Renault Twingo Gordini RS: It's All About Style - but Nothing Else...

Boasting one of the longest names in the auto biz, the Renault Twingo Gordini RenaultSport marks the revival of the Gordini badge that will soon find its place on all RenaultSport products. Despite the sporty heritage of Gordini, these models will not carry any engine or chassis upgrades with improvements limited to the cars' styling. Now, what's the French word for 'lame'?

The first Gordini product is based on the Renault's pocket-rocket, the Twingo RenaultSport 133 that's powered by a 1.6-liter four-pot with 133 horsepower.

On the outside, the upmarket Gordini is distinguished by the traditional blue metallic finish with two white racing stripes. A closer look reveals that the bumpers are enhanced by gloss black centre sections, while the fog lamp surrounds, exterior door mirror housings and rear tailgate spoiler are trimmed in a contrasting white finish.

A set of 17-inch alloy wheels with a polished face and a choice of the inner rim finished in either blue or black complete the exterior package.

Moving on into the cabin, Renault says that the sport seats are now trimmed in blue and black leather with the same colors making their appearance on the door panel inserts, leather steering wheel and instrument panel.

Furthermore, there's a blue gearlever gaiter and Gordini-badged gearlever knob and a leather trimmed dashboard cowl.

Along with the styling additions, the Renault Twingo Gordini RenaultSport gains extra standard equipment including automatic climate-control, automatic headlamp activation, automatic wiper activation, cruise control, fully disconnectable ESP and an upgraded MP3 audio system.

The first Gordini model will make its physical debut on January 10 at the Atelier Renault on the Champs-Elysées, with sales set to begin across Europe in March.

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Renault Car Reveals

Two new entry level rally cars based on the Twingo RS are joining Renault's range of competition cars that also includes the Clio Renaultsport R3 Access and Maxi. Aimed at budget conscious buyers, the Twingo R1 and R2 come in the form of a motorsport kit featuring all the required parts aside from tires. Renault said that customers who buy the kit will be able to purchase a Twingo Renaultsport 133 at a special price.

First up is the Twingo RenaultSport R1, which can participate in all regional, national and international rallies. In essence, the R1 is a production car fitted with some essential safety equipment such as a welded roll cage.

The R1's 133HP 1.6-liter engine and gearbox are identical to the production model though Renault said that an ECU setting giving torque at lower engine speeds will be homologated to improve mid-range performance.

Along with the safety equipment, the Twingo RenaultSport R2 package adds an array of performance upgrades including a more powerful 1.6-liter unit with 160HP at 7,200 rpm and a peak torque of 160Nm at 5,500rpm. The four-cylinder unit is coupled to a five-speed 'dog' sequential gearbox and steering column mounted shift lever while there's also a ZF limited slip differential.

In addition, the Twingo Renaultsport R2 is fitted with bump- and rebound-adjustable shock absorbers, motorsport brake pads and one-piece aluminium wheel rims that are available in 6.5x16" (tarmac) and 6x15" (gravel) sizes and can be fitted with 195/50 R 16 (tarmac) or 195/65 R 15 (gravel) tires.

Inside, the R2 features the same dashboard and central console as on the road car, but comes with two Sabelt Renaultsport seats and harnesses as well as an LED instrumental panel that displays all the necessary information.

Renault said that both kits go on sale in early April, 2010, with the R2 package (not including the price of the car) starting at €27,990 without tax. The French automaker did not release pricing for the basic R1 kit.

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