Start up the engine, and it sounds fairly regular. A bit of a rumble but nothing shouty. The low-down flexibility you’d expect from a 1.6 is there so no surprises as such, but if you drive normally and make your way through the mid range there’s not much to give away that you’re in anything particularly sporty.

I kept my foot on it a bit longer… and was still waiting; at first it just felt like the engine took a while to bring any performance in – as if it needed to overcome the wind drag against those flaired arches and all of that bodykit.

But I needed more patience. The 131bhp doesn’t arrive until 6,750rpm.   That’s really far access considering I’m used to my current torquey diesel Fiesta Zetec S! That said, even though I do love the style of chasing the redline, this seemed a bit more hard work than normal.   It takes an age for the revs to build and get above 4000rpm, but when it finally gets going there is a small reward.   Not a hard edged, concentrated, large amount of power as you’d might expect from other VVT engines, but you’ll make swift progress.

So being delicate isn’t the way forward to driving this car. It really is something where you do have to be more aggressive, stamp on the pedals and be ham-fisted with the controls to get the best out of it.   It’s quite a long hurdle to get through but once you’re there, you can keep the engine on the boil. I never saw it, but a green light comes on at the 7000rpm limiter – so that’s the aim!

Spec: Twingo Renaultsport 133 Cup'10 
Engine: 1.6 4cyl Petrol, 133bhp (@ 6750rpm), 118lb ft (@ 4400rpm)
Transmission: 5 Speed Manual
Mpg: Official: 43.5mpg
Performance: 0-62mph: 8.7 Secs, 125mph
Colour: White

***Picture sourced from AutoTrader