The name remains but in every other way, Renault’s Twingo is truly all-new. This is also the first model to use Edison, a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive joint venture platform developed with Daimler. The days of spinning the back tyres on small cars have suddenly returned.
First, the hooning element. Yes, the electronics won’t let you get too silly but how thrilling to be able to report that the Twingo will happily churn up gravel from its back tyres should you be childish enough to floor the throttle from a standing start. I was, on the UK media preview drive event. I mean, we’ve waited a long, long time for a rear-wheel drive small Renault. Not since the 8 and 10 has there been such a model (OK, the Alpine A610/GTA was a Renault in Britain but it wasn’t exactly a high volume car).
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Like Citroen, Renault has lately rediscovered its heritage after decades of keeping quiet about it. Its head of design speaks of the curves of the RWD 5 Maxi Turbo rally car from the mid ‘80s as he explains some of the thinking behind the Twingo’s styling, while immaculate examples of a 1965 R8 and 1956 4CV were proudly displayed on the driveway of the launch venue hotel.
I’m not too sure about the looks of the smart forfour, the car with which the Twingo will soon be sharing its production line at the Revoz plant in Slovenia, but the little Renault is to my eyes at least, perfectly proportioned.
Some more facts: it’s a five-door hatchback, there’s no front boot, nor is there a diesel engine or an automatic gearbox. The last of these is on the way, but it won’t appear until this time next year, branded as an Efficient Dual Clutch. Renault isn’t saying much about the EDC but we do know that smart will offer the forfour with a six-speed ‘twinamic’ auto so let’s presume it will be the same transmission.
Engine choice is between two Renault-made three-cylinder petrol units. The 999cc one produces 70hp (52kW) but I would recommend the 898cc turbo, which produces 90hp (66kW). There will be a 60hp (45kW) version of the one-litre for the smart forfour but not for the Twingo, at least not in Britain. Something else that will set these two apart will be EV capability. While a forfour electric drive will be added to the line-up in 2015, there will be no such Z.E. equivalent for Renault. I asked UK Twingo product manager John Peregrine why not. He pointed out that while lots of people say they’d love to buy a small plug-in car such as the slightly larger Zoe, not many do. Much of that comes down to showroom sales staff typically moving quickly to get people into Clios, apparently, rather than properly explaining the ins and outs of battery leasing, how recharging works and so on.
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By GlobalDataI would imagine that the need to make room for batteries is why the Twingo’s platform has such a high passenger compartment floor. It’s not uncomfortable for your legs, it’s just unusual. The driving position is comfortable enough, despite there being no rake adjustment for the steering wheel and a wide central tunnel so you’ve no left foot rest. There is, however, lots of elbow room and even with the concertina-ing canvas roof which some trim levels have, six foot tall drivers won’t be brushing their heads against the sun shade. Not so in the back, where even five foot ten of me was a little too close to the ceiling. Legroom, on the other hand, is very good.
You have the option of extending the capacity of the boot by positioning the folding rear seats’ backrests at 90 degrees. The standard capacity is a mere 188 litres, which extends to 219 if you make your rear seat passengers sit bolt upright. Drop the backrests and you end up with an impressive 980 litres. All versions also have a folding front passenger seat as standard so if you’re in the habit of carrying a double bass, you’ve just found your perfect small car (loads of up to 2.31m can be carried).
Firing up the car is done via a conventional key (hurrah) and the remainder of the controls are also nonsense-free. You have a speedo right in front of you and the little engine buzzing away behind you. The bigger, less powerful one emits a noise somewhere between the nastiness of an i3 Range Extender and the nirvana of a 911. It’s something I loved, and the other great news is how both 900cc turbo and 1.0-litre atmo also emit nothing like the din of the units in the outgoing smart fortwo.
Something else which is a welcome contrast to all generations of every smart car is the gearbox. No ghastly shunting for the Twingo, just pure and slick changes every time. There are only five speeds – JE3 001 gearbox code for the 70hp and JE3 003 for the turbo – but that’s enough ratios, as the top speeds are just 94mph and 103mph for the H4D 400 (70hp) and H4B 401 (90hp) engines respectively.
The 898cc engine develops its maximum power at 5,500rpm with torque of 135Nm (6,000rpm and 91Nm for the 1.0-litre atmo). The lower powered car takes a long 14.5 seconds to reach 62mph despite its 864kg kerb weight, but the turbo gets there in 10.8 seconds. Its weight is an official 943kg. You’re definitely better off going for the pricier 90hp engine when it comes to consumption too as the Combined ratings are 62.8mpg and 65.7mpg but in practice, you have to rev the lower powered one a lot more and constantly drop to a lower ratio so you’ll probably end up using more fuel anyway. The other good news about the turbo is the CO2 average of the car I drove was just 99g/km, whereas the 1.0-litre can average 105g/km. There is, though, a 70hp version with Stop & Start and this sees the CO2 number fall to 95g/km.
There are two things this terrific little car cries out for. More power, and the ditching of the electric steering. It isn’t that you long for an old-fashioned hydraulic system but rather, like the Alfa 4C or original Ford Ka, no assistance at all. I do hope that a future Gordini derivative has manual steering and about 110-120hp. The kerb-to-kerb turning circle is just 8.59 metres, which is helped by front wheels that have no engine between them so can turn 45 degrees. The range-topping Dynamique TCe 90 has variable gear ratio steering which has half a turn less than the SCe 70 but even so, it’s still too light for enthusiast drivers.
Apparently, there won’t be a followup to the R.S. Twingo as Renaultsport cars are reportedly in future only going to be extreme, high-power models in the style of the Clio and Megane. It’s hard to see how a 900cc turbo engine could be uprated to the necessary 150+ horsepower without eventually going bang. Why not give the car a larger capacity unit? Simple: there ain’t no room. As it is, Renault had to change 50% of the parts of the 898cc turbo engine from its original application in the Clio and Captur to make it fit under the Twingo’s boot. You must unscrew six wing-nuts to see the engine itself but this is easily done. If you get hit from behind, the mounting 49 degrees from the vertical means the little motor will be pushed beneath the passenger cell.
It isn’t just the platform sharing or place of build where Renault has been able to save money, you can also see quite a few examples in the car itself. In base Play trim, the mirrors must be adjusted manually but you can’t reach the passenger side joystick from the driver’s seat. There are no separate head restraints for the front occupants, the rear windows clip out rather than descend and there isn’t even a cable pull to open the bonnet. This you must do by drawing out two bit of plastic in the grille, then use the key to unlock the Noryl hood from its stays. It then pulls forwards to reveal a narrow well where you can access the battery and various fluids which might need topping up from time to time.
The polymer bonnet saves a claimed 3.5kg over a metal one and the front wings are also plastic for the same reason. It also helps with weight distribution, which is 45:55 front-to-rear versus the 70:30 typical of front-engined, FWD rivals in this class. The bonnet can be removed if needs be, and this is done by unhooking a couple of straps. Speaking of rivals, they include the Fiats 500 and Panda, the Kia Picanto & Hyundai i10, plus the big-selling triplets: C1/108/Aygo and up!/Citigo/Mii. Of course there’s also the Ka and Adam, plus next year’s Karl/Viva, not forgetting the forfour and Suzuki’s Alto.
Too-light steering apart, I was really struggling to find fault with the Twingo, it’s that good. The wipers’ sweep is about all I can suggest that might annoy you, especially in the winter months, as the driver’s one leaves a dangerously dirty 10cm wide unswept patch between the glass and the A pillar, and the rear one would be better if its rubber strip was longer.
Sales targets are not being revealed but certainly, the new car should easily outsell the old. In 2013, UK registrations totalled just 1,120 units, from overall worldwide deliveries of 84,329 cars. The new Twingo will be in UK dealerships from next week, priced from GBP9,495-11,695 with three trim levels: Expression, Play and Dynamique. The TV ad won’t air until Boxing Day as that’s when it’s most likely to catch the Great British public’s attention. It’s been created by the same team behind the opening credits for Catch Me If You Can.
