Test drive by Renault Twingo 1998 hatchback

Euro

Ford Ka & Renault Twingo
Advertising is obsessively pursues us of Parisian fashion, Italian style, German quality and Scandinavian mind. If you follow the advice of exhibitionists from television, then the ears should be washed only with Camay soap, rub the skull exclusively with pantin, and the ink is smeared with tampons O B. The pinnacle of idiocy is an institution in Krylatsky under the name European cleaning. With the same success, you can open the Euro -Remptor, make a Eurobaking and selling euro. What does real euro go on?
The rich have their own quirks
In Russia, skating in a car with an engine volume equal to one tenth bucket or two bottles of vodka Smirnov is not according to concepts. The evoking extravagance is not yet for us, although Twingo is in steady demand among buyers, and Moscow dealers sell 5-7 pieces per month. True, they buy them as a reputable young wife after a successful evening or for a son-Balbes.
In a couple to Twingo, we took the most original of the current cars of this class - Ford KA, which has already conquered in Europe all extravagant lovers. Ponte, as you know, is more expensive than money. And for the sake of them, people are ready to make certain sacrifices.
First of all, you will have to give up comfort, which you have the right to apply for a full -sized car. In both Pyrziks (as our photographer’s tested cars christened), a very modest set of options was discovered. Devices at a minimum: speedometer, fuel sensor and traditional set of control lamps. Renault, however, is equipped with a classic electric packet - windows and adjustment of external mirrors. In the Ford glass and mirrors are mechanical, but on the base model there is a pillow for the driver. On Twingo, the pillows are included in the list of additional equipment.
The absence of an electric package so appreciated by Russian buyers is compensated in the KA with a more thorough and beautiful interior decoration. Firstly, the entire internal upholstery of the cabin is made of fabric, and secondly, the designer clearly worked on the interior. On Twingo, the internal lining of the doors and the back of the cabin is made of plastic and pursues a purely technological function - to close access to the internal cavities of the body.
Ford KA is equipped with a standard FM Magnetic of a very original design. In the middle of the central console there is a display with frequency settings and sound adjustment sensors. And around with picturesque asymmetry, large black memory buttons and turning on are scattered. By the way, it is impossible to steal such an unit - all parts are simply not connected to a common block. In Renault, the standard configuration is simply not provided for the finished music - there is only a planting nest, an antenna and two regular speakers.
THIRD WHEEL
The size of the cars plunges the layman into depression. In both cars, a maximum of four not very large people get in the cars without any problems. In Ford, the fifth passenger simply does not fit by definition, unless he is a dwarf or not quarreled with a genie, like the hero of the joke. Firstly, the entire rear sofa is actually two bucket -type chairs. Secondly, almost in the middle of the seat, seat belts are fixed, which only Indian yogi can sit on. But two people are accommodated there quite comfortable, which was confirmed by the investigative experiment, to which the two largest members of our editorial office were attracted.
In Renault, there are few more places, especially for the legs, and you can plant the third excess, but it will still have to be tamped. In short, both cars reminded of the popular coffee sets of the egoist, which consisted of only two cups.
For lovers of active shopping in both cars, the rear sofa is made to be laid out, as a result of which you can build a rather spacious trunk. If in KA these opportunities are quite limited, then on Twingo a series of simple manipulations can be achieved amazing results. According to estimates by eye, in the space formed, it is quite possible to place a box with a TV with a diagonal of 54 cm.
Let the little one!
There are many different class traveling cars in the Moscow representative office. But drivers who have to drive throughout the city every day literally stand in line on KA. The delicate love of a touching typewriter is due to the fact that in the city stream it has no equal. What we were convinced of ourselves during a test drive.
Small dimensions, an amazing way for such an engine, and an obedient steering wheel with a hydraulic wiper allow you to avoid many stresses on the streets of their native capital. Where the law is the taiga, the bear is the owner, where the obstacle rule does not apply to the right, but they drive on the principle of who have more iron, that’s right, everyone missed us in this car. Even the Gazelle and the 600th Mercedes! And they were not just giving way, but missed and patronizingly smiled after. Although this machine does not need special patronage. A 60-horsepower engine with a good torque, combined with a slight weight, provide KA with amazing accelerating dynamics in the first or second gear. And small dimensions and a hard, sharp brake allow you to literally jump into small holes in the traffic flow. One but - for all its simplicity, this little car will bring real joy only to an experienced driver, and the autopilot does not advise choosing Ford KA as its first car.
Renault looks less funny on the road, maybe because the cars are already a little used to the appearance of this lupislase. In sled qualities, it is slightly inferior to the Ford Odnoklassnik - the accelerated dynamics are weaker, the brakes are not so sharp. Twingo is more suitable for lovers of calm and even ride. But the most interesting thing in this machine is the dashboard. More precisely, its absence in the usual sense in us. You get into the car, glance through the steering wheel on the devices and do not find them in front of you an ordinary shelf, as in front of the passenger. In its lower end part there is only a narrow block of control lamps, which goes out immediately after starting the engine. And on the front panel, in the middle, under the windshield, there is a small LCD-display, on which all the necessary information is displayed.
We emphasize that the most necessary is a large digital speedometer and fuel level in the tank. In the upper right corner there are a clock that can be switched to the counter of kilometers by pressing a small button on the janitor control handle.
Jack-jump
A cursory look under the bottom of both cars caused tears of tenderness. All the details of the pendants - levers, traction, ball supports - in their thickness and sizes exactly correspond to the size of the Pyrziks. That is, they look strongly on the details of the toy designer. But only at first glance.
Ford KA is available for our market with an enhanced suspension and an enlarged clearance. The only problem we have encountered is the inability to climb a high border during parking. But this is rather a low -located front spoiler. Otherwise, KA behaved very worthy, even when driving through the tram tracks. Small bumps and small pits swallows the suspension without the slightest harm to the car and inconvenience for passengers.
Renault is not equipped with a front spoiler - he has more opportunities for maneuver when choosing a parking space. On the curb with a height of about 30 cm, we climbed without problems. The suspension seemed more rigid than KA, and clearly more noisy. In addition, she was breaking through a couple of times when we got at speed into a small hole in the asphalt.

P. S. In agency data, in the car dealerships of Paris, the already cool tuned Twingo were noticed - a powerful engine of 150 horsepower, spoilers, recaro seats, tinted glass, wide low -profile rubber on cast discs. What can you do, Euromoda.

Autopilot
thanks the Moscow representative office Ford,
(095) 258-0900, 258-0901,
and Musa Motors, (095) 785-1111, 785-1185,
for the cars provided for test. For the period of the test, the cars were insured in the company of RESO-Garantia, (095) 250-3600, 255-6834.

Both of the children described above in our country are very rare guests, and they buy them here not for utilitarian reasons. Frankly, they buy little. So, for pampering. Savings of gasoline, the struggle for clean air, parking on a patch - who cares?
But in Europe they love them for this. And how they love! There Twingo and KA, along with Peugeot-106, are indisputable leaders in their class. Yes, that's exactly how: Ford KA, a beginner, not a car, but one continuous experiment, immediately got into the leaders. By the way, it is known that the English prime minister Tony Blair simply fell in love with KA, who, during a visit to the London car dealership, violated all the rules of patriotism and, instead of admiring the Rolls and Rovers, went straight to the Ford Stand.
And Twingo was lucky. Among the hot adherents was the thunderstorm of all cars and automobile companies - the Greenpeace environmental organization. Why did she need to engage in actually Twingo advertising, one can only guess. But for several years, not sparing forces and means, environmentalists have been working on and processing this already economical machine, trying to make it completely green. There is already a SMILE (Small, Intelligent, Light, Efficient, that is small, smart, lung, economical), which passes 100 kilometers by only 3.25 liters created on the basis of Twingo. So, it turns out what unknown opportunities is fraught with an environmentally friendly approach to the automotive industry! - Enthusiastically said, representing Smile, Greenpeis activists. Having silent that the revision cost $ 1 million and in serial production, therefore, will not go.
It is interesting that if Twingo makes outstanding successes only in the Western European market, then KA, barely born, went to the conquest of Eastern Europe. Three thousand Forders were sold over the past year in Poland. The whole third of the market of micro -lines captured KA in the Czech Republic. One thing was unsuccessful. He persuaded, persuaded the Ford of his buyers not to confuse KA with Fiesta and not to believe the rumors that the first was replacing the second, but it did not help too much. All the same, many reasoned that KA is the new Fiesta, as a result of which the sales of the old were reduced by a quarter.

Model/Modification Ford Ka Renault Twingo
The manufacturer Ford-Werke AG Regie National des Usines Renault
The producer of Spain France
BODY
Type hatchback hatchback
Number of doors/places 3/4 3/4
ENGINE
Type gasoline, electronic injection gasoline
Front location transversely in front transversely
Working volume (cubic meter) 1299 1149
The number/location of the cylinders 4/rowing -
Cylinder diameter x Piston stroke (mm) 74.0x75.5 69.0x76.8
Compression degree 9.5: 1 9.6: 1
Power, kW (L.S.) at about./Min. 44 (60) at 5000 43 (58) at 5250
Moment (nm at about./Min.) 103 at 2500 93 at 2500
The number of valves per cylinder 2 2
TRANSMISSION
Front wheel drive on the front wheels
Gearbox five -speed mechanical five -speed mechanical
SUSPENSION
The front independent type MacPherson, the transverse stability stabilizer transverse lever, a spring -loaded stand
The rear spring with a traction connecting levers, spring
STEERING
Type gear-rake, hydraulic wrap with a variable ratio of gear numbers of the gear-rake with a hydraulic power pardon
Min. The diameter of the turn (m) - 10.0
Brakes
Front disc disk
The rear drum drum
Wheels
Tire size 155/70 R13 145/70 R13
Discs 5J 4.5J
Dimensions/Opam/Weight
Length/width/height (mm) 3620/1640/1400 3430/1630/1420
Wheel base (mm) 2450 2350
The track front/track of the rear (mm) 1395/1411 1415/1375
The volume of the trunk min./Max. (Cub. DM) 185/725 170/1095
The volume of the fuel tank (L) 42 40
Mass, dry/maximum (kg) 890/1265 815/1195
Dynamic characteristics
Maximum speed (km/h) 155 150
Acceleration to 100 km/h (sec.) 15.4 13.4
Economy
Fuel consumption (l/100km):
City cycle 8.8 7.5
90 km/h 5.5 5.1
The price of the $ 12,000 $ 15,750 in Moscow

And what else
If you firmly decide to spend money on the foreign analogue of the Cossack, then the choice is quite large. Many car manufacturers produce small car carriers, with a small engine volume and a modest gasoline consumption. Moreover, in the West, such cars are gaining more and more popularity as a city car for daily travel around the city. Peugeot 106, Seat Arosa or Daewoo Tico immediately come to mind. But the most reasonable choice will be, perhaps, Opel Cors. This brand has many advantages, among which reliability, ease of maintenance, the low value of the car in the eyes of hijackers. But at the same time there is one big minus - the lack of a pronounced extravagant appearance that combines KA and Twingo.
If you start only from this factor, then the most suitable classmate can be considered the car not the most popular brand - Lancia Y - this car is quite accessible to the Russian buyer, and any fiat dealer will take such a car for a personal order. The appearance of this machine will definitely satisfy a fertilized aesthet, and the technical characteristics - a picky driver. Among all the machines of this class, Lancia is the fastest. But service capabilities cause serious fears - we should expect difficulties with spare parts due to the low popularity of the brand.
The most picky fans of the extravagant can be offered another Italian model, which has just experienced its second birth. This is Fiat Seicento, known in its first life as Fiat 600. Yes, the same legendary fiat, which has become a direct prototype of the hunchbacked Cossack. Nostalgic in the past, the Italians again established the release of this model. Its sales in Europe are just beginning, and you can only guess about the fate of this model in our market. Although the clear success of UNO and Punto models allows you to look at the future with optimism.
Nikolai Kachurin, Alexey Ilyin (photo)
 

Source: "Autopilot"