Renaultsport bosses have confirmed that a performance version of the new Renault Twingo is being considered, but the model won't be badged Twingo RS if it gets the green light for production.
Speaking to Autocar ahead of the Moscow motor show, Renaultsport boss Patrice Ratti said the firm is currently considering about how to bring a performance Twingo to market.
The main challenge, he says, is extracting sufficient power from the Twingo’s three-cylinder engine. The standard Twingo is offered with a choice of three-pot engines – a 1.0-litre 69bhp normally aspirated unit and a 0.9-litre 89bhp three-cylinder turbocharged power plant.
Due to the tight size restrictions of the third-generation model, Ratti said installing a larger, four-cylinder engine isn’t possible without significantly modifying the rear-drive Twingo’s layout.
It’s also unlikely any performance Twingo would top the 131bhp offered by the previous Twingo RS. Therefore, Ratti says that any hot version of the new car would be badged as 'GT' rather than as a full-blown 'RS'.
Read our review of the previous Renault Twingo Renaultsport 133
Earlier this year Renault's head of small car development, Benoît Bochard, told Autocar that the last Twingo RS was not a success in sales terms, because customers did not want to pay £15k for a small car.
Work on the model is understood to be at a very early stage, but may account for recent spy pictures showing a new Twingo with different front air intakes and new dual exhausts at the rear.
“I wouldn’t want to make it and not have it be as good [as the last Twingo RS],” said Ratti. “We have to decide.”
A hotter Twingo is unlikely to be seen before the end of next year. Renault previewed the new Twingo with a high-performance Twin'Run concept, the styling of which could inform the performance model.
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