New Renault Twingo GT
With its rear-engine setup and Renault's
famous propensity for making hot hatches, the Twingo has been begging for a
performance variant. And now it can stop begging as the French automaker has
given it just that.
Set to debut later this month at the
Goodwood Festival of Speed is the new Renault Twingo GT. Like the Smart Forfour
Brabus with which it shares its underpinnings, the Twingo GT squeezes 110
horsepower out of its tiny 900 cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine, thanks to
a revised air intake and remapped engine software.
The resulting 20-horse pump in output
may not be much by most accounts, but ought to give the little city car some
extra get-up-and-go over the 90-horse version that topped the range until now.
Of course Renault didn't just tweak the
engine and leave it there. It also retuned the suspension, fitted 17-inch
wheels, recalibrated the stability control system, and honed the variable
steering rack for more spirited driving.
Buyers will be able to choose between
the new shade of orange pictured, along with black, grey, or white. Renault
Sport gave it some sporty accents inside as well, though this time around the
performance-oriented Twingo has gone without the vaunted RS badge that purists,
we hear, weren't so happy to see on the last one.
