Hello from London

[Twingolondon]

Hey everyone,

As you can see from my nick, I live in the UK capital from almost 3 years but I come originally from Rome, my name's Marco.
I own a lovely tiny Twingo in a great metallic green and with the lazy 1.2 8v Engine.
Apart from the engine, I absolutely adore it, for many different reasons, who ever has driven one knows why.
Hope to find a chance to know many of you and perhaps get some useful tips on how to get the best from my little Renault.

Cheers

Marco

[TheoV]

welcome here


twingos are great little buggers
to give em a bit more juice, you could swap a r5 gtt 1.4 turbo engine in, or something similar. to get real performance from the 1.2 8valver you're best off starting with a replacement filter, a good exhaust system and some weight reduction, like stripped interiour...


is your display set to show mph? or are you calculating the entire time

[AnthonyR]

welcome here,

you have a rare car in england, is the steering wheel on the left side?

Ciao

[Twingolondon]

Hi Theo, ciao Anthony, yep the car is lhd, and to be honest I dont really feel the difference, unless of course I'm right behind a lorry or a bus to overtake in the city roads... And true, it's a very rare car here in the UK, I've seen more Ferraris and Aston Martins around, it feels a bit more special

Theo, why do you wanna see me on top of a tree?
Just kidding, I know the R5 Gt turbo engine is a legend, not only for the twingo, but for all small renault cars, but I feel it's gonna be hard to find one to fit in perfect conditions, plus turbos gives surely more brutal power but are a bit more fragile as well, and coming from a extra reliable 8v I wouldnt want to find myself more often on the left shoulder rather than on the road.
I was troubled whether to go for the 1.2 16v, same engine as mine (so no problems with insurance companies... ), but with 75 "blessed" BHP, or the 1.4 16v, but I will appreciate other suggestions as well.
Which one would you advice and why (in the real world.. )?

[TheoV]

well, the main advantage of the gtt engine, is the relative simplicity of the conversion, (mind the word relative ) since the engine mounts are the same.

out of your choices, i'd go for the 1.4 16V, mainly cause an engine swap for "only" 8 extra valves sounds like a waste of time and money... besides, the 1.4 16V has 97hp? it's not because you have alot of power, you have to drive to the limit all the time it's nice to have a power reserve sometimes..
then again, i have no idea whatsoever about those engines..

but i haven't heard of any twingo 1.4 16v conversions, so i'm guessing it's either alot of work, or most people don't find it worth it..

i haven't kept informed bout the MOT prescriptions, but i've looked at dropping in a 1.5 DCI about a year ago.. but those engines were rather pricey back then , it was alot of work and it wasn't allowed on the belgian roads.... so that was of no use for me on the other hand, according to my calculations back then, i'd have it paid back in 2.5 years, thanks to the price and the efficiency of diesel vs gasoline. and it would be around what.. 100hp / 200Nm? in a car that weighs about 800kg, that's a hell of a lot. and that's before any chiptuning would start

but for a real explanation, i'll have to ask you to wait for other people on the forum, who know more about the engines (and engine swaps) then myself...

[Twingolondon]

You are right Theo, I have never seen a 1.4 conversion on the twingo, apart from the 1.4 turbo, so you might have the point, either too difficult or too expensive.
I would love to have the 1.5 Dci for the every day use, but for pure fun, the petrol engines are "the men", mainly because you get the best at high-revs while diesels traditionally are great only at low-medium ones Plus I believe the Dci is quite a bit heavier.

I have seen plenty of germans using the K7F from the megane-clio range, 1.6 8v, strangely not the K4M 16v, but I don't know what is different between the two Are the engine mountings the same for the K7F like for the 1.4 GT Turbo?