So I did some test driving today, popped into the Renault dealer in Watford and was greeted by not a bad looking lass. Explained my position (looking to buy soon etc) and what I was interested. They had a couple of Twingo 133's, one Cup and one non-Cup and a Megane 250 (non-cup).
First up, the Twingo Cup. It was this one -
First impressions - it looks funky, and very small - similar to the Micra. Get inside and it's a swarm of black plastic, feels very cheap. But then for just under £10k for a car that's done about 10k miles, there's the reason why. Remember this is dealer prices, so can knock a few grand off if you were to buy privately I imagine.
The previous owner clearly didn't care for it as the alloys were kerbed to hell and the seats had some pretty suspicious looking marks...!
Anyway, onto the drive. I let the car warm up before giving it any beans, and it was comfortable enough.
No, what am I saying? It really wasn't. It was like driving off road. I felt everything, it made me hate Britain's roads even more. I instantly felt that I could not live with this car day-to-day. I've driven 182s, both Cups and Cup-packed, and they were nothing like this! Perhaps this car is designed for the track?
Once the engine had got to optimum temperature I started giving it some. There's a second or two of nothing and then the power starts coming. And then you get to about 4,500rpm and there's a sudden surge of power - like a turbo, but this is just a 1.6 engine?!
There's plenty of guts from the engine and it doesn't feel like it takes nearly 9 seconds to get to 60, it will get to 60 in 2nd with no problems.
Next we showed it some corners and roundabouts. Being the Cup version it certainly didn't disappoint. It stuck to the road just like you would expect to, very similar to a 182 in this sense. There's not much more to say here, it was as you'd expect!
Brakes - I initially thought they were pretty poor. The nice lady gave me some story that it had been sitting at another dealer for 60 days with no interest and this can make the brakes a bit ropey. I wasn't sure whether this was fact or fiction so I gave it some hard braking and was scared that I wouldn't stop!
However after a while, perhaps once they'd warmed up from some pressure(?) they seemed to come to life and my confidence in the little Twingo had grown.
Verdict - certainly a chuckable little car for some thrills and will certainly keep you entertained with a smile on your face. However I felt that you really had to drive it hard to get the most enjoyment out of it. By no means do I consider myself a pr0 driver, but I definitely felt that I had to work to get more out of it, more so than the 182.
So would I own one? Possibly. If I was back to being a student with generous parents then it would be great. However I'm going to be doing 2 x half hour journeys every day soon and I'm not sure I could live with the hard ride as I'd get to work with a headache! If I had the spare cash, it would be an awesome little track toy, but for the road no thanks.
When we got back, the other Twingo (non-Cup) had gone, so unfortunately didn't get to test this
Onto the Megane then! I know there's one or two owners on here that really like it and I very briefly test-drove it last year down in Portsmouth (for about all of 5 minutes).
This was the one I test-drove -
When getting into the car, you're still greeted by a swarm of black plastic on the dash, however it's certainly a nicer place to be. The ride height felt a lot lower and gave it the sportier feeling and all of the dials were behind the steering wheel, unlike the Twingo's 'modern' centre display piece. However I will say, the dials are sloped away from you and I felt a bit uneasy going past speed cameras as I couldn't properly tell if I was doing 30 or not! Perhaps it's something owners would get used to?
Anyway, push the start/stop button and I was greeted with a growl from the engine which was a nice welcoming! Got it onto the road and again allowed it time to warm up. This gave me some opportunity to compare it to the Twingo's harsh ride and I felt that this certainly absorbed the road a lot better. Although I will say that this was a non-Cup version, nor did it have the Cup chassis pack (I think) - need to double check that.
Anyway, onto the engine and once it had warmed up I gave it some. Power delivery was a lot smoother and the 250hp shoots you to 60mph in just over 6 seconds, definitely very satisfying. Although this car suffers from a bit of torque steer. Not quite the amount that the Focus RS does, but it's definitely noticeable! Maybe this puts some of the enjoyment back into driving?!
Either way, whenever I gave it some beans it gave me a sense of satisfaction and put a smile on my face - every time!
Onto the handling, and being the non-Cupped version (I think!) meant that I didn't want to go overkill. Either way though, whatever I chucked it into was no problem. It stuck to the road very well and I really want to try a Cup version now!
The brakes on the 250 are Brembos and they're fantastic. Didn't need any 'warming up' and were very responsive. A good tick in the box there. I did some experimenting with gunning it and hammering on the brakes, the first time the poor lass nearly hit the windscreen and her Blackberry went flying
Bringing it back to the dealer and I felt a little sad. Sad in the sense that I'm not going to be able to own this car for a very long time. Unless I take out the 0% finance over 3 years (don't do it, don't do it).
It's a brilliant car, however I need to try the Cup, or one with the Cup-pack. I would love to own one, despite the tiny rear windscreen, it's just a shame I'm not in the position to buy at the moment
Christ I've written a lot and need to get some dinner. I hope it's somewhat interesting if you've managed to read my ramblings. Perhaps you've thought 'hang on, why on earth hasn't he tried the inbetweener? The Clio 200?' All in good time folks, that's booked for Thursday morning - Cup packed with Recaros
Expect another terrible write up on Thursday with my findings (I'm hoping that it will fit the bill nicely!)
(For those that didn't read it all, I test drove some Renaultsports and these are my findings!)
First up, the Twingo Cup. It was this one -
First impressions - it looks funky, and very small - similar to the Micra. Get inside and it's a swarm of black plastic, feels very cheap. But then for just under £10k for a car that's done about 10k miles, there's the reason why. Remember this is dealer prices, so can knock a few grand off if you were to buy privately I imagine.
The previous owner clearly didn't care for it as the alloys were kerbed to hell and the seats had some pretty suspicious looking marks...!
Anyway, onto the drive. I let the car warm up before giving it any beans, and it was comfortable enough.
No, what am I saying? It really wasn't. It was like driving off road. I felt everything, it made me hate Britain's roads even more. I instantly felt that I could not live with this car day-to-day. I've driven 182s, both Cups and Cup-packed, and they were nothing like this! Perhaps this car is designed for the track?
Once the engine had got to optimum temperature I started giving it some. There's a second or two of nothing and then the power starts coming. And then you get to about 4,500rpm and there's a sudden surge of power - like a turbo, but this is just a 1.6 engine?!
There's plenty of guts from the engine and it doesn't feel like it takes nearly 9 seconds to get to 60, it will get to 60 in 2nd with no problems.
Next we showed it some corners and roundabouts. Being the Cup version it certainly didn't disappoint. It stuck to the road just like you would expect to, very similar to a 182 in this sense. There's not much more to say here, it was as you'd expect!
Brakes - I initially thought they were pretty poor. The nice lady gave me some story that it had been sitting at another dealer for 60 days with no interest and this can make the brakes a bit ropey. I wasn't sure whether this was fact or fiction so I gave it some hard braking and was scared that I wouldn't stop!
However after a while, perhaps once they'd warmed up from some pressure(?) they seemed to come to life and my confidence in the little Twingo had grown.
Verdict - certainly a chuckable little car for some thrills and will certainly keep you entertained with a smile on your face. However I felt that you really had to drive it hard to get the most enjoyment out of it. By no means do I consider myself a pr0 driver, but I definitely felt that I had to work to get more out of it, more so than the 182.
So would I own one? Possibly. If I was back to being a student with generous parents then it would be great. However I'm going to be doing 2 x half hour journeys every day soon and I'm not sure I could live with the hard ride as I'd get to work with a headache! If I had the spare cash, it would be an awesome little track toy, but for the road no thanks.
When we got back, the other Twingo (non-Cup) had gone, so unfortunately didn't get to test this
Onto the Megane then! I know there's one or two owners on here that really like it and I very briefly test-drove it last year down in Portsmouth (for about all of 5 minutes).
This was the one I test-drove -
When getting into the car, you're still greeted by a swarm of black plastic on the dash, however it's certainly a nicer place to be. The ride height felt a lot lower and gave it the sportier feeling and all of the dials were behind the steering wheel, unlike the Twingo's 'modern' centre display piece. However I will say, the dials are sloped away from you and I felt a bit uneasy going past speed cameras as I couldn't properly tell if I was doing 30 or not! Perhaps it's something owners would get used to?
Anyway, push the start/stop button and I was greeted with a growl from the engine which was a nice welcoming! Got it onto the road and again allowed it time to warm up. This gave me some opportunity to compare it to the Twingo's harsh ride and I felt that this certainly absorbed the road a lot better. Although I will say that this was a non-Cup version, nor did it have the Cup chassis pack (I think) - need to double check that.
Anyway, onto the engine and once it had warmed up I gave it some. Power delivery was a lot smoother and the 250hp shoots you to 60mph in just over 6 seconds, definitely very satisfying. Although this car suffers from a bit of torque steer. Not quite the amount that the Focus RS does, but it's definitely noticeable! Maybe this puts some of the enjoyment back into driving?!
Either way, whenever I gave it some beans it gave me a sense of satisfaction and put a smile on my face - every time!
Onto the handling, and being the non-Cupped version (I think!) meant that I didn't want to go overkill. Either way though, whatever I chucked it into was no problem. It stuck to the road very well and I really want to try a Cup version now!
The brakes on the 250 are Brembos and they're fantastic. Didn't need any 'warming up' and were very responsive. A good tick in the box there. I did some experimenting with gunning it and hammering on the brakes, the first time the poor lass nearly hit the windscreen and her Blackberry went flying
Bringing it back to the dealer and I felt a little sad. Sad in the sense that I'm not going to be able to own this car for a very long time. Unless I take out the 0% finance over 3 years (don't do it, don't do it).
It's a brilliant car, however I need to try the Cup, or one with the Cup-pack. I would love to own one, despite the tiny rear windscreen, it's just a shame I'm not in the position to buy at the moment
Christ I've written a lot and need to get some dinner. I hope it's somewhat interesting if you've managed to read my ramblings. Perhaps you've thought 'hang on, why on earth hasn't he tried the inbetweener? The Clio 200?' All in good time folks, that's booked for Thursday morning - Cup packed with Recaros
Expect another terrible write up on Thursday with my findings (I'm hoping that it will fit the bill nicely!)
(For those that didn't read it all, I test drove some Renaultsports and these are my findings!)
