I would say the Imperial Clipper is significantly better than the 300 year old Fer De Lance:
1. The Clipper is more manoeuvrable in combat due to better pitching. The stats value (6 vs 2) appears an indication of lateral thruster movement which is of little use beyond docking. The FDL just can't turn in very well; I had to fly it in reverse most the time which is poignant, because most things on the FDL really are a backward step.
2. Gun placement on the FDL is problematic; they're so close to the centre of the hull that unless the target is aligned vertically to the centre of your ship then only half the guns can hit the target. Keeping your ship in that optimum position can feel a bit like you're playing the interdiction minigame against more manoeuvrable fighters. The wide placement on the Clipper is considered quirky by some but it rarely bothers me and gives it another design advantage:
3. FDL has appalling heat management with its 4 medium guns packed in to the centre of the hull. With standard bulkheads you can't fire a couple of class 2 beams with a class 3 pulse for more than 5 seconds before the whole ship overheats and starts destroying your modules from the inside out; the only damage I suffered in combat was entirely self inflicted and typically cost 50K in repairs each time. In 15 seconds of firing it'll heat the hull to 150% and internal modules start catastrophically failing whilst the shields stay intact. Hopeless, no it really is! Never seen the Clipper warm up at all.
4. The FDL's default shields do start significantly stronger on the FDL (300 vs 180), but you can beat it: The Clipper can house a much more powerful power plant, giving another 5MW and up to 410 shields (A7 with 4 boosters). Or you can just match the FDL's A5 shields for virtually the same 5-6 mill cost by using a C7 shield and 3 boosters. I couldn't power much on my FDL, even with an A5 class power plant it just didn't have the grunt, leaving me with a toss up between one shield booster or one A4 shield bank.
5. The Clipper is a bit cheaper to completely outfit (military bulkheads etc). However, negating the bulkhead upgrades, the FDL is cheaper to outfit with the best modules A grade modules as they're smaller, lower class stuff. Most A grade gear costs around 5mill on the FDL, compared to 16mill on the Clipper.
6. Even before upgrading, the default hull is stronger on the Clipper (270 vs 225).
7. The Clipper has 7 spare internal compartments vs 4 on the FDL, allowing you to fit lots of hull reinforcement packages in additional to your gear, interdictor, shield banks, auto repair, advanced discovery etc.
8. The FDL is like tin foil in collisions; I lost two of them in a week, once clipping a dock exit (doh) and once a NPC Anaconda; each time it was instant annihilation of 100% shields and hull! :S This never happens in the Clipper which you can use like a battering ram the very moment you get bored of using poxy little lasers and see a fun opportunity to speed things up.
9. Better jump range on the Clipper, though the tank runs out faster. Plenty of compartments for a cheap powerful class 4 fuel scoop though whereas I only had space for a class 2 on the FDL.
10. Speed as everyone knows, plus the additional mass lock, are better on the Clipper. Though the FDL is not far behind on speed, boosting well over 400 when upgraded.
10. The Clipper is undoubtedly more beautiful and luxurious inside. And more exotic outside.
11. The etheral Clipper arguably sounds better inside and out. FDL sounds more like a Dalek which certainly has its own appeal, but I still prefer the Clipper for boosting around in.
IMO apart from the default shields which can be beaten and the ability to still land on platforms, the FDL is inferior both in combat and any other puposes, an antique, keep it in the garage with the other luxury relics.
Maybe when capital ship battles become commonplace in Elite there'll be some fun in having that huge hardpoint but not yet.
Needless to say, after a week I'd sold my old FDL to a scrap merchant and gone back to a Clipper, which I admire more than ever before. It's a shame I still have to use a 34LY trading ASP to make decent credits in this game though; never found a use for the Clipper's 200+ potential cargo hold (I make around 2 million every 50 minutes doing rares in the ASP).
