New car news

02 February 2010 - 09:00

Renault Wind: breaks cover

With a ceremonial parp, Renault will release Wind at the Geneva motor show in early March.

It will be a welcome little emission: Wind is Renault's all-new two-seater coupe-roadster, based on the Twingo.

See more Renault Wind pics 

Looks kinda cute, doesn't it? When we heard rumours of a convertible Twingo with a folding hard-top, we were sceptical. But the Wind has turned out rather well.

That may be thanks in part to its unusual roof system: while most folding tin-tops get a folding two- or three-piece arrangement, the Wind's roof consists of a single section hidden under the rear tonneau. Similar to the system on the Ferrari 575 Superamerica, this hinges over the driver's head in just 12 seconds.

This allows the Wind to maintain the same bootspace with the roof up or down. The Wind's roof should be a little lighter than the clunky system on the Peugeot 207CC, which hopefully spells good news for handling. A soft-top, of course, would have been better still.

We expect the Wind to launch with a choice of two engines: the 1.2-litre 74kW unit from the Twingo GT and the fizzy 100kW 1.6 from the Twingo Renaultsport.

We'll find out more in Geneva. Overall, though, we're keen on the Wind. Er, apart from that name. Not that we'd ever take the mickey, but you're free to. Let rip.