Renault Twingo gets V8 engine

Renault has a reputation for building out-of-the-ordinary hot hatches from time to time but the Renault Twingo always side-stepped the mental radar.

But now French company Lazareth has fitted a previous generation Renault Twingo with a 3.5-litre Rover V8 engine.

It’s a little disappointing that the Twingo only has 180bhp – less than a Clio Renaultsport – but look at it, it’s positively outrageous.

With a matt grey paintjob, huge arches housing a set of 18-inch alloys and a massive rear diffuser it’s a seriously mean bit of kit.

But at £63,000 it’s a brave person who buys the Twingo. We’d like to meet the person who opts for a 180bhp French car over a Nissan GT-R.

Renault has a knack for building outrageous production models.

There was the mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo 2 in the 1980s and a couple of V6-powered Clios over the past few years.

Sticking big engines in small cars seems to be the in thing for some of European tuners at the moment.

A couple of months ago we reported on the Nimik 2CV – a Citroen breadvan fitted with a 380bhp, 3.5-litre V8 engine from a Ferrari F355.

And then there’s the Chevrolet Matiz which has a 7-litre V8 and can accelerate from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds.

Video: Watch the Ferrari-powered Citroen in action

Source: Carscoop