Party animal
THE Renault Twingo GT looks like a party animal – and doesn’t disappoint when you get behind the wheel.
The dinky rear-wheel-drive city car has been given the treatment both inside and out, leaving the normal model far behind. And, indeed, that should be the case, as a price-tag of a shade over £14,000 is not cheap.
The exterior is glitzy, with 17-inch alloy wheels and twin chrome exhaust pipes immediately grabbing your attention, and the GT body kit sees the addition of front and side skirts, as well as extended wheel arches and a rear diffuser.
It looks like it should be nippy, and with a turbocharged 898cc three-pot engine and sport chassis, featuring a revised suspension, the Twingo doesn’t hang around – although it is not quite in hot hatch territory. The official 0-62mph time is 9.6 seconds but the growl emitted from the 110bhp unit combined with a hunkered down stance give the impression it is far quicker than that.
The car responds well to being driven at pace and won’t cost a fortune while you’re barrelling around, as it returns around 35 to the gallon, while an overall average of 45mpg isn’t pie in the sky. Officially the fuel return is 54.3mpg with emissions of 115g/km.
The cabin also gets the GT treatment from the French motor manufacturer, with tinted rear windows, alloy gear knob and aluminium pedals, plus smart sport seats and splashes of colour around the air vents, door panels and seating trim.
Plenty of kit is thrown in, with sat nav, climate control, cruise control, rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlights all making an appearance. And one optional extra worth considering is Reanult’s R-Link multimedia system accessed through a seven-inch colour touchscreen, which, for another £600, adds a high definition reversing camera and parking sensors, audio streaming, Bluetooth and more powerful speakers. Other additions include an eye-catching orange metallic paint job, special GT roof and bonnet decals and storage under the rear seats bringing the total cost of the car to £15,070.
Renault are shrewd enough to know that for the younger generation likely to buy this Twingo these “optional” extras are going to be viewed as necessities. But that should not detract from the fact this city slicker is Great.