COMMENT
Steve Cropley
MY WEEK IN CARS
Fiesta and Clio: winner of this fight might surprise you
MONDAY
Deep joy to have rival 1.0-litre three-cylinder superminis on my drive: a £23,000 Ford Fiesta and an £18,000 Renault Clio. These are two of the happiest cars going. It might sound ridiculous to call them uncomplicated, but that’s their nature. The Ford arrived first, and I warmed to its sporty character: 153bhp mild-hybrid powertrain, strong body control and quick-fire responses. I like Clios, but didn’t expect the cheaper TCe 90 to match it, and it didn’t. In fact, it was better.
This was a shock. The Clio was slower, of course, taking three whole seconds more to reach 0-60mph and having a top speed 20mph lower, but that hardly matters on traffic-bloated roads.