RE: Renaultsport Twingo 133 | Shed of the Week

RE: Renaultsport Twingo 133 | Shed of the Week

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Discussion

s m

23,215 posts

203 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Birky_41

4,283 posts

184 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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I remember working for a Renault dealership at the time these were launched and taking them on a skid pan, track and road test

There was a part where you had to turn the TC off (Switch was to the left under the steering wheel). I pushed the button in and it fell through the dash. I still laugh at the build quality of areas like this now

Was a great fun car on very tight twisty roads though. At the time the Twingo GT 1.2T was also out and a lot of people would map them and make similar power

No question though the 133 handled well

Mike1990

964 posts

131 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Good shed, but i’d probably opt for a Swift Sport or Mk6 Fiesta ST over one. No particular reason really.

Saying that I did have the pleasure of owning an ST for a while and really enjoyed it..


Alex_225

6,247 posts

201 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Birky_41 said:
At the time the Twingo GT 1.2T was also out and a lot of people would map them and make similar power
My mum actually ended up owning a Twingo GT Gordini so the 1.2 turbo engine. Car was black but with the white details on the outside and blue leather interior.

Loved that engine and I bet a re-map works nicely, giving them another 20bhp or so. Only thing I would say was on the motorway it was highly strung. The 133 engine wasn't built as a cruiser but the 1.2t even less so.

WCZ

10,514 posts

194 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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nice cars, handle well but it's a shame they are down on power and expensive to tune

HTP99

22,524 posts

140 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Undeniably the Twingo II itself was a pretty poor effort, I remember the training in the UK and with typical Renault arrogance of that time, only higher spec cars were available in the UK as RUK or it could have been France twisting their arm, genuinely thought it could compete with Fiat 500 and MINI.

Anyway typically they didn't sell; they should have been competing with 107/C1/Aygo etc from the off, so they eventually launched a cheaper one with an ancient 1.2 8v 4 cylinder engine in 1 spec only; Extreme, which was Renaults pov spec at the time, which on the whole was a crap car, the 107/C1/Aygo was a far better proposition, better on fuel, lighter, more fun, £30 RFL, as opposed to £120 on the Twingo and still a cheaper car.

So that Twingo eventually was dropped from the UK.

anonymous-user

54 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Renault modus on steroids. Avoid at all costs unless you want to see parts dropping off the cheap wretched thing.

Butter Face

30,278 posts

160 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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flashbang said:
Renault modus on steroids. Avoid at all costs unless you want to see parts dropping off the cheap wretched thing.
What? rofl

Modus on steroids rofl honestly.

anonymous-user

54 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Butter Face said:
What? rofl

Modus on steroids rofl honestly.
laughlaughlaugh

Birky_41

4,283 posts

184 months

Friday 13th September 2019
quotequote all
flashbang said:
Renault modus on steroids. Avoid at all costs unless you want to see parts dropping off the cheap wretched thing.
Oh how funny...It definitely wasn't

I had a Modus expression company car - bloody horrible thing

Mark-C

5,048 posts

205 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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I'd love this for a couple of days but don't think I could live with it!

This is the anti-barge in shedding terms biggrin

alex.baker89

106 posts

62 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Perfect daily shed for the commute. Probably feels much better than an Abarth as well, although there are some good deals about on the base model. Bet this has a much better driving position too as the 500 feels like you're sitting on top, rather than in it.

gweaver

906 posts

158 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Mark-C said:
I'd love this for a couple of days but don't think I could live with it!

This is the anti-barge in shedding terms biggrin
Exactly this. Great shed, especially following last weeks Swift Sport.
I didn't take these seriously when looking for my current car (I chose a Swift Sport ZC32S), but I've since realised that I should have tried one. One of these might make an ideal car for the station run.

Does anyone know if these were made in Dieppe, like the RS Clio?

avenger286

425 posts

103 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Made in Slovenia unlike the Clio rs

GranCab

2,902 posts

146 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Sumsion said:
Can you post a picture of Mrs Shed please ?
I have always presumed that Mrs Shed looks like Biffa Bacon's Mutha .....



mikeyr

3,118 posts

193 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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flashbang said:
Renault modus on steroids. Avoid at all costs unless you want to see parts dropping off the cheap wretched thing.
Will say that not had single issue with mine and everything 'feels' well screwed together (there's not much inside to go wrong!). Not seen much about them having many issues. I loved my previous clio 182 but it did feel more fragile and had lots of annoying electrical niggles. Be interested whether other actual owners have had many issues.

mikeyr

3,118 posts

193 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Forgot to say that went to a Goodwood breakfast hot hatch event and it was the only 133 there out of 500 odd cars. So it feels fairly rare if nothing else although biggrin I honestly love this car more than my previous 182!

Noesph

1,151 posts

149 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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Alex_225 said:
Birky_41 said:
At the time the Twingo GT 1.2T was also out and a lot of people would map them and make similar power
My mum actually ended up owning a Twingo GT Gordini so the 1.2 turbo engine. Car was black but with the white details on the outside and blue leather interior.

Loved that engine and I bet a re-map works nicely, giving them another 20bhp or so. Only thing I would say was on the motorway it was highly strung. The 133 engine wasn't built as a cruiser but the 1.2t even less so.
Yep, A re-map gives a GT another 25 bhp (so 125 bhp and a 980kg kerb weight for the GT (127.55 bhp per ton), the 133 has 131bhp, 1049kg kerb weight (124.44 bhp per ton).

And yeah, in fifth gear your rpm is basically half you speed (so 60mph = 3000 rpm, 70 = 3500 rpm, 80=4000 rpm) in a GT, but its more the lack of soundproofing. For example in the rain you can hear the water flying up into the rear arches (it sounds a bit like a washing machine on spin cycle).

But I've had my GT getting on for seven years and 50000 miles (its just over 10 years old on 75000 miles), and nothing has really gone wrong with it. It seems as tough as old boots to be honest.

Its steering wheel is starting to melt though (I hope to get it retrimmed next year), but that seems to be a Renault thing....

gweaver said:
Mark-C said:
I'd love this for a couple of days but don't think I could live with it!

This is the anti-barge in shedding terms biggrin
Exactly this. Great shed, especially following last weeks Swift Sport.
I didn't take these seriously when looking for my current car (I chose a Swift Sport ZC32S), but I've since realised that I should have tried one. One of these might make an ideal car for the station run.

Does anyone know if these were made in Dieppe, like the RS Clio?
Revoz, Novo Mesto Slovenia (but the drivetrain is made in France (PSA Peugeot Citroen Douvrin plant actually made the 1.2 engine in these for Renault). Its where they make the new Twingo and smart cars now. A little video below about the factory at the time these where made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0rXaYAHeoc&t=...


Edited by Noesph on Friday 13th September 16:56

mwstewart

7,585 posts

188 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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They are a tin can - reminds me of a Mk2 Fiesta or a Ka. Great VFM though - I am tempted!

heisthegaffer

3,383 posts

198 months

Friday 13th September 2019
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How has PH not mentioned the RS Twingo day where a few of us got together with our (mainly Renault) cars to compare the RS Twingo round a funny little private track.

There the pleasant long haired chap in the blue Clio V6, Davel485 in the R21 turbo, Garlic and a huge amount of hog roast. A great day out.

The Twingo was brilliant albeit understandably slower than the 1*2 etc but handled very well.

I remember going round one corner at 55 thinking I was pushing it only to hear that a 182 Trophy owner was told to slow down at 75 rou d the same corner.

I made the mistake of telling some mates about the video who ripped it out of me for a while after.