My Twingo..

[Alex225]

Not defecting as such but prior to my hankering for a Mercedes back in 20015 I was a RenaultSport fan through and through.

Ok, so I admit they're not the most solid feeling cars but hand on heart I've never had any reliability issues and they are a lot of fun.

So here is my RenaultSport Twingo 133 Gordini, number 110 and one of the 200 sold in the UK. The Gordini editions were an homage to the tuner from the 1930s Amédée Gordini. Oddly though, Renault opted for additional features/styling over performance.

The car came with the standard 1.6 16v engine which makes 131bhp and same RS chassis as the normal 133. It also came in the metallic racing blue with offset Gordini stripes, full leather interior, climate control, cruise control etc.

To be honest I haven't done a lot with it since, two kids coming along plus work getting in the way it's sat around a lot. Still, uncovered it this weekend and gave it some love.

Only change I made to the cars were the original wheels. Being a diamond cut face they are fragile and actually I think these white Team Dynamics suit it far better.

Twingo battery vs CLS battery...

So there you have it. Not going to be everyone's cup of tea but these are cars that don't take themselves too seriously. A hell of a lot of fun to drive and is very over shadowed by the Clio 200 and Megane 250 at the time.

 

[MercedesDriver]

Funnily enough since last week I have RS133 on my watch list on AT.
What I’ve noticed on all the photos of all cars is that the rear parcel looks non existent. Do they have it at all?
What’s it like on a day to day basis?
I’ve recently bought a Corsa Sxi as a winter daily but it’s borring as hell and I don't think I can live with it for more than few months so RS Twingo could be interesting replacement for it.

 

[Alex225]

They do indeed have a parcel shelf but it lifts up entirely with the boot hatch, it's probably only about 6-7" deep but it is there.

As a daily car they're very good actually and surprisingly practical. When I bought mine, my girlfriend at the time took a shine to it and ordered herself one as well. She used it as her daily car for a couple of year and it was great.

The engine is very revvy and you get the full 131bhp quite high up in the revs. Even has a gear change light in the middle of the rev count to tell you. That said it doesn't feel under powered in normal driving and the grip and handling is superb. My Gordini doesn't have the Cup chassis but my ex's car did. I would say that day to day the handling was pretty similar but the Cup chassis is pretty harsh. On the normal 133 the Cup chassis is usually indicated by the 17" wheels as opposed to 16". Mine being the Gordini came with 17" wheels as standard anyway.

One thing to keep in mind as well is that you could buy a 'full fat' 133 and add the Cup chassis to it. You could also buy the cheaper 133 Cup which came with a single rear bench and a few other bits taken out. The standard 133 had two independent rear seats which could be folded flat or slid forward for more boot space so an easy way to tell.

My Gordini has the standard stereo upgrade which was a lot better than the standard one which looked like something from 1995! That also added the screen up by the speedo which is otherwise just a space. Climate control was optional but I believe A/C was on them by default.

Overall though I love the 133s, better looking than the Clio 172/182s albeit not as powerful, more modern and better handling as well.

 

[MercedesDriver]

They do indeed have a parcel shelf but it lifts up entirely with the boot hatch, it's probably only about 6-7" deep but it is there.

As a daily car they're very good actually and surprisingly practical. When I bought mine, my girlfriend at the time took a shine to it and ordered herself one as well. She used it as her daily car for a couple of year and it was great.

The engine is very revvy and you get the full 131bhp quite high up in the revs. Even has a gear change light in the middle of the rev count to tell you. That said it doesn't feel under powered in normal driving and the grip and handling is superb. My Gordini doesn't have the Cup chassis but my ex's car did. I would say that day to day the handling was pretty similar but the Cup chassis is pretty harsh. On the normal 133 the Cup chassis is usually indicated by the 17" wheels as opposed to 16". Mine being the Gordini came with 17" wheels as standard anyway.

One thing to keep in mind as well is that you could buy a 'full fat' 133 and add the Cup chassis to it. You could also buy the cheaper 133 Cup which came with a single rear bench and a few other bits taken out. The standard 133 had two independent rear seats which could be folded flat or slid forward for more boot space so an easy way to tell.

My Gordini has the standard stereo upgrade which was a lot better than the standard one which looked like something from 1995! That also added the screen up by the speedo which is otherwise just a space. Climate control was optional but I believe A/C was on them by default.

Overall though I love the 133s, better looking than the Clio 172/182s albeit not as powerful, more modern and better handling as well.

Clio and Megan RS are too big for what I need it for so Twingo can fit nicely next to my 212 on a driveway.
I've read about those three variants RS133/Cup/Gordini and I'll be looking for RS or Gordini one (the later one doesn't show up on AT at all). Split 2 rear seats and AC should be standard on those two, RS with 16" and Gordini with 17" wheels and everything else like yours. Cup is supposedly harsh stripped race boy version of RS which is something I don't really need.
Thanks for info on rear parcel, as said I haven't seen a single one yet. When the time comes I'll be free to contact you with some questions I might have (what had to be done at certain mileage and such).

 

[Alex225]

Clio and Megan RS are too big for what I need it for so Twingo can fit nicely next to my 212 on a driveway.
I've read about those three variants RS133/Cup/Gordini and I'll be looking for RS or Gordini one (the later one doesn't show up on AT at all). Split 2 rear seats and AC should be standard on those two, RS with 16" and Gordini with 17" wheels and everything else like yours. Cup is supposedly harsh stripped race boy version of RS which is something I don't really need.
Thanks for info on rear parcel, as said I haven't seen a single one yet. When the time comes I'll be free to contact you with some questions I might have (what had to be done at certain mileage and such).

Keep the Clio 172/182 in mind as well in terms of size, the Twingo is based on that chassis anyway. It's the Clio 197/200 that was the bigger one.

Agreed, the Cup version is that bit more basic and from what I recall about £1,500-2,000 cheaper. Personally I'd want the full version of the 133 and if possible the Cup Chassis but that's non essential. I suspect a non-Cup 133 would fit the bill.

For reference the non-Cup alloys are these ones, which I believe are actually rarer :

Feel free to give me a shout any time mate. In terms of servicing they require a service every 12k/12 months and cambelt/waterpump is 5 years/72k.

Oh and one other thing, the last edition they did of the Phase I Twingo 133 was the Silverstone edition. Believe there was only 150 of those sold, all in Nimbus grey, black alloys/spoiler etc.

 

[MercedesDriver]

Keep the Clio 172/182 in mind as well in terms of size, the Twingo is based on that chassis anyway. It's the Clio 197/200 that was the bigger one.

Agreed, the Cup version is that bit more basic and from what I recall about £1,500-2,000 cheaper. Personally I'd want the full version of the 133 and if possible the Cup Chassis but that's non essential. I suspect a non-Cup 133 would fit the bill.

For reference the non-Cup alloys are these ones, which I believe are actually rarer :

Feel free to give me a shout any time mate. In terms of servicing they require a service every 12k/12 months and cambelt/waterpump is 5 years/72k.

Oh and one other thing, the last edition they did of the Phase I Twingo 133 was the Silverstone edition. Believe there was only 150 of those sold, all in Nimbus grey, black alloys/spoiler etc.

Thanks.
I've heard of that Silverstone edition for UK market only - even harder to find.

 

[Alex225]

Yeah they're pretty rare, I suspect with the minimal numbers sold and no doubt a few write offs there won't be many for sale. I suspect they'll hold a bit of a premium as well.

White was a popular colour and the black rims, spoiler, fog light surrounds and mirrors were options. Albeit very popular ones.