RENAULT

TWINGO WINGS Renaultsport is establishing quite a reputation for cracking sporty hatches. Renault’s go-faster crew now turn their attention to the Twingo. Andy Enright reports

When the cutesy Renault Twingo first appeared, few thought it could be morphed into something quite as lairy as the Renaultsport Twingo 133. With a perky engine, beefed up suspension and a whole heap of attitude, this hot Twingo shows that Renault hasn’t forgotten its younger customers.

When it comes to hot hatches, there’s one manufacturer that time and again has served up the goods. Peugeot has been off the boil too long, Ford is hampered by a lack of decent small engines, Volkswagen usually prices itself out of contention and Vauxhall all too often substitute power for control. No, the hot hatch king is undoubtedly Renault. Cars like the 5 Gordini, the 5 GT Turbo, the Clio Williams, the Clio 172/182, the 19 16v, the latest Clio 197 and Megane 225/R26 variants show an almost unerring ability to hit the bullseye when it comes to fun, fast hatchbacks. With the Renaultsport version of the Clio, the company is hoping to add another name to that list. The ingredients look promising. A tiny citycar with an engine of quite some heft is a good start and if any company can turn a promising power to weight ratio into something that works as a marketable product, it’s Renault. We thought the Twingo’s sporty seam had been mined with the 100bhp Twingo GT, but the Renaultsport model is the real deal. As its name suggests, it packs a 133bhp punch which is quite a hit in a car this small. The engine, a 1.6-litre unit, delivers its peak power at 6,750rpm, so you’ll need to be quite aggressive with the throttle if you want to extract optimum performance. You’ll be rewarded with a decidedly rude exhaust note from the four-into-one system and a deep-chested timbre from the induction system up front. This is not your average warmed over shopping trolley. Many manufacturers juice the engine up, add a few sports trimmings inside and leave it at that. Renault distinguishes itself by sweating the details. That’s why this Twingo Renaulsport 133 features bigger brake discs and callipers, and a track width that has been increased by 60mm at the front and 59mm at the back over the Twingo GT. There’s even an optional Cup chassis available with even more focused springs and dampers, bigger alloy wheels and a lowered ride height. This is designed largely for track use although it’s easy to imagine this Twingo getting rather dwarfed by the wide open expanses of many circuits. Coming to a go kart track near you maybe.

"Above all else the Twingo Renaultsport 133 is a car that puts a smile on your face…"

When the concept of a Renaultsport version of the Twingo was first mooted, I groaned inwardly, thinking the end result would sully the Renaultsport badge and look a bit, well, dorky. The results are anything but and the Twingo actually looks more aggressive than the Clio and the Megane. It’s said that little dogs are more likely to bite and this Twingo isn’t shy of baring its teeth. The exterior highlights would take some time to cover in detail but include 16-inch alloy wheels, a wide air intake in the front bumper, side sills, front and rear wings, a chrome tail pipe, dark grey detailing for many body parts and the no-cost option of Renaultsport chequered flag details. Twee it is most certainly not. Build quality seems decent enough, the Slovenian factory where the Twingo is built enjoying a decent reputation for low warranty claims. The car’s interior is also spacious for the citycar sector with the available room maximised by clever split rear seats that individually slide and recline. Push these right back and you’ll get proper sized adults in the back with ease, while head and legroom for those in the front is also generous. The boot is a bit pokey but can be extended when you’ve no rear seat passengers by folding the seat backs down. The car’s interior gets the treatment as well. Sports seats, a perforated leather-trimmed steering wheels and a rev counter located in the straight ahead position are all integral to the experience. Some of the boy-racer accoutrements are a little OTT but the Twingo Renaultsport is too likeable to get sniffy about. How many other cars combine a rev counter with a number font that gets bigger as you approach 7,000rpm, Blood Orange seat belts, a stitched marker on the steering wheel to indicate the straight ahead position and gearshift up warning lights? Aside from the go-faster parts, the Twingo Renaultsport also includes a few convenience and comfort refinements.You’ll find rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlamps and air-conditioning. Then there’s front lateral airbags to the driver and passenger airbags, ABS brakes and electronic brakeforce distribution. Being a compact city car as well as a hot hatch, the Renaultsport Twingo was developed with the big environment issue very much in mind and that means Twingo buyers should be able to run one with their green conscience and their bank balance relatively intact. Achieving around 42mpg on the combined cycle, the 1.6-litre engine has one of the lowest fuel consumption figures of any petrol-powered shopping rocket and relatively tax-friendly CO2 emissions of around 160g/km will also benefit the car’s bottom line. The Renaultsport Twingo also falls under Renault’s eco2 initiative which aims to manufacture and recycle vehicles in as environmentally-friendly a manner as possible. There’s not a noticeable shortage of small hot hatches on the market, all vying for the hard-earned pounds of young buyers who have just won a measure of independence. There are even some quite good ones that are worthy of your attention. There aren’t any, however, that attack the market with quite the eye-popping 100 per cent commitment of the Twingo Renaultsport 133. By comparison, even the best of the rivals seem half-baked. Of course, this approach is not going to curry favour with those looking for a measure of subtlety but there’s a time and a place for being low key and if you’ve read this far, you’ll realise that it’s not when behind the wheel of this car. What Renaultsport has done with this car is just turn the volume up to 11 on all the controls. It’s brash, it’s overdone almost to the point of self parody, but above all else the Twingo Renaultsport 133 is a car that puts a smile on your face. That’s a criterion forgotten by so many manufacturers and a key reason why Renault remains the best in the business when it comes to hot hatches.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Twingo Renaultsport 133 PRICE: £12,995 [est] - on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 12 [est] CO2 EMISSIONS: 160g/km [est] PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 124mph / 0-60mph 7.8s [est] FUEL CONSUMPTION (combined) 42mpg [est] STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ABS with EBD, Driver and passenger airbags, front lateral airbags. WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 3601/1640/1472

TWINGO WINGS IN We missed out on the first generation Renault Twingo, the French maker only selling its entry-level citycar on the continent. Does their second take on the theme make up for this oversight? Andy Enright takes a look

As we’re encouraged to live an ever greener lifestyle, Renault is putting its money where its mouth is, recycling the old Clio platform and producing the second generation Twingo for lifestyle-conscious citycar buyers. Although not as comparatively ground breaking as the original, it’ll still appeal to younger drivers looking for something inexpensive yet stylish.

Two engines are offered, both petrol units and both of 1.2-litre capacity. The first is the 16-valve 75bhp entry-level unit that will comprise the bulk of Twingo sales and which is fitted to the Dynamique model. Optimised for fuel efficiency, this engine will happily idle at just 650rpm. Sharing 70 per cent of this engine’s parts is the 100bhp TCE (Turbo Control Efficiency) powerplant that Renault fit to the sporty Twingo GT. Renault claims this engine offers the power of a 1.4-litre unit with the efficiency of a typical 1.2-litre. A tiny turbocharger minimises lag and offers sharp responses, maximum power coming at 5,5500rpm while the 145Nm peak torque figure is offered at 3,000rpm. An overboost facility allows an additional 5bhp of power and 6Nm of torque temporarily in second, third and fourth gears at engine speeds above 4,500rpm to help with overtaking. Two transmissions are available, a conventional manual five-speed or the Quickshift robotised set-up if you choose the 75bhp Dynamique. The Twingo inherits the Clio II’s chassis, and keen drivers hardly need reminding that this was one of the most capable and fun small car platforms around. Electric variable power steering is fitted as standard, the GT getting a beefier set up to complement the stiffer bushes in its suspension. The show car unveiled at the 2006 Paris motor show hasn’t been significantly watered down for production. The shape is nowhere near as radical as that of the original Twingo, looking much like a shrunken Modus but it’s still a very neat piece of styling. The most interesting piece of detailing is the decision to do away with the dihedral Renault front grille, the nose sporting a low front air dam instead. Available in three-door guise only, the Twingo has a number of neat design touches. The swollen wheel arches, novel door catches, GT badging adjacent to the front fog lamps and accessory packs that include flowers, stripes and chequer decals indicate that Renault is looking to offer something that’s not just a me-too contender.

"It’s easy to see the Twingo being a hit with younger drivers…"

Interior space is reasonable, this generation Twingo being a massive 170mm longer than the original. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the interior is what Renault has done to the rear seats. The two rear seats can slide 220mm fore and aft to prioritise space for either people or luggage and they also fold flat and then tumble forwards, offering up to 959 litres of space in this guise. Other noteworthy features include a centrally mounted instrument cluster and no fewer than eleven storage spaces dotted around the cabin. Two models are offered although it’s likely that a stripped out econobasic model will also be slotted into the Twingo range later to offer an eye catching entry-level price. As it stands, the £8,375 Dynamique features a slightly sporting look with a rev counter, sports bumpers and fog lamps picked out with a satin grey surround. The £9,995 GT gets 15-inch alloy wheels, chrome tailpipes, a rear lip spoiler and leather trim for the steering wheel and gear lever. Renault has committed to a "120-140 Pledge" whereby it maintains that by 2008, it will be selling one million vehicles that emit less than 140g/km of carbon dioxide, including one-third that emit less than 120g/km. Both Twingo engines emit less than 140g/km so the French company will hope that these cars shift well. Fully 85 per cent of the car is recyclable by weight. The Twingo aims to simplify life for owners as well as ease the environmental burden. Oil changes are recommended every 18,000 miles on the 1.2 75bhp engine and air filters and spark plugs are said to be good for 37,000 miles between replacements. The front and rear of the car have been designed to shrug off minor knocks, driving down insurance costs still further. Meanwhile, fuel economy has been improved by the fitment of electrically assisted power steering which makes a saving of around four per cent on the car’s fuel consumption figures. Built at Novo Mesto in Slovenia, the Twingo features innovative build techniques such as laser-brazing for the roof. There’s also a 12-year anti corrosion warranty thanks to features like a fully galvanised subframe and wax-injected hollow sections. The Twingo looks as if it has the ingredients to make a success of itself. It’s cheap, acceptably well screwed together, based on tried and tested underpinnings and the name carries an element of recognition, despite its predecessor never being sold here. I can’t help but feel that Renault has bottled it a little in the design stakes, as most would associate the Twingo name with something radically innovative. While ‘New Twingo’ does offer a few novel details here and there, the overall concept isn’t particularly bold or fresh. Perhaps Renault is just counting on doing the basics those crucial few degrees better than anybody else. While it’s easy to see the Twingo being a hit with younger drivers, it’ll take an extension of the model range to really broaden the appeal. A hot Renaultsport variant is in the offing as well as a stripped out entry-level car. For the time being, the Twingo seems a worthy contender but not the clear market leader we were expecting.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Renault Twingo range PRICES: £8,375-£9,995 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 2-6 [est] CO2 EMISSIONS: 135-140g/km PERFORMANCE: [GT] Max Speed 117mph / 0-62mph 9.8s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.2] (urban) 37.6mpg / (extra urban) 60.1mpg / (combined) 49.5mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ABS with EBD, Driver and passenger lateral airbags. WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 3601/1640/1472

AFFORDABLE? EXTREMELY Renault’s Twingo is a simple, affordable citycar so you might expect it to be at its best in its most simple and affordable form. Steve Walker checks out the Twingo Extreme

A lively driving experience, good interior space and low costs make Renault’s Twingo Extreme a citycar with plenty of appeal. There are more fashionable and flamboyant small cars out there but few that make more sense.

People expect certain things from a car called Extreme. Perhaps you’d be looking for something extremely fast, extremely well-equipped or, as a result of this pace and plushness, extremely expensive. The Renault Twingo Extreme is none of the above. It’s the entry-level option in the Twingo range so we can only assume that Renault’s naming committee were referring to the extremely good value for money it represents. We’ll be the judge of that. Renault forged itself a bit of a reputation in the early noughties for pursuing an adventurous styling direction. The Avantime and Vel Satis may have subsequently turned out to be a couple of well-stuffed turkeys but their design language, the one that nobody understood, was eventually translated into the Megane II - a car that looked both different and, crucially, good. So it was that breaths were well and truly baited for the unveiling of the Renault Twingo. This was to be next generation of an evocatively-styled citycar that sold like wildfire in Europe during the nineties but never arrived in the UK. When the covers came off, the disappointment was tangible. The Twingo looked fine but where was the flair, the drama, the ‘want one’ factor that great small cars need? The Twingo may not yank on the heart strings as powerfully as a MINI or a Fiat 500 but Renault hopes it can still appeal on more prosaic grounds and if any Twingo can, it’s this entry-level Extreme. The Twingo Extreme gets the least powerful engine in the Twingo’s line-up of 1.2-litre petrol units. Above it sit the 75bhp 1.2-litre 16-valver and the 110bhp 1.2-litre TCE Turbo but the unit we’re dealing with here is a 60bhp 8-valve 1.2. This engine will get the Twingo to 62mph in 15 seconds and eventually trundle on to a 96mph top speed. Performance isn’t dramatic but it’s adequate for urban usage where the Twingo feels sprightly enough off the line and up to 30mph or so helped by its modest 925kg kerb weight.

"As an affordable small car with low running costs Renault’s offering makes good sense…"

The Twingo serves up a pleasantly urgent driving experience in the kind of urban areas where it will be predominantly used. The ride isn’t the crash, bang, wallop, affair served up by some small cars and is actually very composed on bad surfaces. The car changes direction promptly and can corner with the best citycar offerings partly as a result of its use of the chassis from the previous generation Clio. The Renault Twingo show car unveiled at the 2006 Paris motor show hasn’t been significantly watered down for production. The shape is nowhere near as radical as that of the original Twingo, looking much like a shrunken Modus but it’s still an acceptable piece of styling. The most interesting piece of detailing is the decision to do away with the dihedral Renault front grille, the nose sporting a low front air dam instead. Available in three-door guise only, the Twingo has a number of neat design touches. The swollen wheel arches, novel door catches, neat front fog lamps and accessory packs that include flowers, stripes and chequer decals indicate that Renault is looking to offer something that’s not just a me-too contender. Interior space is reasonable, this generation Twingo being a massive 170mm longer than the original. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the interior is what Renault has done to the rear seats. The two rear seats can slide 220mm fore and aft to prioritise space for either people or luggage and they also fold flat and then tumble forwards, offering up to 959 litres of space in this guise. Other noteworthy features include a centrally mounted instrument cluster and no fewer than eleven storage spaces dotted around the cabin. The £7,500 asking price could well be the statistic that draws the most buyers in the Twingo Extreme’s direction. The problem is that the entry-level Renault Clio, an altogether larger and more advanced prospect, is worryingly close in value. Still, the Extreme doesn’t shirk the challenge from its big brother in the equipment stakes. Even this entry-level car receives the clever one-piece folding rear seat, a CD stereo with steering wheel controls, front fog lights, electric front windows and a rev counter. To step up from the Extreme to the plusher Dynamique, buyers will need a further £900 but the options list may be a more entertaining place to spend some of that money. The Twingo can be ordered with an integrated Bluetooth system and an MP3 connector in the glovebox so you can use all your technological titbits in the car. Alternatively, there’s a host of exterior tweaks available to personalise your car including Union Jacks, racing stripes and chequered graphics. All Renault Twingo models fall under the manufacturer’s eco2 initiative which focuses on reducing the whole life environmental costs of every model in the range. The Extreme is actually the best performing derivative in the Twingo range from this standpoint with its 50.4mpg economy and emissions of just 132g/km. The car has also been designed to be highly recyclable and meets strict criteria in terms of the emissions produced during its manufacturing process. The front and rear of the Twingo have been designed to shrug off minor knocks, driving down insurance costs still further. Meanwhile, strong fuel economy has been achieved by the fitment of electrically assisted power steering which makes a saving of around four per cent on the car’s fuel consumption figures. Built at Novo Mesto in Slovenia, the Twingo features innovative build techniques such as laser-brazing for the roof. There’s also a 12-year anti corrosion warranty thanks to features like a fully galvanised subframe and wax-injected hollow sections. The Renault Twingo might not be the most exciting option in a small car sector that’s increasingly fashion-led but it has the basics nicely taken care of. If you’re looking for a functional urban runabout that isn’t going to cripple you financially, this entry-level Extreme derivative ticks all the boxes. The rising cost of motoring and growing environmental concerns have put small cars very much in the limelight but you have to wonder whether Renault has missed a trick with the Twingo. Don’t take this the wrong way, the car is fun to drive, highly manoeuvrable and well-suited to its citycar role but with a little bit of visual sparkle, it could have been a much more desirable option. As it is, the entry-level Twingo Extreme may show the car in its best light. As an affordable small car with low running costs Renault’s offering makes good sense, though those looking for a cute urban fashion accessory may be drawn elsewhere.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Renault Twingo Extreme PRICES: £7,500 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 2 CO2 EMISSIONS: 132g/km PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 96mph / 0-62mph 15s FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 39.2mpg / (extra urban) 61.4mpg / (combined) 50.4mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ABS with EBD, Driver and passenger lateral airbags. WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 3601/1640/1472