The new Renault Twingo RS has gone on sale in Europe for the first time, bringing yet another race-inspired consumer model to the roads.
The Twingo RS, which builds on the Twingo relaunched at the Frankfurt Motor Show, features a 'feisty' 1.6-liter 16V engine, along with enlarged brakes and new 16-inch alloy wheels.
Perhaps most notably, Renault has opted to infuse the RS with a host of elements taken from its Formula 1 team, including a front-bumper sporting the distinctive aerodynamic blades of an F1 car.
At the rear, drivers will find a reshaped rear bumper, with 'aerodynamic extensions' for the back wheels and a spoiler which gives Renault's popular city car a particularly aggressive appearance.
Application of race styling on consumer cars isn't particularly rare, but at just €16,900, the Twingo RS has to be about the most economical way for race-lovers to show off their passion through their everyday car.
The Lotus Elise, for instance, was developed by racing pioneer Lotus as a road-going sports car and is clearly inspired by the team's Formula One success and experience, but it starts at £29,050 (around €35,000), twice the price of the diminuitive Twingo RS.
Of course, if you're a real F1 lover, you'll have been saving your pennies and the Ferrari 458 Italia, which traces its lineage all the way back to the Ferrari/McLaren battles in Formula One in the 1980s (when both developed road cars building on their respective technologies), might seem a steal at £178,461 (€214,500).
For the ultimate Formula One experience, the styling and technology inside the McLaren MP4-12C are about as close to the race track as it gets, with a 0-60mph (97 km/h) time of under 3.5 seconds and a pricetag of £168,500 (around €202,500) -- enough to buy nine Renault Twingo RS models.
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