Thursday 23rd January 2014

Renault Twingo 133: Spotted

A fab hot hatch with some PH previous is now in the classifieds

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'HV10EOU' is a rather interesting little Renault Twingo. For those with freakishly accurate memories, you may recognise it from a recent appearance on PistonHeads. Struggling? This pre-facelift 133 is K-Tec's demonstrator that we drove back in September.

'Never driven hard' doesn't really apply here

It is therefore the first Twingo to be fitted with K-Tec's '163' package. The story will give you all the details on the spec but the most important stat was 165hp (163bhp) at 'over 7,000rpm'; it made a fun junior Renaultsport into an infectiously naughty little hatch. It was loud, vivacious and exciting. But naturally aspirated tuning is expensive, and the concern remained that a Clio could provide even more thrills for a similar (or smaller) outlay than the K-Tec Twingo.

Now, with the car for sale at £7,495 and properly run-in (ahem) at 10,000 miles, the debate can be properly opened. Though £7.5K will get all manner of Renaultsport Clio goodness (see this FF 200 with an Akrapovic exhaust) they will all have more miles than the Twingo. No doubt it will be faster, but the fun comparison may well be closer to call.

So what about an Abarth 500? Spending £7.5K will only just secure one of the 135hp cars with nearer £9K being required for the 160hp Esseesse models. The extra torque from the turbo would be useful when you're not attacking a B-road like Francois Delecour, but wouldn't the Twingo be a whole heap more engaging? And how else could a B-road be driven in a pocket hot hatch?

It's mega out here, trust us

For a Mini you would again be looking at a car that's much more used than the Twingo even after the journalists have finished with it. But an R56 Cooper S at £7K would probably depreciate more slowly and could be even more enjoyable than the tweaked Twingo. Maybe.

Twingo 133s never really enjoyed the popularity of the larger Clios and Meganes in the UK, reflected in the fact there's only one other for sale on PH. It would cost another £2,600 on top of the £4,495 it's for sale at to fit the '163' upgrades, leaving a car just a couple of hundred less than K-Tec's with 30,000 more miles.

As mentioned in the drive story, the Twingo 163 would make a great alternative choice if you didn't want to conform to the hot hatch norm. And if being slower than a Clio 200 was an issue, K-Tec has ways of resolving that...

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K-TEC RENAULTSPORT TWINGO 163
Engine: 1,598cc four-cylinder
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Power (hp): 165hp@'over 7,000rpm' (133@6,750rpm)
Torque (lb ft): 142lb ft@4,250rpm (118@4,400rpm)
MPG: N/A (43.5)
CO2: N/A (150g/km)
Price new: £2,625.60 (163 upgrade only. Standard Twingo 133 was £13,955)
Yours for: £7,495

(Figures in brackets for standard Twingo 133 for comparison)

See the original advert here

[bagseye]

Loved mine.

Wasnt a KTEC but was still a blast. Runs out of puff around 90 but is brilliantly suited to the Highland A roads up this way.

[menoy]

Think they're more popular in the UK the the number of them up for sale might imply. Quite a few registered at twingo133.net.

Standard car is a blast to drive, not sure if I'd spend the additional couple k's for 30 horse more - so the other red one for sale is a good enough car anyway! Would be wary of a demo car though - those things don't have an easy life, so might want to add a multiplier to that mileage.

Edited by menoy on Thursday 23 January 14:15

[DaveL485]

I wonder what happened to the Twingo 133's we drove on this PH day...can't believe this is SIX YEARS ago!

http://www.pistonheads.com/features/default.asp?st...

[Dion20vt]

Have always secretly wanted one of these... and a Panda 100hp... Just to be a bit different!

But would then trade it in after being blown off by a Astra diesel or something similar!

[anonymous-user]

Despite adoring the RenaultSport range since I was able to get behind the wheel of a car, the RS Twingo 133, modified or not, has never really appealed to me. It's not at all aggressive, it's not particularly fast, and it looks awkward from most angles.

I’m sure it’s a hoot to drive in certain circumstances but it’s a city car at heart, and other than the occasional blast where you can open up the revvy engine, I reckon it’d be hard to live with day in, day out.

[deadmau5]

Dion20vt said:

Have always secretly wanted one of these... and a Panda 100hp... Just to be a bit different!

But would then trade it in after being blown off by a Astra diesel or something similar!

I can confirm that that does happen. A lot.

You have to console yourself by beating them under breaking and round corners.

[Highway Star]

deadmau5 said:

I can confirm that that does happen. A lot.

You have to console yourself by beating them under breaking and round corners.

Does happen, but I know which car I'd rather be slow in between an Astra diesel and a 100HP.

[Tannedbaldhead]

Dion20vt said:

But would then trade it in after being blown off by a Astra diesel or something similar!

Kinda happened to me whilst driving a Mk3 MX5. I say "kinda" because worse than being out-dragged by a diesel Astra I was blown into the weeds accelerating up a motorway sliproad by a bloody diesel Zafira.

[deadmau5]

The article says only one other for sale on PH. If you look in the normal Twingo section and type 133 there are a few more. The Renaultsport classified section needs better moderation to move cars to their correct section.

[D7Cup]

K-tec mapping? Hmmm..

[Urban Sports]

My brother in law has one of these, it's ok, I just can't get on with the stupidly high seating position and the fact that the chassis is more than capable than the weedy feeling 133bhp, I'm sure the 160 ish bhp one mentioned here does it some justice.

I have however seen better built Lego technic sets than the Twingo.

[jezhumphrey75]

terrible gearbox, clunky as fk

[sad61t]

deadmau5 said:

I can confirm that that does happen. A lot.

You have to console yourself by beating them under breaking and round corners.

I hope you meant "under braking", although it is a Renault... :b (Joke! I've had four Renaults and they behaved very well.)

Edit: Remove apostrophy in Renaults. Friday morning slip!

Edited by sad61t on Friday 24th January 11:11

[Neil G60]

Amazingly practical little car, it can seat 4 adults in relative comfort and the rear seats fold and slide so you can fit all manner of dogs/bikes/stuff in the boot. We had a GT which is usually overlooked, it rides better on its 15 inch wheels and K-Tec can turn 100 horses into 120 and a load more torque:

http://www.k-tecracing.com/power_upgrades_package_...

If you can get past the shoddy interior plastics and the squeaks and rattles it's a great car very well suited to this country

[deadmau5]

sad61t said:

deadmau5 said:

I can confirm that that does happen. A lot.

You have to console yourself by beating them under breaking and round corners.

I hope you meant "under braking", although it is a Renault... :b (Joke! I've had four Renault's and they behaved very well)

Freudian slip

My Panda has had Clutch master and slave cylinders this week, clutch kit and second hand gearbox today as well as new tyres so I guess 'breaking' would have also fitted

[Mark Smith]

I've driven a couple of Twingo's. I drove a 1.0 hire car for a week on Lanzarote and that was great fun on the twisty roads over the lesser known sections of the island. I also drove a 133 at Oulton Park on a Renaultsport track day. The 133 felt slow after driving my 172 but it still handled really well and felt like it would be capable of handling more power. I'm not sure I would want to drive a Twingo long distance even with 133 bhp under the bonnet. Better suited to a B road blast really.

[Matt Bird]

deadmau5 said:

The article says only one other for sale on PH. If you look in the normal Twingo section and type 133 there are a few more. The Renaultsport classified section needs better moderation to move cars to their correct section.

Ah sorry, I didn't realise that! Will make a note for another time.

Cheers,


Matt