Renault Twingo

FIRST DRIVE Color Run special gives city car a kit boost

RENAULT’S cute Twingo city car range has just been updated to include the Color Run Special Edition. The newcomer is based on the mid-range Play specification, but gets a host of extra kit for a relatively small hike in price. So is it worth the cost?

The special edition ties in with the ‘Color Run’ races happening nationwide that see entrants pelted with coloured powder as they run down the street. That means the Twingo gets lots of vibrant personalisation options.

Our car featured a blue exterior, along with an interior style pack with upholstery, door panels and centre console in the same colour. There’s a set of stripes down the side of the car, too. All together it looks great, and if getting noticed is your thing, this model should be worth the extra cash.

Also included are 15-inch alloys, a folding fabric sunroof, air-con, DAB, Bluetooth and USB connectivity. There’s no central screen, but you can download an app on to your smartphone that has sat-nav and Internet radio and displays a rev counter, so this could be just as useful.

This Color Run version looks good value for money, but like any model in the Twingo range, it’s overshadowed by excellent rivals such as the Skoda Citigo and Hyundai i10.

It’s only available with the naturally aspirated 1.0-litre engine, which is slower and less economical than the 900cc turbo found in higher-spec Twingos. It feels rather underpowered and isn’t very characterful.

Despite being rear-wheel drive, this car isn’t as much fun as a Citigo. It doesn’t turn in as sharply, and while it’s still entertaining to dart about in, it doesn’t handle as well.

It is quite practical, though, with fairly roomy rear seats for such a small car. And they fold down to increase the decent 219-litre boot capacity to 980 litres.

A four-year warranty, group three insurance and low road tax bills will mean the Twingo is reasonably cheap to run, too.