2009 Renaultsport Twingo 133

[Lavo84]

Hello all!
Having owned my Twingo for 10 months now i thought it might be time to do a readers car thread for a car that is usually overshadowed by its bigger brother the Clio 197 and a lot rarer to see on the road than its direct competitors the Swift Sport and Abarth 500/595.
Its a Twingo 133 with cup chassis and bluetooth pack so pretty much what you'd call in the Renaultsport world a 'full fat' model (i don't think they used this term on the Twingos?).
There was absolutely no reason behind buying the car other than i always fancied trying one and it came up at the right price! Having come directly from a MK5 Golf GTI and previously having owned a Megane 225 and PH1 Clio 172 i was worried the power may be an issue at only 133bhp but as soon as i test drove it and started throwing it round roundabouts and down little B-roads i soon discovered it had a lot more in common with my MX5 as in the fun it gives you at sensible speeds far outweighs the lack of extra top end and straight line speed the other cars gave me.
Anyways enough of my waffling on here are a few pics






I also managed to get a few laps in round Brands Hatch earlier this year to test its track credentials (No pictures of it on track unfortunately as the file size is too big and I'm not to clever at editing haha)




Few more photos...




Future plans for the little Renaultsport are as follows:

remove rear seats and fit rear brace bar
fit 4x new tyres... possibly r888 or equivalent (currently running 2xcontisport 3 and 2x random ditch finders)
panel filter

considered coilovers but the handling already feels so spot on i think it would be a bit of a waste of money for a car that will only reach the track a couple of times a year.

Thanks for looking - Stu

[Lavo84]

Tickle said:

I really have a soft spot for these, as you say they are quite rare too.

I like the idea of one as a daily, they look do look fun and remind me of a modern 106 Rallye.

Looks good OP!

It certainly has the 106 Rallye feel about it!

Love your Elise by the way - a good S1 is on my list of next car to own if finances allow!

[Lavo84]

TheAngryDog said:

Good little cars these. With the cup chassis on already I wouldn't bother with coil overs. My fiancee has a 2013 model with cup suspension and it's way too harsh for our roads lol.

They go around corners like they're on rails. Not the quickest thing in the world but for road legal speeds they're great fun. Even drove hers to Amsterdam and back!

Haha I know what you mean, on some of the rougher roads it isn't the most refined place to be with the cup chassis! It's all about the cornering and grin factor for me!

[Lavo84]

HTP99 said:

I chose to run our company demo as "my car" for 6m, a few years ago; black with Cup Pack, awsome car and only bettered by the 182 Cup that was my demo a few years previously.

They are superb fun; absolute horrors on the motorway though and the drivers seat could do with being an inch or so lower.

Totally agree with the seats, have contemplated fitting some recaros or similar to try and get a lower position as they are a little high especially coming from the Golf where the position was spot on.

[Lavo84]

chasdad said:

Funny but i had an 07 plate twingo gt and have always had an mx5 too. I loved it. Great fun

They're a perfect combo for fun, cheap driving!

[Lavo84]

jimmyt1202 said:

Nice, its the colour combo I'd go for! Always keep an eye on eBay auctions for theses but they still seem to make relatively good money! Also, is that Castle Park in the background?

Yeah I didn't have a choice in colour really I just got a good deal but I'm happy with it.
I still can't really work out what their value is haha yeah it is indeed Castle park

[Lavo84]

ECG1000 said:

Had bare bones CUP 133 a few years ago. Really miss it and yearn for another whenever I (rarely) see one on the road.
Hand on heart enjoyed owning my 133 CUP a fair bit more than my 200 CUP. 50mph felt like 100mph, such an exciting little car!

I absolutely get more out of driving the Twingo than any of my other more powerful cars I've had purely because of that! Feels like you really are involved and flying along at a ridiculous speed when in actual fact you're the safe side of the law most of the time

[Lavo84]

JoeCastle said:

I found an absolute minter - under 12k miles, cup with full fat for 4.5k. Gone on the second day they advertised it and the day I called up. The dealer said "If you like small cars, we have a newer shape ford KA for a similar price". Ended up with an 11 plate Swift Sport in the end, but there's a red one that sometimes crosses paths with me on the way to the A3, and sometimes I get a twinge of regret for not calling up that dealer the day I saw it. Great lookers and great fun, enjoy it!

How is the Swift? I've been keeping an eye on those recently they're supposed to be pretty awesome too!

[Lavo84]

Patch888 said:

Superb little cars, miss my old one.

Lovely-that's the colour I would ideally have wanted love it

[Lavo84]

menoy said:

Hi from a fellow... err... boyfriend of a Twingo RS owner

You might want to rethink those coilovers once it comes to replacing the Cup shocks. Cost us c. 500 pounds for all four, which really isn't extremely far from a set of decent coilovers. This was after having a proper look around, mind, as Renault in Poland wanted twice as much! Ended up getting them shipped from the UK.

Also, if you're buying new tyres and want to stay with the Cup pack 17s, go for 205/40 - far better protection of the rim and a better choice in tyres/prices.

Edited by menoy on Monday 26th September 18:37

Thanks for the advice I shall be getting 205/40 tyres as replacements definitely!

[Lavo84]

JoeCastle said:

Indeed! It's the last reg they had them on and only had 25k when I purchased it (31k now) and was the lowest miler in the country I could find at the time - Luckily a 10 second walk at a garage by my house -- it has a few revisions on the mk1, higher rev limiter (7.2k as opposed to 6.8), grill change and I've been told different gear ratios? It's certainly a bit more raw than the mk2 and really does feel like an old school hot hatch - I'll probably create a thread soon.

OP: What are you making of the ride so far? I've been read the Twingo rides a bit harder than SSS - and that's pushing it for me already!

Personally I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as it has been made out to be, to the point where I did a double check to make sure my car did have the cup chassis as I was expecting it to be so harsh! Don't get me wrong if you go over a large speed hump or a particularly rough piece of road it is very crash and firm but 90% of the time it's absolutely fine

[Lavo84]

So the time has come to treat the little RS to a few modifications after nearly a year of ownership! I'm looking at getting some Federal 595 RS-R tyres in 205/40 R17 for a bit more grip and also a BMC DIA enclosed induction kit to get the engine sounding a bit more fierce when pressing on! Has anybody any experience with either of these products on their own cars? Views?

[Lavo84]

PorkRind said:

Cracking little car op. Sort of reminds me of the very over priced lupo gti but I'm sure thr twingo is more fun! Enjoy

The other half really wanted me to get a Lupe GTI and I did look into them but any I could find with a decent spec or not 'stanced' were a good 1.5-2k more than what I paid for the Twingo... also being a Renaultsport fanboy there was only ever one option really haha

[Lavo84]

I haven't personally tried a non-cup chassis version myself but at the time a lot of the reviews seemed to prefer them as they were less crash...

[Lavo84]

So first little upgrade to the Twingo, unfortunately not the BMC induction kit I wanted (I couldn't justify the expense right now) but after good experiences in the past with both my PH1 172 (panel filter and exhaust) and Megane 225 (induction kit) I ordered a panel filter from KTR to hopefully give a little more noise and throttle response over the standard filter...



First impressions... there certainly is a little more noise, I wasn't expecting anything amazing from just a filter to be honest and there doesn't seem to be much more responsiveness either. I remember on my Clio the panel filter was certainly better made and did make quite a difference so I'm a little disappointed, also the fit is pretty poor - real squeeze to get it in! Like I say though I wasn't expecting it to be a game changer I just think the product seems inferior quality to a few years ago from the same company which is a shame... got to get her through a service and some new boots for the winter and then I think I'll be saving for my original plan of induction kit. Anybody got any experiences with the BMC products?

[Lavo84]

ECG1000 said:

Lavo84 said:

I remember on my Clio the panel filter was certainly better made and did make quite a difference so I'm a little disappointed, also the fit is pretty poor - real squeeze to get it in! Like I say though I wasn't expecting it to be a game changer I just think the product seems inferior quality to a few years ago from the same company which is a shame... got to get her through a service and some new boots for the winter and then I think I'll be saving for my original plan of induction kit. Anybody got any experiences with the BMC products?

I sold my 133 a few years ago but seem to remember the quality of KTR filters being pretty rubbish. People found after a few months, the rubber peeled away from the filter itself.
I stuck a BMC panel filter in mine with no problems. It sounded pretty good too once I'd removed the resonator from the airbox.
Guide here: http://www.twingo133.net/how/how-remove-resonator-...

I had a BMC CDA induction kit for a while. Did nothing for the performance but did sound good - if a little bit McDonalds car park. Reverted back to the panel filter after a while which sounded just right in my opinion.

Thanks for the info, looks like the BMC filter may have been worth the extra £20! Oh well I'll see how well this one lasts and upgrade when it dies!
I've never heard of the resonator trick, I may give that a try. If it makes a difference like removing the bung does then happy days!

[Lavo84]

FIREBIRDC9 said:

Yep

I think my mind is made up.

Gonna try and get myself one of these next year.

Quite fancy a Blue one.


Am i correct in thinking that the easiest way to identify if the car has a cup chassis or not is to check the rear windows and seats?

I believe Cup-chassis equipped cars have the rear sports seats , rear window tints and larger alloys.

Is this correct?

When I got mine I was told to check the rear springs for a purple dot to see if it was the cup chassis or not... I believe the 17" anthracite wheels, ttinted windows and the dual sliding seats rather than a bench rear seat are other indications however... not 100% sure on that mind but mine does have all of those things as well as the purple dot so yeah I think you're right :-)