Twingo GT ? Worth a punt?
Discussion
Now ours, and looking forward to giving it a good polish and oil service. It's 101 bhp and reminds me of my old Metro 1.4 Gsi that I used and abused twenty years ago. Nippy and small just great for supermarket etc. Replaces Peugeot 107 that has been great but no good from the lights and should be much in demand now with lowest tax and insurance. Am hoping that I can cover the cost of the Twingo through its sale.
I've had a Twingo GT for just over 9 years. They are quite tough little cars. They are easy cars to work on too, there built a bit like a big meccano set.
The only thing that when on mine (that I would call outside general wear and tear) was that it needed a new radiator / A/C dryer / condenser unit. (It is an all in one complete unit, If one part of it goes you have to change the lot). But I changed it myself on a Saturday morning.
The had to change the following over the years outside of servicing / belts. (But most of it is just wear and tear).
Wheel bearings
(3 bearings in total, but always on the rear. First bearing was a ECP part, lasted a year. But then I put SKF bearings in years ago, and never had a problem again).
Front top mounts (Twice)
Track rod ends both sides
New radiator, A/C dryer and condenser (above).
Front anti roll bar drop links
Front Dampers
Heater blower motor
Rocker cover gasket
Lots of light bulbs
But that is over 9 years and 80,000 miles with me (105.5K on the car). Touch wood but the drivetrain has never given any problems. And I am a bit OCD, if anything is not quite right at all, I fix it straight away.
Most of that I did myself. If you do have a problem, my tip is too find out what the name of the part is in French, and put that into google. There is very little info online about them in English. But there are guides on how to do everything on them on the French forums. Just use google translate, look at the pictures and you can figure out what to do.
That said, its never been that good on fuel. It's not that bad, it does low 30's around town, high 30's on the motorway. But I do drive it quite hard, and its been remapped to 125bhp. They do go better on super unleaded too.
One thing I've noticed over the years too, if you need a part, ring Renault and ask how much it is first. Quite often parts for it are actually cheaper from the dealership than ECP, GSF etc. For example a set of spark plugs are around £50 from Renault, ECP want £30 per spark plug. When the rad went, Renault wanted around £250 for the part. Pattern parts were the same price, but worst quality.
Even after all of this time, I still enjoy driving it. It reminds me more of something like a Saxo VTR/S / Peugeot 106, but safer. They are pretty simple, with no real drivers aids. (ABS, but that's it). They don't really make anything like them anymore. (PS, They can lift off oversteer if you push them hard).
The only thing that when on mine (that I would call outside general wear and tear) was that it needed a new radiator / A/C dryer / condenser unit. (It is an all in one complete unit, If one part of it goes you have to change the lot). But I changed it myself on a Saturday morning.
The had to change the following over the years outside of servicing / belts. (But most of it is just wear and tear).
Wheel bearings
(3 bearings in total, but always on the rear. First bearing was a ECP part, lasted a year. But then I put SKF bearings in years ago, and never had a problem again).
Front top mounts (Twice)
Track rod ends both sides
New radiator, A/C dryer and condenser (above).
Front anti roll bar drop links
Front Dampers
Heater blower motor
Rocker cover gasket
Lots of light bulbs
But that is over 9 years and 80,000 miles with me (105.5K on the car). Touch wood but the drivetrain has never given any problems. And I am a bit OCD, if anything is not quite right at all, I fix it straight away.
Most of that I did myself. If you do have a problem, my tip is too find out what the name of the part is in French, and put that into google. There is very little info online about them in English. But there are guides on how to do everything on them on the French forums. Just use google translate, look at the pictures and you can figure out what to do.
That said, its never been that good on fuel. It's not that bad, it does low 30's around town, high 30's on the motorway. But I do drive it quite hard, and its been remapped to 125bhp. They do go better on super unleaded too.
One thing I've noticed over the years too, if you need a part, ring Renault and ask how much it is first. Quite often parts for it are actually cheaper from the dealership than ECP, GSF etc. For example a set of spark plugs are around £50 from Renault, ECP want £30 per spark plug. When the rad went, Renault wanted around £250 for the part. Pattern parts were the same price, but worst quality.
Even after all of this time, I still enjoy driving it. It reminds me more of something like a Saxo VTR/S / Peugeot 106, but safer. They are pretty simple, with no real drivers aids. (ABS, but that's it). They don't really make anything like them anymore. (PS, They can lift off oversteer if you push them hard).
Edited by Noesph on Wednesday 27th April 00:05
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