The sporty version of Renault’s little Twingo city car has arrived.
The Twingo GT – which can best be described as a “warm” hatch – goes on sale next week with prices starting at £13,775.
Renault has tweaked its 0.9-litre turbo petrol engine to produce more power, up from 89bhp to 109bhp, while torque stretches to 170Nm from 135Nm.
Those figures are 19bhp and 25lb ft more than the current most powerful Twingo. The car also gets new gearbox ratios to help improve response times.
It will sprint from 0-62mph in 9.6 seconds, and go on to a top speed of 113mph.
It comes in a choice of four colours: Lunar Grey, Diamond Black, Crystal White and an orange that is unique to the model. Other features include Renault Sport-badged door sills, aluminium pedals and a metal gearknob.
There’s also a Twingo Dynamique S, which is a revised model that fits into the range below the GT. Priced from £12,205 it gets an 898cc engine in either turbocharged 89bhp or naturally aspirated 69bhp spec mated to a five-speed manual or six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
In other news, a lack of awareness of UK driving laws is putting many motorists at risk, according to a new survey.
A quarter of the 1,000 drivers quizzed for the Warranty Direct report thought it was legal to overtake and undertake on the motorway, while nearly a third thought it was acceptable to pull over to the hard shoulder to sleep if they couldn’t find a rest stop.
Some 32% of respondents also thought the national speed limit on a single carriageway was 70mph rather than 60mph.
Less than half (47%) of drivers knew that going barefoot when behind the wheel was illegal, while just 38% were aware that using a car’s horn while stationary was against the law.
Many motorists were unaware that accelerating through a puddle could bring them three penalty points on their licence, with just 31% correctly identifying this offence.