New Seat Ibiza vs Renault Clio
These small cars are not only cheap to buy but should also be pleasing to own. Let's see which one has the most to offer...
The contenders
NEW Seat Ibiza 1.0 TSI 95 SE
List price £20,995
Best price £16,380
A facelift brings much-needed improvements to the Ibiza's interior while retaining its other fine qualities. Can it justify its slightly higher price compared with the Clio, though?
Renault Clio 1.0 TCe 90 Generation
List price £17,995
Best price £15,680
Previously named Small Car of the Year, twice, the Clio's new entry-level trim lowers the price and adds more equipment. Does that make it even more tempting?
If you ever needed proof that good things come in small packages, look no further than the Renault Clio. It's a car that we're very fond of and one that was named Best Small Car twice at the What Car? Car of the Year Awards, largely because of its driving characteristics, practical boot and overall value for money.
The latter is something that the example in this test looks to improve on even further. You see, the Generation trim that we're testing here replaces the previous entry-level Evolution, cutting the price but adding even more standard equipment in the process. Sounds like a winning formula, doesn't it?
Well, not so fast, because there's a new, facelifted Seat Ibiza to make sure that the Clio doesn't have everything its own way. This is actually the second facelift of the fifth-generation Ibiza and one that focuses on cosmetic upgrades to the exterior and upgraded interior materials, something we've long thought the Ibiza needed.
Mechanically, the Ibiza stays the same as previous versions. That's a good thing, because it has always been one of the best small cars to drive, with sharp handling and punchy engine options.
Are the changes enough to make the Ibiza a more well-rounded proposition, though? Or are you still better off with the Clio?
Driving
Performance, ride, handling, refinement
You'll find a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine beneath the bonnet of each of our contenders, and they differ in power output by only 4bhp. Both have manual gearboxes, with the Clio giving you an extra gear to play with (six to the Ibiza's five). But while both cars are well suited to nipping around town, it's the Ibiza that comes out on top in terms of performance, getting from 0-60mph quicker and having a bit more oomph at higher speeds.
The Ibiza's gearbox is also easier to use. Its clutch has a clearly defined biting point and its gearlever snicks into place precisely, whereas in the Clio, these controls feel rather vague.
The Clio is one of our favourite small cars to drive; its steering is direct and accurate, while body lean is well controlled and there's enough front-end grip to give you confidence along a winding road.
The Ibiza is even better, though. Its suspension is more rigorous at controlling body movements, while its steering is more communicative than the Clio's, building weight better as you turn the wheel and allowing you to take advantage of the extra front- end grip that it offers. The Ibiza isn't just sharper and more fun to drive than the Clio; it's the best-handling car in the class.
While both cars can be slightly fidgety around town, they ride well by class standards. They're composed and comfortable at higher speeds, never feeling floaty along undulating roads. The only differences are that the Clio is slightly better controlled over crests and through dips, while there's less of a thump over abrupt potholes in the Ibiza.
You'll hear much more suspension noise along bumpy roads in the Ibiza, though. It also generates slightly more road noise at 70mph, but this is largely offset by more noticeable wind noise in the Clio. Overall, they're both reasonably quiet cruisers.
The Ibiza's brakes take some getting used to; they grab quite sharply when you start to press the pedal, so gentle stops can be tricky. Although the Clio travels slightly farther when making an emergency stop from 70mph, its brakes are more progressive, making it easier to come to a smooth halt, especially in town.
Behind the wheel
Driving position, visibility, build quality
Both cars have conventional small car seating positions; you're not elevated like you'd be in a Honda Jazz. Even so, you should have no trouble getting comfy, because their steering wheels and driver's seats offer plenty of fore/aft and height adjustment, although neither provides adjustable lumbar support. Fortunately, each seat has decent lower back support built in, helping to ward off aches on long drives. The Ibiza's is a bit comfier overall, because it has more under-thigh support for taller drivers and better side support - although, as in the Clio, it could do with even more of the latter.
We have no complaints about forward visibility in either car; each gives you a good view out over a short bonnet, and the windscreen pillars don't impede your view at junctions. Larger rear side windows give you a slightly better view over your shoulder in the Ibiza, although the Clio is fine in this respect too. Likewise, the Ibiza's larger rear screen affords a more unobstructed view directly behind the car.
The Clio compensates by coming with an impressive number of parking aids for an entry-level trim, including front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera. In contrast, the Ibiza makes do with only rear parking sensors.
Both dashboards are simple and well laid out, with physical air conditioning controls that are easy to operate as you drive along. The Clio makes things even more convenient by offering automatic air conditioning, whereas temperature control is entirely manual in the Ibiza.
Each of our contenders has a digital instrument panel behind the steering wheel, the Ibiza's being slightly larger. They have clear graphics and show all the key information, but, as with the infotainment screens, the Ibiza's looks a bit more modern (see infotainment section). Both offer some customisation options, and it's easy to cycle through the displays, which range from traditional-looking dials to more minimalist designs, at the touch of a steering wheel button.
While the Ibiza lacks the Clio's attractive fabric inserts on its dashboard, its greater variety of materials elsewhere inside does a better job of lifting the mood and breaking up any hard plastics.
Neither will give you any cause for complaint when it comes to build quality, with both feeling like they'll stand the test of time. The Clio's air conditioning knobs are especially impressive, with a far more tactile feel than the Ibiza's simpler equivalents.
Infotainment systems
Renault Clio
While the graphics on the Clio's 7.0in touchscreen are acceptable, they're fuzzier than the Ibiza's and make it seem rather dated. Still, the screen responds well enough to inputs, the menus are logical and sat-nav is built in (unlike in the lbiza). There are a few touch- sensitive shortcuts below the screen. You can connect your phone wirelessly via Apple CarPlay in both cars; Android Auto requires a cable in the Clio but not the Ibiza.
Seat Ibiza
Not only does the Ibiza have a larger touchscreen (8.25in) with sharper graphics, but it also responds even more swiftly to inputs than the Clio's, with next to no delay. The layout of its menus is just as good as the Clio's, too. You get more physical shortcut buttons below its screen, making navigation even easier, and it's nice to have a couple of knobs to control the audio system's volume and change tracks and radio stations.
Space and practicality
Front space, rear space, seating flexibility, boot
Unless you're exceptionally tall, you'll have no issues fitting into either front seat in the Ibiza or the driver's seat in the Clio. Both have plenty of head and leg room for six-footers and enough shoulder room to prevent you from rubbing shoulders with your front passenger. Only the Ibiza offers a height-adjustable front passenger seat, though; tall passengers in the Clio will find head room tight.
There's a reasonable amount of storage space in the front of each of our contenders, including a pair of cupholders, a cubby at the base of the centre console for your phone, and a small storage area for bits and bobs where a centre armrest would typically be in some models. The Ibiza's door pockets are a more generous size than the Clio's, though, giving you space for a water bottle.
If you'll be carrying passengers regularly in the rear seats, the Ibiza is the one to go for. You see, while both cars have sufficient head room to cater for a couple of six-footers with a bit of room to spare, there's noticeably more leg room in the back of the Ibiza. If those same passengers are sitting behind people of a similar height, their knees will be grazing the back of the seats in front in the Clio, whereas they'll have a decent amount of clearance in the Ibiza.
As you might expect in cars of this size, shoulder room is tight when you squeeze three adults into the back. The middle passenger has less of a floor hump to straddle in the Clio, freeing up more foot space, but the raised seat means that they'll have to be relatively short to avoid their head touching the rooflining. That's not a problem they'll have in the Ibiza.
Both cars have good-sized (but not class-leading) boots; the Clio's is slightly the taller of the two, while the Ibiza's is longer. What that means is that they can hold similar amounts of luggage; each can swallow five carry-on suitcases below the parcel shelf.
You have to lift luggage higher to get it into the boot of the Clio, but both have quite a drop down to the boot floor; you'll curse this when loading or unloading heavy items. Neither car comes with a height-adjustable boot floor; you have to upgrade to a higher trim level to get this feature.
The absence of a height-adjustable floor also means that there's a big step when you fold down the rear seatbacks (which split 60/40 in both cars) to free up extra load space.
Boot space
Renault Clio
Boot capacity 301-1069 litres Suitcases 5
Seat Ibiza
Boot capacity 355-823 litres Suitcases 5
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
There's a £3000 difference in their list prices, favouring the Clio, but bigger discounts are available for the Ibiza. So, if you're a cash buyer, that reduces the Clio's advantage to just £700, provided you're willing to haggle, or you can simply check out whatcar.com/new-car-deals
The majority of buyers, though, will prefer to go down the PCP finance route - and again, the Clio is the cheaper option. Put down a £2000 deposit on a three- year deal with a 10,000-mile annual limit and the Clio will cost £268 a month, versus £305 for the Ibiza, despite a larger deposit contribution from Seat.
Overall, however, the Ibiza will be the cheaper of the pair for private buyers to own over three years. Although servicing costs will be lower with the Clio, the Ibiza is predicted to shed a smaller amount in depreciation, and its fuel bills are likely to be a bit lower. On our real-world economy route, the Ibiza averaged 55.1mpg, while the Clio returned a still-respectable 52.0mpg.
Although our contenders are in the same company car tax band, you'll pay less in benefit-in-kind tax if you choose to run the Clio, thanks to its lower P11D price. If you're in the 40% tax bracket, it will cost you £169 a month - £30 less than for the Ibiza.
Given that the Clio is very keenly priced, you might expect it to be short on equipment, but that's not the case. In fact, this entry-level trim is quite generously equipped, making the Ibiza seem like the spartan one. While both come with cruise control, electric windows (front and rear), rain- sensing windscreen wipers and automatic LED headlights, the Clio adds keyless entry and start, as well as the parking aids and automatic air conditioning that we mentioned earlier. Metallic paint is a no-cost option on the Ibiza, though; you have to pay extra for this on the Clio.
While the Ibiza wasn't included in the most recent What Car? Reliability Survey, it was affected by electrical issues the previous year and ranked last in the small car category, although hopefully those problems have been sorted out now. The Clio came 18th out of 26 models in the latest survey.
In the overall brand league table, Seat ranked 18th out of 30, while Renault was slightly lower in 20th place. Should anything go wrong, each manufacturer offers a very average three-year/60,000-mile standard warranty.
The safety experts at Euro NCAP awarded the Clio five stars when they tested it back in 2019, but that rating has now expired, with the test becoming significantly stricter since then. The Ibiza, meanwhile, was awarded the maximum five stars in 2022. It scored Good or Adequate in every area except the control of excursion test (the extent to which a body is thrown to the other side of the car in a side impact) for adults in the front. It received a Poor rating in this test, on the grounds that there's no system to mitigate against occupant-to-occupant injuries. Both cars come with all of the basic safety equipment that you'd expect, including automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance and a driver attention alert. For some extra safety equipment, you can specify a £275 Safety and Driving Pack (M) with the Ibiza. This adds adaptive cruise control and high beam assistance, while the more expensive (£835) XL pack adds side and exit assistance, provided you go for one of the FR trims.
Our verdict
As has long been the case, the Clio is a great small car that's comfortable and good to drive. In fact, with this new entry- level trim being keenly priced yet well equipped, we can see why it might be even more tempting than before.
Even so, we think the latest Ibiza is a better all-rounder, by a small margin. Sure, you'll spend slightly more to buy it, but it'll make up for that with its slower depreciation and more efficient engine, both of which lower the running costs by a worthwhile amount over three years.
On top of that, not only does the Ibiza find a better balance between everyday comfort and being fun to drive, but it also gives you usefully more rear seat space for whenever you need it.
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1st – Seat Ibiza
For Great to drive, yet still comfortable; stronger acceleration; roomy in the back; lower ownership costs
Against Some suspension noise; grabby brakes; reliability record could be better
Recommended options Safety and Driving Pack (M) (£275)
For Generously equipped; cheaper to buy outright; good ride and handling balance; smoother brakes
Against Rear leg room is tight for taller adults; dated infotainment system; rearward visibility could be better
Recommended options Metallic paint (£650)
What Car? rating 4 stars out of 5
Renault Clio deals >>
Renault Clio 1.0 TCe 90 Generation
Engine 3cyl, 999cc, turbo, petrol
Peak power 90bhp at 5000rpm
Peak torque 118lb ft at 3750rpm
Gearbox 6-spd manual
0-60mph 12.0sec
Top speed 111mph
Braking 30-0mph 9.1m
Braking 70-0mph 49.8m
Noise at 30mph 60.8dB
Noise at 70mph 67.2dB
Kerb weight 1103kg
Tyre size (standard) 195/55 R16
CO2 emissions 118g/km
Seat Ibiza 1.0 TSI 95 SE
Engine 3cyl, 999cc, turbo, petrol
Peak power 94bhp at 5500rpm
Peak torque 129lb ft at 1600-3500rpm
Gearbox 6-spd manual
0-60mph 10.6sec
Top speed 118mph
Braking 30-0mph 8.9m
Braking 70-0mph 48.3m
Noise at 30mph 59.8dB
Noise at 70mph 67.5dB
Kerb weight 1144kg
Tyre size (standard) 195/55 R16
CO2 emissions 115g/km
Cars pictured
Renault Clio 1.0 TCe 90 Generation with Valencia Orange metallic paint (£750)
Seat Ibiza 1.0 TSI 95 SE with Fiord Blue non-metallic paint and Safety and Driving Pack (M) (£275)
