Category: City Cars 
Price Range: £8,785 to £10,485
Great handling, terrific rear space, versatile cabin, very economical, lively GT version, good value.
Not as cute as the original, GT engine sounds rough, interior a temple to hard plastic.
With the new Clio upsized, the second-generation Twingo is Renault's proper supermini. It's all the car most of us ever really need, and a lot of fun with it.
We never had the original 1993 Twingo in the UK, apart from some left-hand-drive personal imports. Realising it had missed a trick, for some years Renault has promised that the next Twingo would be made in right-hand drive. And now it's set for UK launch in September, albeit just in high-specification form.
The first Twingo was Renault's extra-cheap baby car, a roomy, one-box creation with the look of a mini-MPV. It was aimed at cool, young buyers but it sold better as a second car to older people. This time the little Renault is sportier, less purist, more fun and aimed more at young male buyers. Most markets will get two distinct Twingo looks, but the UK gets just the sportier one with a more aggressive nose and a mock diffuser under the rear bumper. The future Twingo RenaultSport will have yet heftier arches and, probably, a 150bhp turbo engine.
Sliding, folding rear seats and a fold-down front passenger seat make the Twingo a practical load-carrier, and suspension not far removed from that of the sportier old-model Clios promises an entertaining drive. Two petrol engines are offered for the UK, but we don't get the diesel. The Dynamique has a 75bhp, 16-valve engine with 72lb-ft of torque, while the GT - the Twingo we have tested - adds a turbocharger to give 100bhp and 107lb-ft.
At £9,995 the GT is a head-on rival for the Fiat Panda 100HP, the Ford SportKa and, soon, the Fiat 500 1.4. Compared with the Dynamique the GT gains different alloy wheels, a rear spoiler, GT badges by the front foglights, a leather-covered steering wheel, silver detailing, darker-tinted rear glass, air conditioning and, crucially, firmer suspension. Both versions qualify as Renault 'Eco2' cars, not least because their CO2 emissions are 140g/km or less - the lowest on the market, says Renault, for a 100bhp car.
