Nestle behind the Renault Twingo’s steering wheel and everything feels well-assembled, using good quality, if not soft-touch, plastics.

With a variety of colours and textures available, the mouldings are interestingly-shaped and punctuated with familiar Renault switchgear including the steering-column mounted stereo controls and cruise control buttons in three different locations.

The combined analogue and digital instruments are clear, as is all-round visibility by virtue of the slim pillars and slightly raised seating position.

Renault’s tried to give the Twingo more of a grown-up feel too by minimising the amount of painted metal visible inside the cabin, limited to just the thin exposed strips around the door frames.

All Twingo’s come with a dash-mounted smartphone cradle which can be docked and charged through a dedicated USB behind it. Download the free R&Go app and it becomes an infotainment device, with sat-nav mapping, music streaming, telephone function and monitors for the car’s eco credentials. You can even use it to display a rev counter. In future we’d expect to see this solution become more commonplace on less expensive cars.

Touchscreen fans can opt for the seven-inch integrated R-Link Evolution system, which undoubtedly looks good and will connect via Bluetooth for telephony and streaming services too.

The single biggest contributing factor towards the high Renault Twingo comfort levels is its ride quality.

Renault’s managed to stretch out the Twingo’s wheels as far as possible into its extremes meaning it copes far better over bumps and undulations than any other car in this segment, yet doesn’t do so at the expense of encouraging wallowy handling.

Over harsher ruts, it can tend to thud over them but not with the crashiness of some rivals, and it’s soon dealt with.

Only very rough roads at higher speeds seem to catch the Twingo out and induce cabin vibrations, but all the trim remained solid and rattle free.

Allowing the four occupants to benefit from this smooth ride is a spacious cabin, accessed via the four side doors. The front seats are supportive and comfortable, featuring integral head rests, those in the rear a little flatter, but there should be ample space for a six-footer to sit behind a driver of similar stature.

Most models are very well equipped too, featuring technology that not so long ago was the preserve of luxury saloons. It all makes the Twingo easy to live with, as does the relative lightness of the – again, enthusiastic drivers may be a little disappointed in this regard.

All barring the entry-level Expression model feature air-con (we’d recommend the Play for this reason) and even though the optional climate control is a single temperature zone version, it works well in the Twingo’s cabin.

Fancy an airier feel? Then opt for the full-length canvas sunroof. It’s one of the best installations we’ve come across with very little wind noise when open as well as feeling resiliently snug when shut.

There’s some audible wind noise around the tops of the doors, although this is more noticeable as the engine noise is quieter, coming from behind you.