final…!
In other words buy the Japanese car instead? (made in India).
Having waded through your essay post, you've should have taken up all the issues with the dealer straight away under warranty to fix it.
The swift for Europe is made in Japan @@localreviewking134
There isn’t a car out there that doesn’t have faults or possible unreliability. My worst one was a Ford S Max which would need a post 3 times the length of this OP to explain what went wrong with it. Does that mean we shouldn’t buy a Ford? Of course it doesn’t.
This Clio is a little newer than the 2019, the facelift came I think this year, it's very refined, smooth comfortable quiet, an feels your driving a more heavier car than Suzuki, this Suzuki might look new but it's same as one that came in 2004 something, this new is weight saving car, feels cheap too, drives ok rides good but doesn't feel like a £16k car whatever it is.
Great review gents and refreshing to hear that you don't necessarily think of the Clio as a " car to be primarily used around town and for the proverbial school run" as most reviewers seem to think. I have the previous Clio e tech, i'm 76, the kids are off hand and the wife and i don't need a hulking great SUV to go on holiday like a lot of reviewers seem to think! Being of that age though i do mourn the loss of French soft seats ( which suit my meagre frame) and i think all small cars have seats that are far too hard - even my Renault salesman agrees with that. All in all though a very good car and deserves to be in the top 10 to challenge the very "grey" Corsa - why is it so popular?!
This is what smart videos looks like i needed this subject
That Suzuki looks like it’s been melted under the grill for abit.
Current Swift looks terrible compared to the previous ones.
Generally face lifts make cars look better?
@@localreviewking134yes. For example Golf mk7.5 vs 7 or mk8.5 vs mk8
@@BrateTebra123 Yes, very true, car design is subjective. What one person considers ugly, another might appreciate.
Though, if i had the money BMWs are not on my hit list.
True, really turns me off, also. I would consider it otherwise.
The Swift has mind blowingly low fuel consumption... Clio 1.5 dCi used to have that low consumption back in the days. But diesel is no more...
Have just ordered a Suzuki Swift for the wife..... looks good for the money
Looks good? 😂 I know what you mean but you can't say look good and Suzuki Swift in the same sentence. I want the designers email so I can write him a strongly worded letter.
The wife or the car, looks good for the money?
@@localreviewking134 lol must be the wife. I'm happy for him
All new cars sold after July 2024 will have to comply with the new safety regulations. The Renaults and the Dacias have or will have a customizable button that allows you to chose which safety feature you want on with just one press.
I had a swift for 8 years nice little car. Just bought a citroen c3
Same here
Cracking little car. I had a Honda Jazz, that was equally practical and pointy, but not as refined. I suspect the Swift would be a bit more reliable, but the Clio will be a more plush companion.
Please show us interiors..
Considering they were so close, would the fact that the Swift is £70 per month cheaper to lease sway your decision? We are currently looking at our next lease after a Fiat 500 and we're considering these 2 plus the 208 and Corsa. I'm leaning towards the Swift as it's so much cheaper.
get the Swift, the others make zero sense if they cost more
Please don't say there won't be another Swift Sport. That's the one I'm waiting for! Having owned new Swift Sport's for the last two generations - I was hoping that Suzuki are bringing another 'all new' one to the UK market around 2025. I'm hoping you're wrong! 🤔
The swift will last you forever and you'll be lucky if the clio lasts you 2 weeks
Swift has old school hand brake.
Clio doesnt. So yeah.
Handbrake turns 😂
Top work boys 👍
Swift is better to drive, amazing fuel economy, mild hybrid, so more modern, more features, better resale value, better looking , dream manual shifing, superb clutch, 100% more reliable than the cleo, simply because its japanese and the swift model has been around for a long long time, its one of the best selling small cars of all time, but loses to the Cleo because its slightly smaller with scratchy plastics ?
The swift looks very ugly.
I love the Clio, but there is no way you'd fit 3 adults in the back.
Unless they are all 5 foot tall people? on the cabbage diet?
WTAF have they done with the styling of the swift ?!
I think it's the bonnet shut line. They've left it out in the open and made it even more obvious by sticking the badge between the bonnet and the grille.
@@CaptainHoratioPugwashIt's the gril, & fog lamp housing or rather lack of it too.
Weird design
It’s the rear light / bumper area too - looks like it’s been in an accident too - shame
i love the new swift!
James Disdale - Auto car
James May - Top Gear
James Engelsman - Throttle House
Me? I've had very good experience with Suzuki but this time around I'll probably opt for the MG3 Hybrid+. For me, it's simply a matter of economics & the MG3 is the cheapest. It bothers me not one jot that it's made in China.
I have the previous model SZ5 Mild Hybrid with 1.0L 3 cyl Boosterjet Engine which has 109bhp. Got to say very underwhelmed by the new model, it just looks lie a facelift of my car. Slightly different at the front, and the tail lamps slightly different as well. Interior is almost identical apart from the larger infotainment screen. Overall the car is not that much different. The main disappointment is the engine only delivering a measly 81bhp, don't get me wrong I love my Swift, but to release a new model almost identical with a lesser powered engine that is so much slower is a backwards step by Suzuki.
BTW having now had a test drive in the new model last week can confirm it is like a snail on valium compared to The 1.0 SZ5 Boosterjet Engine, I was actually shocked at how much slower it was. Again I absolutely love my current Swift as it has everything, but current owners will be massively put off by a ridiculous loss in performance of a so called new model,and many like myself will not purchase this 'clone' of the previous model with a woefully underpowered engine.
Surely a better comparison with this Swifts power train would be the self charging hybrid Renault Clio Techno? This test is a bit of an unfair comparison whatever the price difference is.
No mention of the Mazda 2 hatchback !
Which is better than both of these. Sorry, but I have never really ranked Autocar that highly, being a "Motor" read for many years 😂
These new regulations are out of hand...allow us to drive the car and stop having such a damn hang-up about driving at speed while being safe.
Have they improved the manual gearbox? I have driven Captur couple of years ago. It's gearbox was inaccurate, sloppy and vague. I liked the car and 0.9 litre engine but can't stand the gearbox.
You might want the Clio until it shits itself , then you’ll wish you had bought the Swift
Doug and Will from What Car? also reviewed the Swift against the New MG3 😊
What about the Polo 1 litre Tsi?
Now £30,000 I guess?
overpriced
Got the Clio it’s a brilliant cheap car! Wouldn’t consider the swift because of the looks.
Yes, the Swift fell out of the ugly tree, and hit a few too many branches on the way down
Boo, where's the Alto and Twingo at?
These new cars just keeps piling on the poundsg with no real variety provided for cheaper, smaller or more sustainable cars. But that's profit/inflation for ya...
Cringe dad style review! Clio is the clear winner
Small? Only the Space Star, Kia and Hyundai are small cars. The B segment is the new A segment? An X5 is a small SUV?
Suzuki reliability v Renault reliability.
Yeah Suzuki wins.
I own a new Swift and the speed warning bing bong is annoying as hell. And it does read false on speed limit.
I also once owned a Citroen which now means buying a French car is now off the table.
The clio is better looking, swift is a great car, but its like an ugly kid that you want to like but just cant..
New 208 beats them by miles
And looks good from all sides!
The 208 has a wet timing belt engine rubber belt in hot engine oil a crap engine Google it people that both a 208 sick of engine problems
@@michaelkilbride2927 Except for within the past two years or so, because they changed to a timing chain.
I know which one will last longer,be cheaper to run AND BE MORE RELIABLE< AND it's not a frog
Another biased review against Japanese cars. In the important features such as reliability,economy the Swift wins hands down. Down under they are much cheaper than the UK and we don’t get the Clio. Like many on here I can’t understand the obsession with scratchy plastic which lasts forever.
These two reviewers obviously know cars but my god they are boring in their approach
I mean, it's a review of sorts. 'The best small car' and the entire criteria is based around various vague ideas about 'driving feel' ? The day-day shite is what a small car like this is all about.
WHAT A PAIR OF DOPES.
Haven't car prices rocketed upwards...?????
I can't believe you're talking about a pretty-much entry-level supermini costing basically £20k...!!
Interestingly, though, whilst you can buy the Clio for £16k and the Swift for £18k, you can also buy a brand new, 200 mile-per-charge Vauxhall Corsa-e with its auto gearbox and WAY better performance and refinement for £18,500...
About £3.60 for 200 miles in the Corsa-e on a cheap overnight electricity tariff compared to about £22 for the 60mpg Swift or £27 in the 50mpg Clio...?
I know which one I'd go for...
If you are lucky enough to get 200 miles away from home in a Corsa e remember you need to return and will have to charge on a public charger which works out way more expensive than diesel or petrol.
@@jp6275 not necessarily... the 'open-to-all' Tesla sites work out less than petrol / diesel and there are discounted rates popping up all the time.
But, the likely buyer of such superminis will be doing mostly urban trips, so will no doubt charge at home, given the capability to do so.
Epitoam?
The best small car is in my opinion the Honda Jazz hybrid 2024.small outside,roomy inside,fuel consumption is top in his class,well build,magic seats,build-in 10! Airbags and go on...
and costs almost 9k more
Milton spleens
What an absolutely appalling review
There is no way that a Clio is better than Fabia / I20 / Polo / Ibiza ... how can you do a test like these without even mentioning them ? not very professional.
I agree for example the Fabia is around £14,500, so it is cheaper than the Clio and Swift.
I hope people will stop selling false info about german cars. Vw group will give you a Fabia for 2 k more expensive than a clio . The cheapest brand new Fabia is 19700 GBP. More expensive and less powerful than a clio and you also have to put up with that interior from the 90's. 0 to 60 is 5 seconds slower than the clio if you compare both cheapest models.
Still making polluting IC engines and selling it as "new"? Gotta say legacy auto loves to shoot themselves in the foot. Plus they look generic as hell, no style.
The new Swift looks like a drawing from memory of a swift by a blind person with alzheimer.
Harsh, but fair tbh🤔 and the alloys on the lower spec Motion look cheap!
Who has a broken hand.
Toyota Yaris >
Mazda 2-way better then both of them