Renault Twingo 3 - 900cc turbo
Discussion
After living in London for just over a year, and getting fed up of trying to squeeze a big estate into spaces that are far too small, I've just picked up this little Twingo. If anyone cares about such low powered small things, here's my little write up on initial thoughts 
Girlfriend wanted a Fiat 500, but I just couldn't do it, so this was the compromise. It's the 0.9 3 cylinder turbo (90hp, rear engine, rear wheel drive), with the half convertible roof, cruise control and multimedia system - so reasonably high spec for one of these!
It's quite a fun little thing! I'm a fan of the engine, it feels nice and boosty and it's reasonably nippy up to about 50. Plus no road tax is such a win. The turning circle is hilariously tight, and genuinely feels as good as a black cab. This, weirdly, can make parking a bit tricky at first as you automatically go for full lock on parallel parking spots when you don't need it...
The half retractable roof is a nice thing to have, although above 45ish it buffets so is only nice at town speeds unless you crack a window. Brakes feel fine for what it is, single pot discs (I think) up front and drums out back. It's quite fun to chuck around (I think it comes in at under 1000kg), and it's quite nice having something slightly different to most other city cars, even if you can't tell at all that it's rear engined and RWD!
Interior is a nice place to be and is really roomy actually, with the rear seats folded down I imagine you can fit quite of lot of stuff in it!
Bad Bits? The steering is s
t, there's no feel and as there's so much lock it can feel pretty vague. I think these have the variable ratio steering rack which I imagine doesn't help. The traction control is a bugger as it cuts the power happily when it feels like there's still a bit of push left. Heard there's a fuse you can pull under the bonnet though 
There's nowhere to put your left foot. Can't hear the engine as much as I'd like, plus no rev counter. Speakers keep dropping the volume then back up again 
does anyone know how to fix this? I thought it was the speakers trying to save themselves from too much bass or something, but it does it at low volume too.
Most of those are me being picky and are non-issues for a city car, so other than that, what a great little car! Really like it
Will take more pics later but here are the only two I have...
Girlfriend wanted a Fiat 500, but I just couldn't do it, so this was the compromise. It's the 0.9 3 cylinder turbo (90hp, rear engine, rear wheel drive), with the half convertible roof, cruise control and multimedia system - so reasonably high spec for one of these!
It's quite a fun little thing! I'm a fan of the engine, it feels nice and boosty and it's reasonably nippy up to about 50. Plus no road tax is such a win. The turning circle is hilariously tight, and genuinely feels as good as a black cab. This, weirdly, can make parking a bit tricky at first as you automatically go for full lock on parallel parking spots when you don't need it...
The half retractable roof is a nice thing to have, although above 45ish it buffets so is only nice at town speeds unless you crack a window. Brakes feel fine for what it is, single pot discs (I think) up front and drums out back. It's quite fun to chuck around (I think it comes in at under 1000kg), and it's quite nice having something slightly different to most other city cars, even if you can't tell at all that it's rear engined and RWD!
Interior is a nice place to be and is really roomy actually, with the rear seats folded down I imagine you can fit quite of lot of stuff in it!
Bad Bits? The steering is s
t, there's no feel and as there's so much lock it can feel pretty vague. I think these have the variable ratio steering rack which I imagine doesn't help. The traction control is a bugger as it cuts the power happily when it feels like there's still a bit of push left. Heard there's a fuse you can pull under the bonnet though There's nowhere to put your left foot. Can't hear the engine as much as I'd like, plus no rev counter. Speakers keep dropping the volume then back up again does anyone know how to fix this? I thought it was the speakers trying to save themselves from too much bass or something, but it does it at low volume too.Most of those are me being picky and are non-issues for a city car, so other than that, what a great little car! Really like it
Will take more pics later but here are the only two I have...
Edited by Jack Mansfield on Tuesday 3rd September 13:07
Edited by Jack Mansfield on Tuesday 3rd September 13:08
Looks good, my wife has a smart forfour which is basically the same car made in the same factory but with a different dash. The over protective traction control does spoil the experience a little, and when it does kick in theres a delay before power is re-applied. Word of warning, if you go shopping and buy ice cream dont put it in the boot!
bungz said:
Nice little car.
The radio thing is where the radio is linked to speed or road noise.
Have a google there will be a setting in the menus to turn it off.
Edit:
Its speed dependent volume control in audio settings.
Thanks for this! I'll have a dig and switch it off...The radio thing is where the radio is linked to speed or road noise.
Have a google there will be a setting in the menus to turn it off.
Edit:
Its speed dependent volume control in audio settings.
Edited by bungz on Tuesday 3rd September 13:54
davebem said:
Looks good, my wife has a smart forfour which is basically the same car made in the same factory but with a different dash. The over protective traction control does spoil the experience a little, and when it does kick in theres a delay before power is re-applied. Word of warning, if you go shopping and buy ice cream dont put it in the boot!
Yeah I didn't know these were co-developed until I started looking at them! I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that you can pull a fuse in the bonnet to make the traction control less obtrusive, but it leaves a light on the dash or something.Ha! A little warm for ice cream, no?
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