The two main things we’ve asked of Renault in the last couple of years are 1: for a Renault Sport Clio with a manual gearbox and 2: for a hot Twingo. Last month it pulled the wraps off the former, and now it’s given us the latter. Kind of.

This is the Renault Twingo GT, a slightly hotter version of TG’s 2014 City Car of The Year and effectively the same car underneath as the rear-engined, rear-wheel drive Smart ForFour Brabus, which was revealed a few weeks ago.

The Twingo has the same 898cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine, the same 108hp and the same 169Nm of torque (up from 89bhp and 136Nm) as the Smart. But while the Smart is only available with an automatic gearbox (complete with launch control), the Twingo is manual-only. Good.

Elsewhere the suspension has been revised (and lowered) and the ESP has been recalibrated. There are also 17in alloys, more air intakes, central-exit exhausts and some Renault Sport badges.

Further details are scant, and Renault has not yet released prices or performance figures. We’d expect it to perform similarly to (a little less than 10 seconds to 100kmh, hopefully) but cost a bit less than the equivalent ForFour. Should still be fun, but it isn’t quite the transformation we were hoping for.

The GT is set to debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed later this month, with sales starting this winter.