On the one hand it’s a pity that the new Twingo doesn’t look funkier in the flesh. After all, with rivals such as the sensational-looking Fiat 500 to compete with, it’s unlikely to grab its audience with anything like the same conviction in the showroom.
No matter, because from an engineering point of view the Twingo all but compensates with a set of underpinnings that are decidedly more cutting edge than of old. The basic platform is an updated version of the previous Clio’s, which means front-wheel drive, struts and coil springs at the front, with a torsion bar and coil springs at the rear. Braking is by discs at the front and drums at the rear, and the anti-lock features a full-house Electronic Brake Distribution system.
In GT guise the engine is arguably the most interesting part of the package. Renault claims the Twingo’s 1.2-litre light-pressure turbo engine, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, “delivers the power of a 1.4 and the torque of a 1.6 with the economy and emissions of a 1.2”.
The numbers would appear to support the theory. The engine produces 99bhp at 5500rpm and 107lb ft of torque at 3000rpm and puts out just 140g/km of CO2, with a combined fuel economy of 47.8mpg. Amazingly, there’s also an overboost facility written into the ECU software that increases power by 5bhp and torque by 4lb ft for up to a minute in second, third and fourth gears.
If these gains sound like little more than an extra puff of wind on a cloudy day, there is one other factor that you may have overlooked: its weight, or lack of it. All up, the Twingo GT weighs just 980kg, which is amazingly light compared with its contemporary competition. Only the new Mazda 2 and Fiat 500 get anywhere near it in this respect, in light of which an extra 5bhp has more effect than you’d think.
Steering is by rack and pinion, as you’d expect, but the assistance is electrically powered; this system weighs less and benefits economy by a small amount.