Renault's Quirky Pure-Electric Twizy Goes on Sale in the UK

Renault has never been the one to shy away from eccentric creations (remember the Avantime?) but the new Twizy certainly takes quirkiness one-step further as it looks like the odd pairing of a golf kart with a motorcycle offering seating for two in a tandem layout while riding on four wheels. Revealed as a concept for the first time at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, Renault surprised us a year later with the presentation of the production model in Paris. Now, the Twizy is available in European showrooms including Britain where it went on sale today.
The 2.34 metres long by 1.24 metres wide two-seater model is available in three trim levels (Urban, Colour and Technic) and two power variants.
The lower powered Twizy 45 (5hp) with a top speed of 28mph (45km/h) was not originally planned for the UK market, however, the company said that due to recent confirmation that a new category of European licence for 16 year olds and over comes into effect in Britain from January 2013, it is now "studying its sales potential".
The regular Twizy is motivated by a 13kW (17hp) electric motor with a limited top speed of around 50 mph (80km/h). Its battery can be recharged using a standard three-pin plug in three and a half hours, which costs around £1 (depending on the energy supplier) and provides a driving range of around 60 miles (close to 100 kilometers).
Pricing for the 17hp Urban model starts at £6,690 (€8,100 or US$10,700), however, that does not including the battery which Renault leases for a monthly fee of £45 (€54 or US$72) including VAT for a 36 month/4,500 miles (7,240 kilometers) per year agreement.

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Honda Issues a Single Number Recall on 2012MY Odyssey Minivan

If you happen to follow the automaker recall notes, you may notice that quite often they involve a specific batch of models, be that for a parts defect or an error during the assembly of a car. In Honda's case, the safety recall involves only nine Odyssey minivans from the 2012 model year, built from October 31, 2011, through November 30, 2011.
The reason why the Japanese automaker issued this recall is that the retention nut for the front right lower suspension damper bolt may not have been tightened to the proper torque, which could allow the nut to loosen.
Honda says that if that were to occur, the front hub assembly would only be attached by one bolt, allowing the wheel assembly to shift to an extreme inward angle resulting in a loss of steering – and that's something you don't want to happen on the road…
The Japanese company says it contacted all nine owners by phone on December 19. Nevertheless, if you own one of the affected models and have more questions, you can contact the company directly at 1-800-999-1009.

TRD Spices up New Toyota Aqua / Prius C Hybrid

Toyota is losing no time in pushing out its aftermarket proposals for the all-new Aqua hybrid that will be marketed as the Prius C in markets outside of Japan and which will make its North American debut at the forthcoming Detroit Motor Show in January. On the same day that the regular Aqua went on sale in its home market, Toyota's TRD racing and performance division announced a slew of tuning upgrades for the sub-compact hatchback.
Starting with the exterior package, TRD's offerings include a new front apron with additional air vents and optional LED daytime running lights, matching side skirts, a roof spoiler, and a rear apron that incorporates a diffuser in a matte black finish.
For the interior, there's a new TRD push-button start while performance mods are limited -for the time being- to a sports exhaust system with a pair of chrome tailpipes, larger alloy wheels and a suspension package with new springs and shock absorbers that lower the car's ride height.
TRD said that it will release more styling accessories and performance mods in the near future.

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Land Rover to Show Updated Version of DC100 Concept at LA Auto Show

[Early design rendering for DC100 pictured above]

Land Rover only recently showed its conceptual proposals for the 2015 Defender with the DC100 studies at the 2011 IAA in Frankfurt, but that's not stopping the British automaker from preparing an updated version that will make its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show in a couple of weeks' time. The news comes courtesy of Edmund's Insideline, which had a brief encounter with Land Rover Global Brand Director, John Edwards.
The British firm's executive told the news outlet that Land Rover is testing the waters with the DC100 concepts and that it is a working project.
"I had predicted we'd get a lot of reaction and that some of it would be negative," said Edwards.
"I was involved in the development of the [2000] Mini and when I showed the R50 concept to the owner's clubs, some of them wanted to kill us. That is what you must expect. Overall, the reaction to DC100 reinforced what we wanted to do and told us that we're pretty much on the right track," he added.
If you scroll down to our gallery, you can see some of the proposed design sketches that are slightly different from the DC100s we saw in Frankfurt.
While Land Rover has not yet confirmed the North American availability of the next Defender, Edwards hinted at it: "sometimes we talk too much about the NAS [North American specification] 90 Defender and surfer dudes, and not enough about the Red Cross, Zambia or the Australian Outback. We want to get back to our roots, but it would be nice if in doing so, we can also sell it to the Californian surfer dude."

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