Meet the new Twingo. Renault's new A-segment star.
You'd think it's similar to a car like the compact FWD Seat Mii.
But this Twingo is rear-engined and RWD. So it's more like a 911.
Quite a technical change. A drawback: the engine is under the boot.
It's tilted but the floor is still quite high, so there's less space.
219 litres with the rear seats up. A lot less than, say, a Hyundai i10.
But you can put the rear and the front passager seats down.
The rear-mounted engine also enables a long wheelbase.
Hence there's plenty of room for the passengers.
The wheels can turn more, enabling a very small turning circle.
That brings us to the best bit according to Renault: how it is to drive.
The short turning circle is the most evident aspect. It's just 9 metres.
It's almost like a forklift. Great maneuverability. Light steering, too.
Outside cities, the long wheelbase gives it a tranquil yet firm ride.
It tends to get bouncy on rough roads, though.
It's acceptable for this segment, though not as mature as the i10.
Moving on to the engines. You always get a 3 cilinder.
There's an NA 1.0 with 70 PS. This is the turbo 0.9 with 90 PS and 135 Nm.
It's quite zippy, enabling 0-100 km/h in less than 11 seconds. Neat!
Though our car today feels like it hasn't been run in properly yet.
You really need to push before it starts to get going.
It hesitates a bit. Strange, as this engine performs great in the Clio.
The manual 5-speed works light and clear. Same goes for the clutch.
Though you may have to get used to the feeling of it.
Either way, there's a nice entry-level engine and a stronger one.
The new Twingo feels fresh. It may be less practical, but offers great fun.
It's a nice and happy car. Though this one is loaded and a bit pricy.
It can cost up to 15000 euros, which is steep for this segment.
So what about the base spec? We'll find out some in a multi test.
I'm confident this will do well. It very different in a nice way.
+ Original concept, feisty 3-cilinder
- Boot not all that amazing, clutch feels numb