RENAULT Twingo Review

Considering the fact that we are talking about an A-segment contender here, it is obvious that we have to split the comfort section in two sides, depending on what you can see outside the car, buildings or fields.

The interior space and soundproofing are OK for the rides that take place on urban roads, but once you leave the borders of the city, certain things, such as the wind noise and the fact that you’ll unintentionally start an elbow fight with the passenger from time to time, start to become bothering.

Thanks, in part, to the fact that the steering column is height adjustable, the driver can easily find a comfortable position, excepting the case in which the sporty feeling of the vehicle pushes him to really pursue such an attitude, in which case finding a proper position is impossible.

Since we’re here, we’ll also mention that we experienced a strange lack of legroom in the front, due to the fact that the part of the floor where you usually place your feet is significantly raised.

However, there are certain things that remain the same, regardless of the type of trip taken. First, there’s the suspension, which manages to handle most threats to your internal organs. As for the seats, these don’t excel in any way, which means that your back won’t complain.

When it comes to features that matter in this chapter, the Twingo is rather shy. The vehicle we tested came with an air conditioning system - nothing special about it, just your middle of the pack single zone climate control system - electric windows, which were annoying due to the fact that they didn’t come with an auto function, as well as with electric door mirrors.

The second generation of the Twingo is based on the previous Clio’s platform. That might not sound like an appealing fact, but the reality is different, as Renault has made serious efforts to update the underpinnings, tweaking the suspension and keeping the weight down. The latter fact is actually the Twingo’s main tech asset.

As you know, contemporary cars suffer from obesity, due to the automaker’s lack of determination to make efforts to counterbalance the side effects of strict safety regulations and interior space demand. Well, the Twingo manages to tip the scales at 50 kg below the 1 ton mark.

This can really be felt once you start moving, as the car will do what you want, when you want. Yes, powered by this engine, it will make a huge fuss about accelerating and the suspension will complain about having to corner hard, but the driver’s orders are followed.

Under the hood, we have a declaration of downsizing, a 1,149 cc petrol four banger that delivers 75 hp and 107 Nm of torque. These numbers won’t even bring the car close to a good status in the straight line dynamics area, but the engine’s willingness to rev is adorable.

The rev counter, which is the only instrument placed in front of the driver, will hit its red line (in the lower gears) in a manner that will make you want to keep it there. This is what we did and you can’t blame us - just listen to the engineers: the maximum power comes at 5,500 rpm, while the peak torque arrives at 4,250 rpm.

On paper, this means that the vehicle will cover the 0 to 62 mph sprint in 12 seconds flat and keep on upping the ante until its digital speedometer shows 171 km/h (106 mph). In the real world, this is translated in second and third gear acceleration that doesn’t make you regret you got in the car and the ability to cruise in a decent manner as long as you don’t plan to break any speed limits.

We have to tell you that the vehicle we tested had an annoying... lack. It didn’t allow us to see the fuel consumption. Thus, we were forced to measure this using the “fill ‘er up!” method.

The price of the Twingo we tested (around EUR8,500) acts like a filter which doesn’t let any gadget that is too cool enter the car. Thus, the epitome of entertainment technology present on the vehicle was an optional audio system that offered multiple functions, such as a set of controls mounted on the steering column and a Bluetooth connection for our phones. We have to tell you that the controls, which are typical for the low and medium-priced Renault vehicles, handle their job just fine.

The system was ready to become friends with your personal devices through an USB or a jack auxiliary in socket and released the decibels through four 20W speakers. It turned out to be a decent audio partner, managing to offer a good sound quality and intuitive menus.

It didn’t take long for our test drivers and photographers to find other parts of the vehicle that could be used as toys. From the first moment you climb into the driver’s seat, you want to play with the rev counter, which just seems to have been placed on top of the steering column with this purpose in mind (the rev-happy engine will let you do this). We even tried to take it to the office with us but it just wouldn’t come off.

And then there’s the blue rubber stalagmites gathering, which you can remove from its place and use for self massaging. Sure, this will make the things you place on top of the dash spread all around the cabin, but you’ll have fun in the process. We’re not sure the designers have though about this when they created it, but, trust us, it’s a pretty good tool for the job.

As you know, the guys at Euro NCAP have no mercy: it doesn’t matter how small or cute a vehicle is, once they get their hands on it, they can’t find their rest until they smash it against special torture devices called deformable barriers. Of course, this is exactly what they did to the little Twingo. It is now time for us to see the results.

The Twingo received a four-star rating, with an overall score of 28 points. The passenger compartment kept its shape well during the frontal impact. However, certain parts of the dash threatened the knees and femurs of both the driver’s legs and the passenger’s inboard leg.

The Twingo we tested came with a pretty short list of safety features, so we can probably include the active and the passive ones in the same paragraph. Oh dear... this can’t be good. Anyway, let’s give it a go: ABS with EBA (Emergency Braking Assistance), an ISOFIX system for installing a child seat on the rear bench (as you’ll see bellow, this has a sad story), a seat belt reminder and two frontal airbags.

As for the part with the child seat system, the Euro NCAP claims that, while the front seats were in the typical test position, the child restrains recommended by the automaker just couldn’t be fitted in the rear seats. This means that the organization couldn’t even test the child protection level of the vehicle.

While the Twingo certainly doesn’t look menacing, if we’re talking about an impact with a pedestrian, things change dramatically. Let us explain. The bumper won’t brake your legs, but the front edge of the bonnet might want to tear you apart. What do the numbers say about this? Euro NCAP gave the car a two-star rating, with a score of 11 points, so you’ll want to look out when you’re crossing the street.

When the second generation of the Twingo was previewed by a concept, Renault delivered a visual promise of dynamism through the creation’s details. Subsequently, the company strengthened this through the description used in the vehicle’s press release. Fortunately, the real-world Twingo manages to stay true to this, offering a sporty-ish feeling (emotions not numbers!), even in the 75 hp version. The car is a proper tool for having a bit of fun, providing that you keep it inside the borders of the city.

The bad part about this car is the fact that Renault didn’t make efforts to clean up after its cost-reducing intentions. You feel like you’re in a cheap car when you operate the electric windows (the lack of an automatic function takes care of that) when you touch the steering wheel or when the wind noise assaults your ears. This is such a pity, because there are many parts of the car which would deserve a better image.

We couldn’t find an actual ugly part of the Twingo, even though there were certain candidates. The runner up (to nobody) was the rear end design. Like we said, this isn’t ugly, but can qualify as a weapon, because its dullness might make you become bored to death.

Yes, the Twingo has an original design, but it’s not actually all that smart and no, the rear seats aren’t extremely comfortable, but they’re OK for short and medium trips. To put it shortly, except for the fun drive, the Twingo didn’t manage to offer us any significant emotions, neither positive, nor negative.

It says “youth” in the urban environment, expressing this both through its exterior and through its interior. If you insist on using it for trips outside the city, it won’t say “No”, offering an OK-ish package (a beefier engine would’ve changed that to “decent”).