Skip advert
Advertisement

Renaultsport Twingo Cup

Pared-back tiddler offers a £1500 saving and a real honesty to its drive

Evo rating
  • You save £1530
  • You spend it on antiperspirant

It’s not a particularly savoury topic, but it needs to be discussed as it could affect your enjoyment of this car. You will get sweaty pits if you buy a Twingo Cup. No air-con, you see, not even as an option. What’s that worth to you?

Opting to put up with a sticky shirt will save you £1530, because while the standard Renaultsport Twingo with the Cup chassis pack is £13,325, this new dedicated Cup model is just £11,795. Its suspension has the same 4mm drop and 10 per cent stiffening, and the claimed weight for the car is the same, too (although we’ve been told that ditching the air-con and replacing the two individual sliding rear seats with a fixed bench has saved about 10kg).

Advertisement - Article continues below

There’s a real honesty about this Twingo. On the move it’s a tenacious thing, all eagerness and fizz. It does seem to suffer from more vertical jounce than other Twingos we’ve driven, launching off bumps and generally skipping along, but it does so in such a joyful way it’s hard to be annoyed. Particularly when it’s such a gleeful cornering partner, barrelling in at whatever speed you’ve managed to coax from the yowling 1.6 on the last straight, cocking a wheel and scooting around at undiminished velocity. If you don’t drive it like that everywhere, you’re missing the point of this car and you probably won’t enjoy it.

And the body odour? Nothing a can of deodorant wouldn’t fix.

Specifications

Engine; In-line 4-cyl, 1598cc
Max power131bhp @ 6750rpm
Max torque118lb ft @ 4400rpm
Top speed125mph (claimed)
0-62mph8.7sec (claimed)
Price£11,795
On saleNow
Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Citroën C5 Aircross review – quirky, honest SUV offering Range Rover comfort on a budget
Citroën C5 Aircross
In-depth reviews

Citroën C5 Aircross review – quirky, honest SUV offering Range Rover comfort on a budget

When is a generic family crossover not the dullest thing on Earth? When it’s a comfy Citroën glazed in weirdness
9 Apr 2026
Honda Civic Type R (EK9, 1997-2000) review – 1990s JDM icon makes a Peugeot 205 GTI look agricultural
Honda Civic Type R EK9
Reviews

Honda Civic Type R (EK9, 1997-2000) review – 1990s JDM icon makes a Peugeot 205 GTI look agricultural

The EK9 was the beginning of the Civic Type R story, but Honda never officially sold it in the UK. Unicorn status on our shores is a given, then
13 Apr 2026
Aston Martin Vantage S review – does it offer enough to take on Porsche's 911 Turbo S
Aston Martin Vantage S front
Reviews

Aston Martin Vantage S review – does it offer enough to take on Porsche's 911 Turbo S

Tweaks to the chassis and aero, plus more power and attitude – in S form, one of our favourite Astons promises even bigger thrills
15 Apr 2026