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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.

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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the stories.

We recall past youth in the 2009 Renault Twingo 1,6 RS

Almost cute, yet with a hint of menace…

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday January 13, 2010

Back in the days when your dad was a youngster, popular small cars were often “hotted up.”  Standard streetcars were treated to cylinder head engineering tweaks, aggressive camshafts, additional or uprated carburettors and exhaust, body and suspension modifications. So-called improvements ranged from useful to useless and were universally hated by parents and insurance companies alike. One such candidate was the Renault R5.

My mind flashed back to those days when the pre-release press pack on the Twingo RS arrived a few months ago and again when Johan the fleet manager delivered one to my door the other day. There is something reminiscent of modified R5s in this Twingo’s looks; boxy, slightly rounded, almost cute, yet with a hint of menace…

Rather than resorting to dodgy modifications, Renault opted for shoehorning a lightly tweaked modern 1600 cc unit into the Twingo’s engine bay, wider tracks front and rear, and lowering the whole thing by 10 mm.  They also bolted on nice big disc brakes, straight off the Mégane, to make it stop as well as it goes. An ever so slightly antisocial exhaust system makes it sound the way it should.

Inside, a biggish rev counter dominates the steering column while the digital speedometer is parked off toward centre-dash, rather like on the Mini, but a bit more visible thanks to its being angled toward the driver. Nicely formed but not overpowering sports seats hold pilot and navigator in place and bright orange seat belts proclaim that this is a young person’s car.

Unlike most small cars, back seat passengers have plenty of knee space thanks to individually adjustable seats, albeit at expense of boot capacity. There is also just enough headroom for six-footers back there.

Looking around inside, it’s apparent that Renault either cheapened out on providing makeup mirrors or something got lost in conversion from left hand drive. There is no mirror on the left side sunvisor, so you have a few choices: give rides only to your ‘T-shirts and sneakers’ girl friends, let them drive, allow them to use the central rear view mirror just like your dad used to, or do what he finally did and buy a stick-on mirror for the left visor.

Music-wise, there is a single disc CD player and radio combo with four speakers and satellite controls on the steering wheel. Two RCA plugs look after music player connectivity, so you can buy either a simple two-RCA-to minijack converter from a discount store or get the full USB kit from your dealer.

Nice stuff includes automatic door locking as you start moving, a solid stance on the road, reassuring handling and stability and a close-ratio ‘box geared for acceleration. Less nice is the fact that there is no long cruising gear (4 000 rpm at 120 in 5^th), no seat height adjustment and no steering reach adjustment.

The Twingo RS goes OK, but is not dynamite. High revs at cruising speed get a bit noisy after a while and those same high revs guzzle fuel. There isn’t an onboard computer, so I couldn’t look up average consumption, but basic maths over 560 km of mixed usage indicated that I used about 9 l/100 km.

Overall, I felt a little let down. At R195 000, I expect a bit more zip and somewhat more sophistication. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a grand little tearabout machine, but I could become disenchanted before the 54^th payment.

The numbers

Price: R195 000 (includes advanced driver training at Renault driver academy)

Engine: 1 598 cc DOHC 16 valve four cylinder

Power: 98 kW at 6 750 rpm

Torque: 160 Nm at 4 400 rpm

Zero to 100 km/h: 8,7 seconds (claimed)

Maximum speed: 201 km/h (claimed)

Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km

Service plan: 3 years/45 000 km

 

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax. 

So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

 

Comments?

Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously. Contact me here

 

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