Twingo 3

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Discussion

xu5

Original Poster:

633 posts

157 months

Thursday 9th March 2017
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When the Twingo 3 was announced as a small rear engined car, I as many others it seems had high hopes. What has since transpired is a car that is hard to identify as being rear engined or RWD, vague steering and overbearing ESC. It would seem that this also applies to the GT.

Are there any after market remedies for these? Eibach springs with the GT's stiffer dampers, Softer front ARB or stronger rear? ESC delete?

Anyone got a Twingo 3 or tweaked one. I see Ktec don't offer anything for it yet.



Edited by xu5 on Thursday 9th March 11:42

BristolRich

545 posts

133 months

Friday 10th March 2017
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xu5 said:
Anyone got a Twingo 3 or tweaked one. I
Edited by xu5 on Thursday 9th March 11:42
I'm not one for moaning about specific points on cars as I dont believe they are all "perfect", however this is a car I am keen to pass comment on...

I had one for a day as a works hire car to get me from one site to another and back. Got to say it was the worst/scariest modern car I had the pleasure of driving 20miles in.

You dont say if you own one or not, if not I seriously suggest you take one on a test drive and (try) to get it up to anything over 50mph. Once there savour the aimless latteral wandering effect it seems to settle in to and see how your nerves cope.

It is IMO a car with some weird traits.

xu5

Original Poster:

633 posts

157 months

Friday 10th March 2017
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I have not driven one. I am looking for a test drive, preferably a GT. It is a car I would really like the idea of, but most reviews do not speak that highly of the driving experience.


blindspot

316 posts

143 months

Friday 10th March 2017
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I have a boggo Twingo 3 that I use for work. I bought it as the accompaniment to a 993 and 987, neither of which I felt comfortable turning up to see clients in.

I tested a Fiat 500 first, and could not get comfortable in one.

The Twingo is loads of fun on a B road, too slow for comfort on an A road, and somewhere around terrifying on a motorway. You cannot relax for a second if there is any wind, it grabs any lorry tracks, and is buffeted by anything bigger than a Ka going past.

In town it is perfect. The view is pretty good, although A pillars occasionally need ducking around. Turning circle is tiny, and size means very easy to park/find a space. Radio is ok, but can be flaky for BT connection.

Only time I've really been aware of RWD is damp roads, at reasonable pace, off camber turns. Even then, only a fleeting sensation.

Cheap to run, even with most of my mileage being B road stuff and moderately enthusiastic I get a reported 42/43mpg. Was down at 36ish, but now over 20k miles seems to have loosened up a bit.

Would definitely like it to have a bit more poke to open up some safe overtaking opportunities and not feel quite so asthmatic on an incline/headwind.

Not sure I'd have another, wold perhaps be more inclined to have a Swift sport or a Mini.

In short, there's a niche into which it fits perfectly. If your driving doesn't fit that niche you'll probably hate it.

Miglia 888

1,002 posts

147 months

Sunday 12th March 2017
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Twingo 3 Dynamique TCe 90 owner here.
Slightly wider Yoko AD08R's help reduce understeer nicely.
Inside front wheel does lift in tight hard cornering, so ARB mods would help.
Drive a Twingo 3 like you would a 911, for best results.
ESC fuse can be removed - doesn't disable the ESC completely, just reduces its premature application and instantly enables significantly quicker progress - over 2 secs a lap quicker even on a very short circuit.
Could be left out permanently, but there's an annoying warning light in the dash, which disappears when you replace the fuse.
Cross-winds on motorways do buffet you, and the road noise from the tyres is loud, but it's a lightweight spacious city car which isn't just boring white goods. Try one.

Here's the summary from my profile - hth:
Rear mid-engined, rear wheel drive, turbo petrol four seater, with 90hp available from its 898cc off-beat triple.
Weighs only 949kg though, so amusingly lively if you use full boost, or very economical if you're gentle with it.
Significantly shorter than a 3 door MINI on the outside, but comes with 5 adult-sized doors and significantly more space than a MINI on the inside.
Extremely manoeuvrable. You can U-turn where others have to Y-turn, to paraphrase the old Triumph Herald adverts.
The better looking output from the Smart / Renault small car joint venture, imho.
And full of what's most often missing from most new cars these days: character.

xu5

Original Poster:

633 posts

157 months

Sunday 12th March 2017
quotequote all
Thanks for all the feed back, I have a test drive in a GT booked for Tuesday. If I do get one it will replace my daily C1 for zipping through rural and semi rural Scotland.

Miglia 888 said:
Twingo 3 Dynamique TCe 90 owner here.
Slightly wider Yoko AD08R's help reduce understeer nicely.
Inside front wheel does lift in tight hard cornering, so ARB mods would help.
Drive a Twingo 3 like you would a 911, for best results.
ESC fuse can be removed - doesn't disable the ESC completely, just reduces its premature application and instantly enables significantly quicker progress - over 2 secs a lap quicker even on a very short circuit.
Could be left out permanently, but there's an annoying warning light in the dash, which disappears when you replace the fuse.
Cross-winds on motorways do buffet you, and the road noise from the tyres is loud, but it's a lightweight spacious city car which isn't just boring white goods. Try one.
What size tyre's do you use? Does the chasis feel stable/balanced with the ESC fuse out? I have heard that is you take out the ABS fuse under the bonnet it will disable ESC completely. Have you ever tried this on track?


Edited by xu5 on Sunday 12th March 08:08

Miglia 888

1,002 posts

147 months

Monday 13th March 2017
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xu5 said:
Thanks for all the feed back, I have a test drive in a GT booked for Tuesday. If I do get one it will replace my daily C1 for zipping through rural and semi rural Scotland.

Miglia 888 said:
Twingo 3 Dynamique TCe 90 owner here.
Slightly wider Yoko AD08R's help reduce understeer nicely.
Inside front wheel does lift in tight hard cornering, so ARB mods would help.
Drive a Twingo 3 like you would a 911, for best results.
ESC fuse can be removed - doesn't disable the ESC completely, just reduces its premature application and instantly enables significantly quicker progress - over 2 secs a lap quicker even on a very short circuit.
Could be left out permanently, but there's an annoying warning light in the dash, which disappears when you replace the fuse.
Cross-winds on motorways do buffet you, and the road noise from the tyres is loud, but it's a lightweight spacious city car which isn't just boring white goods. Try one.
What size tyre's do you use? Does the chasis feel stable/balanced with the ESC fuse out? I have heard that is you take out the ABS fuse under the bonnet it will disable ESC completely. Have you ever tried this on track?
Chassis feels fine with the fuse out. I believe the GT has updated ESC software which intrudes less, so probably no need to do it on a GT.
Didn't know there was another related fuse under the bonnet, however I like ABS and wouldn't want to be without it for those unexpected moments as the ABS doesn't cut in prematurely for my tastes.
Am running 205 rears & 185 fronts as per the GT. 205's all round might be the way to go...
Enjoy the test drive - give it a good thrashing and let us know how you get on.

xu5

Original Poster:

633 posts

157 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
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Just got back from the test drive, It involved town and out country roads. Here are my thoughts.

I think the styling is on the GT is great. Off the top of my head I can not think of hatch I think is better styled, particularly for a five door. The Blaze Orange is a great colour and I think it would suit the Lunar grey with orange details aswell. It sits slightly tall and the 17" wheels seem a bit excessive but I like the wheel design. The rear quarter view has some hints of R5 Turbo about it and any car with pop out rear windows get +5 bonus points from me.

Inside is bright, spacious in the front with a fairly mature yet funky design. The seat is height adjustable but can feel a bit high, comfy though. The view out is good enough for a modern car, though the roof line seems a bit low. I am at the stage in life where five doors and isofix are also a plus, though this wounldn't be our family car.

Instantly very easy to drive. Engine has acceptable levels of poke, (110bhp, 120 ft/lb ish, 1000kg) and picks up quite eagerly aslong as you are not labouring it at low speed. Accelerator response could of been better but not bad. At low speed the exhaust has a bit of triple bass about it and sounds quite good but could do with a bit more verve at other times. Despite the large wheels and low profile tyres it rode well which suprised me a bit and had pretty good damping, 40% damping increase over other models. Didn't notice any banging, jarring or bouncing even on degraded tarmac. I found first and second gear a bit short for my personal taste. I think it had barely touched 50 by the time the rev limiter hits in second.

Steering was precise, overly light and hardly any feed back which was a shame. Despite it being a blustery day at 70 mph I detected no vagueness or wandering. I felt being the kind of car it is being pitched as (a warmish hatch) that I had some liberty to push it a bit. It handled well and could be pitched into a tight corner quickly, when you lift reasonably aggressively it will tighten its line quite smartly, more so than your average modern fwd but then ESC cuts in. It feels like out of the box there is absolutely no way the driver aides would let you do anything other than tighten you line just a bit. It also saps power on sharp corner exit if you try and gee it on. As I have never owned a car with stability management I found this particularly frustrating.

I did not instantly fall in love with the GT but it will remain on my radar. Over the past few years the Twingo and ND MX5 have been about the only cars that have pricked my interest for daily drivers. I find modern cars these days pretty unappealing in general. Almost went for the mk4 MX5 last year but bought another 205 instead!

I will keep my eye on the Twingo. I feel that with some subtle tweaks perhaps like 195 tyres all and dialing back the ESC it could be really enjoyable little car.

I would say it IS a fun car, just not fun to thrash.



Edited by xu5 on Tuesday 14th March 13:30

Miglia 888

1,002 posts

147 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
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Thanks for the detailed review - sounds like the GT could benefit from the ASC fuse being removed too.
Got ours for my son to learn to drive in something safe with a low insurance group (Group 8) that's significantly more interesting than the usual dull white-goods alternatives.
He's delighted with it being rwd, quicker & more powerful than his mates econo-stboxes, and says it drives very differently to the Ford Ka driving instructor car.
Mission accomplished then... smile

AmitG

3,298 posts

160 months

Saturday 18th March 2017
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Great information in this thread, thanks everyone.

I'm tempted by one of these. Seems like something different to the norm, an interesting design with character, not the usual boring fare. Which I like.

Miglia 888 - have you had any reliability issues?

Am I correct in saying that the GT only comes as a manual? No auto option?

xu5

Original Poster:

633 posts

157 months

Monday 20th March 2017
quotequote all
Twingo GT is manual only. Would be good to hear your views of it if you for a drive.

Also I found this seemingly Renault Sport endorsed video of the Twingo in the snow with no ESC. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykyyRl8gOx8

Miglia 888

1,002 posts

147 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
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AmitG said:
Great information in this thread, thanks everyone.

I'm tempted by one of these. Seems like something different to the norm, an interesting design with character, not the usual boring fare. Which I like.

Miglia 888 - have you had any reliability issues?
Nothing apart from a sensor on the alternator for the stop-start which was fixed under warranty, in almost 10,000 miles so far.
They're built on the same production line as the Smart For Four and build quality seems fine, yet the Twingo is less expensive, comes with a 4 year warranty, and looks much nicer, imho.
Worth a read of the Car magazine long term test of their non-turbo 70hp version for more on what the Twingo is like to live with:
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/long-term...
Make sure you try a GT or at least a 90hp turbo though.
Btw, the ECO button in front of the gearstick lowers the turbo boost with a smoother mid-throttle map which is useful around town, but full boost is still there on demand if you press the accelerator fully to the floor.
I'm still enjoying its rear-engined, rwd, turbo whooshing off-beat triple character, and my son says he drives half a 911 Turbo... smile
HTH.

AmitG

3,298 posts

160 months

Sunday 9th July 2017
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xu5 said:
Twingo GT is manual only. Would be good to hear your views of it if you for a drive.
Apparently the Twingo GT is now available with a dual clutch auto (French text):

http://www.caradisiac.com/essai-renault-twingo-gt-...

Can't see anything on the Renault UK site, so maybe we have to wait a bit longer for RHD (assuming it makes it here).

I haven't done my test drive yet - got sidetracked with other stuff - but will report back when I have.

NIPA

1 posts

80 months

Thursday 3rd August 2017
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Hi all

Have read with great interest Miglia's 888 comments on disabling the ESC. I am considering buying a Twigo 3 and my main interest is disabling the electric steering also, as I am after more feedback.

Does removing the ESC fuse from inside the cabin disable also steering assistance? There is a fuse just for steering assistance. There is also another fuse for steering control (by the ESC I suppose).

Anyway the question remains if steering feel improves with the electric steering disabled, if it weighs up and to what extend plus if there is also less understeer and faster response.

I have read in another forum from someone who competes in events with the 1.0 70hp against Imps that steering response is much faster with the ESC fuse removed. Just wanted to find out more and a second opinion in road driving.

Thanks

loose cannon

6,030 posts

241 months

Thursday 3rd August 2017
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Do Brabus make any bits for them seeing it's just a smart car in drag with a Renault badge

Lil'RedGTO

669 posts

143 months

Thursday 12th October 2017
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I don't normally frequent French Bred, but I bought one of these a few months ago. A Dynamique TCe 90 Auto in yellow with the “retro racer” pack and some other bits and bobs. I rather like it. Pics below.

Positives:

I think it looks great, particularly in early 80’s Renault F1 Turbo colours. It is one of the few modern cars where I can’t really find anything in the design I don’t like. It is a bit tall, I would concede, but if you spec the £250 bodykit (basically plastic wheel arch covers, a la the 205 GTi's and 106 XSi's I used to lust after in my youth) the height is reasonably well disguised. It has strong hips, short overhangs, and a tidy rear (with hints of the R5 Turbo).

It is rear-engined and RWD! Even if this makes no discernible difference to the handling (which it doesn’t really, so far as I can tell, although it handles fine), I know that the car represents a different engineering solution, and that is to be applauded in my book. The rear wheels (if you spec the right alloys) are even slightly dished! On a city car!

The folding fabric roof is well worth the £850 it costs. It offers open air motoring but with almost no wind blast and makes the car a little more of an experience. The kids love it. It also follows the classic French tradition of cheap and cheerful cars with fabric roofs (2CV, Pluriel etc.). Clearly, however, it does not offer the same feeling of freedom of a full convertible - it’s just a full-length sunroof.

It’s plenty fast enough for nipping about locally, though see comments re: turbo lag below. I might have gone for the GT, but my wife will use the car a lot and she will only drive an auto, which wasn’t available on the GT at the time (although I believe that has changed or is about to change).

Negatives:

The turbo lag is pretty bad. It can be borderline dangerous pulling onto roundabouts when you floor it and nothing happens for about 4 seconds. Mind you, I am used to the instant torque of the 5.7 NA V8 in a Monaro, so it may be that this sort of lag is normal for all these small capacity turbo petrols. You can drive around it, but I'd rather not have to.

It is pretty tight inside. I am 5’6” and would not recommend it for anyone much taller, although if you were not using the back seats you might be ok. The front seat backs are also one-piece and pretty wide, meaning that kids in the back can’t see much looking forward.


All in all, a nice little car, quite French (shared DNA with the Smart notwithstanding), and a bit different from the norm.




AmitG

3,298 posts

160 months

Thursday 12th October 2017
quotequote all
Thanks for that. I'm still considering whether to get one - same spec as yours but I quite fancy Tahoe Blue.

Did you get the Techno Pack? With the central screen etc.

I was worried that the fabric roof would let in lots of wind noise, it sounds like that is not the case which is nice.

Lil'RedGTO said:
The turbo lag is pretty bad. It can be borderline dangerous pulling onto roundabouts when you floor it and nothing happens for about 4 seconds.
Is this real? 4 seconds of turbo lag? That sounds like a deal breaker...

Lil'RedGTO

669 posts

143 months

Friday 13th October 2017
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Well, maybe not 4 seconds, but it feels like that sometimes when you have a lorry bearing down on you and the car has moved into its path but is yet to pick up any speed. As I say, though, I imagine all small capacity petrol turbo's are the same. On the plus side, it makes the car seem fast (fast being a relative term) because you get that little bit of neck snap when the turbo does finally kick in.

I didn't get the Techno Pack. I was concerned that any sort of inbuilt screen tends to date quite badly after a few years. If I need satnav or whatever I just use the R&Go phone app thing and the factory attachment that grips your phone to the dash.

HTP99

22,549 posts

140 months

Friday 13th October 2017
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I doubt it is turbo lag, more likely the gearbox as they are a bit slow to get going, the manual TCe 90 doesn't suffer form any noticeable lag.

Lil'RedGTO

669 posts

143 months

Friday 13th October 2017
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You're probably right, on reflection it's more likely to be the auto gearbox being a bit dim-witted, combined with a general lack of torque from a small capacity turbo when in a higher gear (before kickdown). I've never experienced a similar lack of response in my old automatic Jeep Cherokee 3.7, which is probably down to the extra torque in any gear, but then that extra torque is accompanied by somewhat higher fuel consumption than in the Twingo (to put it mildly).

Don't get me wrong, it's not a major issue, and may not be an issue at all in the manual version. I think it's just me coming from a place of being used to very large capacity engines. You soon get used to the gearbox and the non-linear acceleration, and I generally find the little Twingo to be a hoot to drive.