DIESEL Car Magazine has chosen the Renault Clio 1.5 dCi 100 as Best Supermini in its Car of the Year Awards 2004. This year's win is no mean feat, particularly as this is the third year in a row that the sporty Clio has won the coveted trophy - each time with a more powerful engine than the last. This flexible 1.5 dCi engine has helped the Clio significantly in achieving the milestone of 750,000 sales in the UK earlier this year.

Fighting off strong competition from the key contenders in this highly competitive category (Citroen C2, Fiat Punto, Ford Fiesta, Mini and Nissan Micra), the judges were impressed by the stylish Clio's blend of class-leading economy, performance and sporty handling, not to mention the dCi 100's refined ride and generous standard equipment levels.

Voting the Clio 1.5 dCi 100 as the Best Supermini category winner, the panel singled out the Clio's latest 100hp engine for praise, including comments such as: "The arrival of this peppy 100hp model...marks another nail in the coffin for petrol hatchbacking...For those seeking ultimate oomph...this car's highly respectable 148lb ft of torque at 1,900rpm will spell instant conversion," and "Add the economy potential of 66mpg and C02 emissions of just 113g/km and the warm feeling spreads quite rapidly into your pocket..."