Renault Twingo: Renault goes sporty with new Twingo

While some car-makers struggle to forge a link between their expensive motorsport activities and their road cars, Renault is establishing a connection at every turn – hence the concept for the new Twingo appearing at Paris in full hot-hatch regalia and unprompted revelations by the PR team that the production version will be available in Renaultsport guise.

The first-generation Twingo was a characterful and inexpensive city car beloved of the French and Germans yet largely ignored by the rest of Europe; with its replacement,

Renault is hoping to ‘do a Mini’ in terms of its appeal to a young, sophisticated and well-heeled audience. Giving it a sporty demeanour, as the Mini Cooper enjoys, is seen as essential to attracting that audience.

Production versions of the new Twingo won’t look exactly like the concept car shown at Paris, but Renault boss Carlos Ghosn concedes that what you see here represents about 90 per cent of what you’ll find in showrooms – including British ones – when the car’s launched late in 2007.

Britain’s fondness for the Mini may be one reason why the new Twingo will be available in right-hand drive when the current version isn’t – our appetite for hardcore hot hatches is reportedly directly responsible for the decision to create a Renaultsport derivative that may have as much as 150bhp. However, the hottest Twingo at time of launch will be a 100bhp GT version powered by a turbocharged 1.2-litre motor said to give the economy of a 1-litre, the power of a 1.4 and the torque of a 1.6; this engine will appear in the Clio early next year. There will also be a 1-litre 75bhp entry-level Twingo.

Roughly the same size as the Citroen C2, the new Twingo is based on the platform of the previous- generation Clio, which spawned the dynamically dazzling 172 and 182. Hopes are therefore high that the Twingo’s handling will be a match for its provocative looks; there’s also a chance it’ll prove more entertaining than the larger, heavier, new Clio 197.