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Road Test: Renault Twingo Play Sce 70

By / 9 years ago / Road Tests / No Comments

Sector: City Car Price: £9,995 Fuel: 62.8mpg CO2: 105g/km

The third generation Renault Twingo is one of those products which reminds you how brilliant the French manufacturers are at small cars. Compact, stylish and very clever, it’s so packed full of Renault’s specialist know-how that it’s a little like a ‘Best Of’ compilation.

It’s the platform that’s drawn the most interest. Co-developed with Daimler and, as a result, shared with the Smart Forfour built on the same production line, the duo are unique in this segment in that the engine is at the back, powering the rear wheels. So within a short overall footprint, this has enabled the Twingo’s wheels to be pushed out to the far corners and the cabin to take an unusually large share of the overall length.

Just like the Renault 4CV, the car which got France moving back in the late 1940s, this layout means there's much more interior space than the overall dimensions suggest. Front and rear seat occupants have plenty of head and leg room and, with no engine in the way, the Twingo has an incredibly tight turning circle and manoeuvrability few can match. 

The interior borrows from Renault’s MPV experience. This was the brand which brought versatile family-carriers like the Espace to market, then downsized it to the segment-defining Scenic and ultra-compact Modus. There are cubby holes under the rear seats, a storage box wedged into the cup holders in the front, and with the passenger seat and half of the rear bench folded it can accommodate loads up to 2.2 metres in length – ideal for trips to Ikea.

Streched over that practicality, the styling arguably plays closer homage to the Renault 5 than to the original Twingo, despite getting the bright but resticted paint palette of its namesake. The two-piece headlights, striped rear lamps and sloping tailgate, plus the coloured plastic instrument surround, offer such a direct link that it’s practically a modern interpretation. It has even inherited the 5’s pop-out rear windows, saving weight, cost and creating generous storage in the door pockets.

The slight disappointment with an otherwise basic but well-engineered car, is that the running costs for fleet users are a little out of sync with the latest entrants in this class. While the PSA-Toyota city cars are all under 100g/km, it’s only the top-spec Twingo that gets stop-start and the resulting double-digit CO2 emissions. Renault has made it easy to upgrade to satellite navigation, though, thanks to a USB cradle which allows a smartphone to show most dashboard functions.

Drivers expecting the Porsche 911-esque rear-engine, rear-drive layout to result in a driver’s car may be surprised too. The lower-powered non-turbo engine is a revvy, torquey unit to use and makes an entertaining, and the quick steering means it feels agile around town, but the overall experience feels more like a very polished Smart than a junior Renault 5 Maxi Turbo, and the lack of weight can make the front end feel light at motorway speeds.

But that’s missing the point. For city use, where this car’s best attributes will show up on almost every drive, the Twingo is an excellent tool for the job. Stylish, practical and clever too, it’s another reason why choosing an A-segment car is an incredibly tough call.

Verdict:

An excellent car in an incredibly strong sector, the Twingo is let down only by relatively high CO2 emissions and a few sub-par plastics in the cabin. As a chic and flexible form of urban transport, Renault has just put itself back on the radar.

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Alex Grant

Trained on Cardiff University’s renowned Postgraduate Diploma in Motor Magazine Journalism, Alex is an award-winning motoring journalist with ten years’ experience across B2B and consumer titles. A life-long car enthusiast with a fascination for new technology and future drivetrains, he joined Fleet World in April 2011, contributing across the magazine and website portfolio and editing the EV Fleet World Website.