2014 Renault Twingo is a rear-engined cutie
 

Filed under: Budget, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback, Renault

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At this point, we thought the formula for small, inexpensive hatchbacks was pretty much dialed in: transverse engine, front-wheel drive. Then along comes Renault with its cheeky new Twingo, just to throw a curveball into the mix. Sporting a rear-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive, the Twingo is something of a (very) poor man's Porsche 911, and it's got us excited.

Power is provided by either a naturally aspirated, 70-horsepower, 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine or a turbocharged 900cc triple with 90 horsepower and 100 lb-ft, the latter of which sounds like quite a lot of fun in a lightweight small car. We're eager to check out what sort of dynamic wins this layout yields - we know it's going to be nimble, with a turning circle of just 8.65 meters (28.4 feet), a full meter less than rivals. Of course, the rear-engined, rear-wheel drive thing hasn't always produced sterling drive experiences - the Smart ForFour speaks loudly to this. In fact it's no coincidence that the Twingo shares this driveline configuration with Smart - the chassis was codeveloped with Daimler alongside the next-generation ForFour.

The Twingo's interior is best described as cheap and cheerful, with some neat features like a flat-bottomed wheel, contrasting trim and TomTom navigation. â??Despite being shorter overall than the last-generation model, this Twingo is actually roomier inside. We've had a chance to look at the cargo hold, and its load floor is modestly higher than you might find in a more conventional hatchback, but it's a pretty remarkable feat of packaging - if someone didn't tell you there was an engine back there, you wouldn't suspect it. In fact, Renault boasts, "It is the only city car capable of carrying a boxed Swedish bookshelf."Continue reading 2014 Renault Twingo is a rear-engined cutie

2014 Renault Twingo is a rear-engined cutie originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 05 Mar 2014 07:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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