Review Renault Twingo hatchback

"The Renault Twingo is as spaciuos and practical as ever but lacks the comfort and value of its major rivals." The Renault Twingo has always been a spacious, practical and good to drive city car – but it has never stood out or offered a quality interior. With the new VW up! on the scene, in addition to revised versions of the Toyota Aygo and Citroen C1, Renault has addressed this with an updated model. New headlights, a new grille, fresh taillights and a couple of new colours are the biggest exterior changes, while inside the dashboard comes in a new, better quality soft-touch fabric material. The range now starts at around £10,000. By comparison, the VW up! costs from £7,995. Drive 2.9 /5 Twingo is happy in town, Renaultsport model is firm but fun The Twingo loves narrow back streets and tight parking spots, making it ideal for the city. It also handles well with little in the way of body roll and precise steering. All of the engines – including 60bhp and 75bhp 1.2-litre petrols – require lots of revs to deliver their best, and can become noisy, especially on the motorway. The Renaultsport model has a very firm ride indeed, but the upside is that it's great fun around corners and has a fast 133bhp 1.6-litre engine. Comfort 2.5 /5 The ride is a bit stiff and sound insulation could be better Rivals like the VW up! have much softer suspension and are more comfortable than the Twingo, which is quite firm. You can certainly hear the engine at all times too, while road and wind noise aren’t kept out of the cabin very well. The cabin is spacious, but the steering doesn’t have reach adjustment, making the driving position awkward for some drivers. Reliability 3.5 /5 Twingo feels better inside but still no class leader With a new soft-touch dashboard fabric and new seat materials, the Twingo feels more modern inside, and it's certainly no worse than a Toyota Aygo or Citroen C1. The VW up! feels a step above it, though. On the plus side, the Twingo is very basic with little to go wrong – which means it should prove more reliable than some other products in Renault's range. Practicality 3.8 /5 Versatile cabin is let down by three-door layout The Twingo's three-door layout spoils practicality and makes the two rear seats difficult to access. However, the Renault makes up for this with rear seats that slide back and forth, so boot space varies from 165-285 litres, which is impressive for such a small car. Fold the seats down and there's 959 litres available, which is also good. There are also plenty of storage spaces throughout the cabin, so the Twingo more than compensates for its lack of rear doors in this respect. Value for money 3.0 /5 All cars offer a basic specification but now with more personalisation The Fiat 500 and MINI are the kings of personalisation – and Renault has tried to follow their lead with the facelifted Twingo. It's a bit half-hearted, limited to different coloured wing mirrors, exterior stickers and contrasting cabin trim, but at least they’ve made the effort. The biggest problem though is the price – at £10,350 the Twingo looks very expensive. Running costs 2.3 /5 Rivals are cheaper to run, no tax-free version When even certain BMW 5 Series executive models are emitting less than 120g/km of CO2, it's a pretty poor show that the most efficient Twingo – the 1.2 16v Dynamique – posts 119/gkm and claimed fuel economy of 55.4mpg. That falls way behind the class average and means there is no Twingo which qualifies for exemption from road tax.