'Race Drivers Seem to Love the Renault Twizy'
http://www.telegraph.co.[you kay]/motoring/green-motoring/11275948/Sir-Stirling-Moss-and-his-souped-up-electric-car.html Sir Stirling Moss and his souped-up electric car By Alex Robbins 05 Dec 2014 [image http://i.telegraph.co.[you kay]/multimedia/archive/03129/stirling-moss-rena_3129381b.jpg Stirling Moss and his Renault Twizy Sir Stirling Moss in his new electric car ] After years of racing high-speed Grand Prix and endurance cars, Sir Stirling’s latest set of wheels is rather more environmentally friendly – though no less eye-catching As one of Britain’s best-loved racing drivers, Sir Stirling Moss might be used to the power and performance of single-seat and Le Mans racers – but he’s just taken delivery of a new car that’s rather less potent. Complete with his ‘SM 7’ personalised numberplate, Sir Stirling’s new ride is none other than a Twizy, Renault’s two-seat electric city car with looks described at best as extrovert, and at worst as… well we’ll leave it up to you. But Sir Stirling rather rates his latest acquisition. “There are couple of big benefits of having a car like this,” he says. “First of all, it has two seats, so I can take somebody with me. There's no congestion charge, you can park nose into the pavement, or even in a metered bay without being charged. “Also it's quiet and the battery charge lasts for about 50 miles, so I think it's ideal as a city car. It wouldn't be so good in the country, where you have to drive 15 miles to get anywhere and still get back.” But not content with having a stand-out runaround, Sir Stirling’s gone one better and souped up his example with aftermarket Bilstein suspension – normally the preserve of boy racers who want to make their cars stiffer so that they handle better. But in Sir Stirling’s case, the opposite was true. “I don't know why Renault made it so solid,” he says. “If you got hold of the car from the outside you couldn't shake it, and when you got going the ride delivered an unnecessary level of discomfort. “I simply asked them to improve the chassis any way they saw fit. I told them about the stiffness of the original suspension and the number of potholes and cobblestone streets and hoped they would be able to help me not get shaken like hell. “Now it's completely, completely different. You don't notice the alterations so much in the front but on the back it's made a real difference.” Sir Stirling’s completed the personalisation of his Twizy with a rather bright shade of green paintwork, some aftermarket window vents, and of course, his personalised numberplate. It might not be the sort of thing the majority of the public associate him with, but Sir Stirling actually has a history of pottering around London in small city cars. In fact, the car that wore his ‘SM 7’ numberplate before the Twizy was his previous runaround, an Aston Martin Cygnet. [© telegraph.co.[you kay]] http://www.carswithcords.com/race-drivers-seem-love-renault-twizy/ Why Do Race Drivers Seem to Love the Renault Twizy? December 5, 2014 As the Telepgraph reports, one of Britain’s best-loved racing drivers, Sir Stirling Moss might be used to the power and performance of single-seat and Le Mans racers – but he’s just taken delivery of a new car that is much less potent: the Renault Twizy. The big plus for Sir Moss over his usual ride: the second seat. But its not just Britain’s venerable racing star that is enamored with the little Twizy. Watch below as two F1 drivers, Romain Grosjean & Pastor Maldonado, drive the Renault Twizy through The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination. The car even fits in the mall elevator… [© carswithcords.com] http://fl1.adaptandengage.com/exclusive-sir-stirling-moss-and-his-new-car-3-3-1/ "I told you its more fun than a scooter” [image http://fl1.adaptandengage.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2014/09/moss-digi.jpg ] should be about. I loved the Nürburgring, Targa Florio, the Mille Miglia. The Nürburgring was 14.2 miles long with 197 corners. The Targa Florio was even longer, and the Mille Miglia was 1,000 miles. I had a guy with me for that race, giving me signals like a guide dog. The relationship worked out very well actually! You had to have absolute 100 per cent concentration for every second around somewhere like the Nürburgring, but that’s what racing’s all about. You’ve got to remember that in my day, a race was a minimum of three hours. When I won the Monaco Grand Prix in 1961 it took me three-and-three-quarter hours to do it.” There is always a fascinating comparison to be made between eras. Look at pictures of Sir Stirling battling the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, both behind the wheel wearing t-shirts, goggles and leather caps masquerading as protective head gear. This was decades before carbon fibre and Kevlar. Moss feels the sport has become a touch too scientific and complex (“more so than it needs be”). “Look at this steering wheel,” he says from within the Twizy, “there’s nothing on it. Lewis Hamilton has about 30 buttons on the one in his F1 car.” It’s at this point that Moss suggests we go out for a spin. I climb in the Twizy’s passenger seat, located directly behind the front one. And like that, we’re off. It’s all rather disarming because the Twizy is completely silent yet Moss absolutely plants it round corners like he’s back at the Nürburgring 60 years ago. “It’s quick, isn’t it?” he shouts, weaving in and out of traffic and finding gaps that would make you more than a bit nervous if you weren’t being driven by a bona fide racing legend. Back at his Mayfair residence, he reverses the Twizy into his garage, lifts up the flap on the bonnet and plugs it in to charge again, keen to keep the battery fully topped up. He laughs and pats his new car lovingly on the bonnet. “See?” he says. “I told you it was more fun than a scooter.” FL [© adaptandengage.com] ... http://www.yourformulalife.com/2014/04/22/stirling-new-car-2/ Stirling and his new car by Hans Seeberg - April 22, 2014 ... http://www.stirlingmoss.com/articles/news/stirling-protects-his-renault-twizy-with-paintguard Stirling protects his Renault Twizy with paintguard.co.[you kay] http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/so-it-turns-out-that-sterling-moss-drives-a-renault-twi-1659722752 So it turns out that Sterling Moss drives a Renault Twizy adamprotter 71MGBGT 11/17/14 [images http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--HHGRtrai--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/dtvdtio9iyoikwgglvr6.jpg http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--UeHQweBg--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/pgigykyah4nlnwxvmj1b.jpg http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--WJKzyEE_--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/zi0e5idtkaimdeg5ulpa.jpg ] [© jalopnik.com] ... https://twitter.com/tomfishy197/status/444432392338817025 Tom @tomfishy197 Just saw a Legend Sir Stirling Moss driving a #Renault #Twizy in London! [image https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Birw5-wIAAACTMh.jpg ] 4:18 AM - 14 Mar 2014 [© 2014 Twitter] ... http://twicsy.com/i/CcH43f [image http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BtEvfJiIgAAdS_K.jpg:large ] SunmotorsUK: F1 legend Stirling Moss swaps famous Maserati for... a Renault Twizy @Maserati_HQ @renault_uk http://t.co/fa6CcqP4rk http://t.co/hlbwDQx1gq - 2014-07-21 14:19:50 [©2014 Searchles] ... https://www.google.com/search?q=Stirling+Moss+No.7&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=VACDVJjhMo6nyAS6noDYAw&ved=0CCkQsAQ #7 race-car images - Stirling Moss No.7 = SM7 ... http://nice-reg.co.[you kay]/number-plates/SM7.html SM7 For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html#nabble+template%2FNamlServlet.jtp%3Fmacro%3Dsearch_page%26node%3D413529%26query%3DEVLN%2Bbrucedp2%26days%3D0%26sort%3Ddate {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Sir-Stirling-Moss-e-SM7-his-souped-up-Twizy-EV-tp4672951.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
