Category: City Cars 
Price Range: £9,085 to £10,935
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.
The ride we've mentioned: it's refreshingly quiet and compliant for a taut, sporty car and puts the Panda 100HP to shame. The noise levels are less impressive if you work the engine hard, but otherwise the Twingo is a refined little car helped by its obviously rigid, all-of-a-piece structure. Those front seats are odd, though, in the way they are set so high. You can lower the driver's one to a degree, but the front passenger feels perched on the Twingo rather than sat in it.
Rear passengers - strictly two of them, in individual chairs - sit high, too, but with their seats fully forward they still have decent knee- and foot-room. Slide the seats back - the range is about 10cm - and you get space that would shame an executive saloon, yet the now-shrunken boot is still usefully bigger than that of a 107/C1/Aygo or indeed a Mini. The seats' backrests fold down on to the bases, and each ensemble can then be tipped forward to make a large, flat load floor. It's a bit of mini-MPVness which gives a taste of the old Twingo. The front passenger seat joins in the party with a double-hinged backrest which can be folded flat on to the cushion to create a hard-surfaced table or an extension to the load platform for lengthy cargo.
There are big door pockets and rear side pockets, cupholders and cubby holes, a proper glovebox and a cup device which can hold an MP3 player, a credit/toll card or a cluster of lights. The optional MP3 jack is in the glovebox, but the connectivity is not so clever as to show track names on a facia display. A Bluetooth telephone interface is another option.
Automatic air con is standard in the GT and works well. This model also gets electric, heated door mirrors, and automatic wipers and lights are standard. All told, it shows that superminis can offer plenty of kit, and plenty of driving fun, without being overpriced or obese. We applaud.
