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Renault Twingo Facelift Spotted in Traffic, Paris Debut Looks Likely

The all-new Renault Clio is likely to be joined by an updated Twingo city car at this year's Paris Motor Show. The little French hatch has been spotted undergoing testing again, this time in traffic.
Renault Twingo Facelift Spotted in Traffic, Paris Debut Looks Likely 12 photos
Photo: SB-Medien
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With a provisional exhaust sticking out the back, it's pretty clear that the Twingo is getting a new or significantly updated engine.

Unlike 99% of the cars on the road, the smallest Renault currently offered has a rear-mounted engine. This is due to the platform being shared with Daimler's two smart cars. It places a considerable packaging problem for the people developing the new engine since this is tilted at to fit in the cramped space under the trunk.

The small car business isn't that competitive. In fact, the segment-leading VW Up! and its sister cars might be discontinued towards the end of the decade. We believe car sharing schemes are going the crucial to the survival of the smart brand, but that might not apply to the Twingo.

What's this about a new engine? Well, we hear that Renault has developed a new and slightly more powerful 1-liter three-cylinder turbo engine. It's going to make its debut in the next Clio and might also replace the Twingo's 0.9-liter unit.

Thanks to tech like a new cylinder lining, optimized heat transfer, and direct injection, the Twingo should be more efficient. About 5 horsepower should be added to the out, which probably won't make a world of difference when it comes to the 0 to 100 km/h sprint time. But they could develop a new, faster Twingo GT.

For the record, the Twingo GT needs 9.6 seconds to do the standard sprint while the 90 HP regular model reaches 100 km/h in 10.8 seconds. But those 99 grams per kilometer aren't what the EU wants.

Cosmetically, the 2019 Twingo will have redesigned front and rear bumpers, which will probably be Clio-inspired. The lack of round fog lights is making the Renault look more serious in our spyshots. But it's still no Mustang.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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