Photo: Stefan Baldauf / Robert Kah
Small French cars are huge news in Geneva this year, especially this one, the Renault Twingo. It's a third generation model which will be launched later this year, capitalizing on 20 years in the marketplace.
Rather than going for an evolution, Renault decided it was time for a revolution, and so they teamed up with smart. For anybody who knows how smart cars work, than can only mean one thing: the engine is in the back.
Thinking back to the first Fiat 500s, putting the engine in the wrong place is actually a bit of a tradition in this segment, but you've got to remember cars didn't have a hatch back in those days. The Renault Twingo has one of those and a very normal, if a bit crammed, cargo space. We peaked beneath the cargo floor to find a tiny little engine hidden under rubbery insulation. Renault will stuff either a 0.9 triple-banger with 70 hp and no turbo or a the same block with a turbo making 90 hp.
"If the engine is in the back, what's in the front?" we hear you ask. We honestly don't know, but just like on a smart opening the front hood is not a simple task. It only slides down a little bit for you to be able to refill the wiper fluids.
Questions about the servicing the awkwardly and restrictively placed engine arise, as do those about the driving characteristics of a car with all its weight at the back during winter.
One last thing. How long will it be before somebody finds a way to shove another engine into this thing?
Thinking back to the first Fiat 500s, putting the engine in the wrong place is actually a bit of a tradition in this segment, but you've got to remember cars didn't have a hatch back in those days. The Renault Twingo has one of those and a very normal, if a bit crammed, cargo space. We peaked beneath the cargo floor to find a tiny little engine hidden under rubbery insulation. Renault will stuff either a 0.9 triple-banger with 70 hp and no turbo or a the same block with a turbo making 90 hp.
"If the engine is in the back, what's in the front?" we hear you ask. We honestly don't know, but just like on a smart opening the front hood is not a simple task. It only slides down a little bit for you to be able to refill the wiper fluids.
Questions about the servicing the awkwardly and restrictively placed engine arise, as do those about the driving characteristics of a car with all its weight at the back during winter.
One last thing. How long will it be before somebody finds a way to shove another engine into this thing?
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