TWINS GO IN THE BACK – TRIPLETS DON’T Renault never saw fit to bring the original Twingo here, a decision much lamented by many people although I have to say it never struck me as that daft a decision. A healthy trade sprang up importing left hook Twingos from France and the few I have seen have never struck me as being that impressive from the durability point of view judging by the way they look now. With the introduction of the second generation Twingo after 14 years of the original (the name is an amalgamation of Twist, Swing, and Tango in case you wondered) Renault decided it was time to hit the right hand drive market so at last, the Twingo is here. This new model is being produced at a plant in Slovenia following a €400 million investment by Renault. As the company managed to sell 2.7 million of the old ones, it must be confident of turning a good profit with this one. First thing to say is that if you are a couple with three children then the Twingo is not the car for you – it only has two seats in the back and there’s no option of adding a third. I thought it would be interesting to see what younger drivers had to say about the Twingo so I got my son and his partner to try it out. They normally run round in Rachel’s 10 year old Ford Ka, so they seemed prime candidates to come back with an opinion on Twingo motoring. What they said surprised me. Rachel reported that she preferred driving her Ka and that travelling in it was far smoother than the Renault achieved. It’s a long time since I’ve driven a Ka but obviously I’ve driven the Twingo, which I thought good by modern standards. What concerned them more, though, was the sheer lack of go from the 1.2 litre, 75 bhp engine Renault uses in what were the base Twingo models before they came up with an even cheaper, less powerful, and probably more gutless model a few weeks back. They found that the car seemed happier cruising at 60 – 65 mph rather than the 70 mph plus that all the other motorway traffic wanted to travel at – the last thing you want to be on the M25, which is where their jaunt took them, is a rolling roadblock. The solution might be to go for the GT, which has the same engine size but is boosted by a turbocharger. This lifts the power output by a third to 100 bhp and would be much better if my experience of the same engine in a larger Clio is anything to go by. Naturally there is always a downside to improvements like this and with the Twingo it’s likely to be fuel consumption. It may not be as bad as you fear, though, as the 75 bhp Twingo was averaging 45 mpg but I was easily getting 39 mpg out of the bigger 100 bhp Clio. Young drivers will find the other snag is insurance. The Twingo’s lowest rating is Group 3 and the GT hits Group 5, not the news you really want if this is a first or second car and you are still building your no-claims discount. Other cars may get the vote just because they are easier to insure. Having said that, it may be worth making the sacrifice. One of the first things to strike you about the Twingo is the amount of space it offers. Those twin rear chairs are really big and comfortable while the wide doors also make access to them easy. Versatility is increased because the chairs also slide so you can maximise boot space or have more leg room. When carrying adults in particular the rise in leg room is going to be really appreciated. While children occupy the seats, sliding them forward won’t be any hardship and then boot space is exceptional. Naturally, the seats also fold forward, leaving a flat boot floor. But I didn’t find it easy to unlock them and you have to lean right into the boot to do it. Twingo prices are not cheap, the car we had was £8,375 and they rise to £9,995 for the GT. Renault also offers chances to customise the car with stripes – the white bonnet and roof racing stripes of the test car definitely had no beneficial effect – and side decals in an attempt to match the Mini and new Fiat 500. The race is definitely back on to recapture the appeal of the original Mini. Maurice Hardy Dials in the middle of the dashboard are very stylish and in the Renault Twingo they are housed in a binnacle with a swooping brow. However, I’ve always favoured having instruments where they can be seen so in front of the driver is the sensible place to put them. Having said that, this is precisely the position Renault has chosen for the rev counter but as it’s there and you are always flicking left to glance at the speedo you tend to ignore it. While I am finishing my gripes, I’m not impressed with Renault’s column stalk for the radio controls, either. Renault was among the first people to adopt this control system and it normally makes perfect sense. But on the Twingo the stalk is too close to the steering wheel with the result that you cannot operate its controls. I would hate you to think I did not like it because the Twingo is actually a great small car. Four adults have no trouble travelling in it provided they are agile enough to access the rear seats and the price of the now mid-range Twingo allied to its 45 mpg fuel consumption makes far more sense than a two seat Smart coupe Passion unless your parking space is really tight. Cars like the Twingo prove that small cars are really all that most of us need. I could live with it and we all need to ask ourselves if we could live with cars like this too. Annette Hardy Car: Renault Twingo 1.2 Dynamique Does it fit your ego?... 0-62 mph: 12.0 secs Top speed: 106 mph Bhp: 75 @ 5500 rpm Torque: 79 lb ft @ 4250 rpm ...and your wallet?... Price: £8,375 Urban: 37.6 mpg Extra urban: 60.1 mpg Combined: 49.5 mpg CO2 emissions: 135 g/km Insurance Group: 3 Best bits: big on space; small on fuel; big boot.