Renaultsport Twingo 133 Cup car review
Model tested: Renault Twingo Renaultsport 133 Cup
Price as tested: £12,400
Insurance group as tested: 8
CO2 emissions as tested: 165g/km
CO2 emissions range: 165g/km
Company car tax %: 21%
EuroNCAP result: ****
Road tester: Andy Goodwin
Auto Trader Ten Point Test rating: 82%
Renault’s tuning division has launched an assault on the hot hatch market over the past few years.
Most notably, Renaultsport is responsible for the Clio 197 Cup and the brand new Megane Renaultsport R26.R – the fastest front-wheel drive production road car ever to lap the gruelling Nurburgring Nordschleife.
It’s baby is the Renaultsport Twingo 133 – the warmed over city car which looks like a running shoe as well as sticking to the ground like one.
Looks | Looks Inside | Practicality | Ride and Handling | Performance
Running Costs | Reliability | Safety | Equipment | X-Factor
Small, purposeful and aggressive – the Twingo Renaultsport looks like it has been left in the summer sun and started to melt into the road. It has lower side skirts, much bigger wheelarches, revised bumpers and skinny low profile tyres. Choose the £650 Cup package and the shorter suspension drops the Twingo by an extra 4mm and fills the wheelarches with 17-inch alloy wheels (16-inch wheels are standard). Out of all the current Renaultsport cars we think the optional chequered flag decals suit the Twingo best.
8/10
The Twingo Renaultsport has an interior which divides opinion. You’ll either love the eccentricity of the centrally mounted dash pod or wish it was more like a conventional car. One practical concern is the positioning of the speedometer, which requires a conscious look over to the left. The rev-counter pod sits directly behind the steering wheel and blinks when you need to change up a gear. Plastics around the top of the dash are good quality, but we weren’t so keen on the plastic bulge for the stereo.
6/10
Being a city car, the Twingo is likely to be driven one or two up on shorter trips, but it’s still reasonably practical. The boot has 165-litres of space, with 285-litres on offer if you tilt the rear seats. There are two rear seats which can slide fore and aft, offering only just enough space for adults. Think of them as occasional seats for shorter journeys.
7/10
The Renaultsport engineers have gained an impressive reputation for turning out hot hatches with impeccable handling. The Twingo Renaultsport fitted with ‘Cup’ suspension is no exception. It tackles B roads with a lightness and lack of drama which reminds us of products from car makers such as Lotus and Caterham.
This isn’t just a marketing exercise then, but a properly engineered tune-up. There is a polish to the way the Twingo darts into corners and grips which encourages and complements the driver and makes it surprisingly quick from A to B.
Take it to a track day and some drivers of very expensive and powerful cars could find themselves overtaken by a committed Twingo pilot – at least if there aren’t too many long straights.
10/10
Renaultsport has shunned turbocharging for its highest performance Twingo, in favour of a high-revving 1.6-litre petrol engine. The trade-off is less punch when you first put your foot down, especially in higher gears.
Wait until the rev counter is above 4,000rpm and the engine picks up the pace. The extra speed is accompanied by a roar from the engine and exhaust too – right until the gearshift indicator flashes and you select the next cog.
Acceleration from 0-62mph takes 8.7 seconds, which is slower than the Abarth 500 (7.9 seconds), and quicker than a Mini Cooper (9.4 seconds).
It’s not a hugely fast car in a straight line, yet its excellent handling allows you to use all its power and build great momentum.
It impresses less on the motorway – one area the Twingo Renaultsport isn’t optimised for. Short gearing keeps the engine spinning at around 4,000rpm, while the firm suspension and minimal sound insulation become frustrating.
8/10
It’s fantastic a car with as much kudos and driver appeal as the Twingo Renaultsport can be bought from £11,750. While it’s unsurprisingly not as cheap to run as other derivatives in the Twingo range, the bills should still be some of the smallest for any performance car.
Claimed fuel economy is 40.4mpg on the combined cycle, with emissions of 165g/km. Insurance group 8 is surprisingly low for such a sporty car, so it’s in reach of younger owners too.
10/10
Renault has a worse overall reliability record than big rivals Ford and Volkswagen. Change should be on the way though – Renault has made reliability a priority and the Twingo should benefit from the push in this direction. It feels solid and well made.
7/10
The Twingo has achieved a four-star score in EuroNCAP crash testing, which puts it just behind the class leading five-star Fiat 500. It’s a respectable result from the Twingo, which features ABS, ESP, ISOFIX mounting on front passenger seat, front driver, passenger and front lateral airbags.
8/10
As standard you get a tuned chassis, Renaultsport rev counter, tuned steering, body kit, 16-inch alloy wheels, air conditioning, sports seats, leather steering wheel, aluminium pedals, radio CD, electric windows, fog lights, tinted glass, automatic headlights and windscreen wipers and electric door mirrors.
Optional equipment includes the Cup chassis kit fitted to our test car (£650) which includes stiffer springs and dampers and bigger 17-inch wheels. Also available is cruise control, curtain airbags, rear parking sensors, panoramic sunroof, climate control, Renaultsport interior trim, wing badges and stickers.
9/10
The Renaultsport team has really excelled in producing an exciting car which costs very little to buy. Its chassis and engine have been completed with the same engineering know-how and care as the hottest Renault hatches. Drive it down a winding country lane and you won’t look back.
9/10
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