New Renault 5 Turbo 3E gets 540hp, arrives in 2027

Renault caught us all by surprise when it pulled the covers off the barmy R5 Turbo 3E a few months back. Not just because we’d all half-forgotten about 2022’s drift car, a skeletal concept that many presumed was a marketing stunt for the then-upcoming Renault 5 E-Tech, but also for the fact that it felt (gloriously) out-of-character for a carmaker that, not so long ago, swung the axe on almost its entire performance line-up. Nevertheless, the French marque wasn’t kidding when it announced its production aspirations for the Turbo 3E, and it’s given us a sneak peek to prove it.

If you think it looks beefy in the pictures, just wait till you see one out in the metal. Renault liberally used the word ‘supercar’ to describe the Turbo 3E, and it’s certainly got the physical presence to back that up. Measuring in at 2,030mm wide, the 3E is wider than a 992 Porsche 911 GT3 RS and only 30mm narrower than a Lamborghini Revuelto. Heck, it’s even wider than a Formula 1 car. And yet, it’s only 4,080mm in length, a smidgen longer than the standard Renault 5, while the 2,570mm wheelbase is just 10mm more than that of a Toyota GR Yaris. The company says its length-to-width ratio (that’s a new one on us) of 2.01 matches that of a supercar. On the flip side, it’s suspiciously close to that of the Clio V6…

The spiritual successor to the Clio V6 it may be, but Renault is positioning the new model as the third iteration of the R5 Turbo bloodline and, therefore, it’s jam-packed with references to the past: the blocky headlights, the tree vents dotted along the front bumper and the lip that runs around the edge of the roof and into the rear wing to name but a few. Those side vents are of course a staple of the Turbo, too, only they naturally serve a different purpose on the EV. Both inlets on the right-hand side serve to cool the brakes, but that’s only true for the bottom inlet on the left-hand side, with the top concealing the charging port. Hot air exits at the back via two small outlets in the boxy arches, much like on the Turbos of the ’80s, right next to the R5-sourced rear lights. 

In fact, that, plus the (currently non-existent) door handles, is about all that’s been carried over from the current EV. Everything else is bespoke to the Turbo 3E, right down to the aluminium chassis and carbon fibre body that clothes it. A claimed weight of 1,450kg is respectable for a two-metre-wide mega hatch with a battery to lug around, though Renault is hoping to get that down to 1,400kg for the final production version. Well, Alpine is, as the performance division is handling much of the Turbo 3E’s development. The Renault badges are there for the sake of heritage, as Alpine never got its hands on the original mid-engined Turbos, and to proudly position the 3E as the group’s halo model.

That’s certainly helped by some eye-catching numbers, the headliners being 540hp – a 40hp gain since its debut last year – and a scarcely-believable 3,540lb ft of torque. Take the latter figure with a fistful of salt, as you must with virtually any EV, although it’s certainly worth reiterating that the Turbo 3E’s two electric motors are housed within the rear wheels, rather than the in-board configuration used by almost all EVs today. The benefits are a lower centre of gravity, reduced torque loss and better braking efficiency, says Renault. And while that does come at the cost of more unsprung mass, the firm says the rear suspension has been specially designed to mitigate the effects of the extra weight. Additionally, as you might expect, having the motors in the rear wheels makes it easier to slide – and there’s even a rally-style vertical handbrake to help get things going.

When you’re not going sideways, the Turbo 3E is going to be suitably rapid. A claimed 0-62mph of sub-3.5 seconds is predictably face-melting, and a top speed of 168mph isn’t bad for a car that’s a) electric and b) modelled after a 45-year-old hatchback. It’s also got to lug around a 70kWh battery, which will offer up to 249 WLTP-rated miles on a single charge and, if you can find a 350kW rapid charger, will go from a 15-80% state in just 15 minutes. However, Renault is leaning heavily into the Turbo 3E’s on-track ability, which is partly why it’s covered in so many vents. If you do decide to take your 3E onto a circuit, it’s probably worth bringing it on a trailer, as the firm’s engineers estimate between 15-20 minutes of running before the thing runs out of juice. 

Like the launch car, the full-scale mock-up doesn’t have an interior, though Renault did provide a few renderings of the near-production-spec cabin. As with the original R5 Turbo, the 3E is a two-seater with a half-roll cage in the back, but given there’s no engine in the middle you do get some boot space to play with. The dash, meanwhile, has been carried over from the regular R5 road car, though the digital driver’s display has been redesigned to mimic the look of the ’80s model. It won’t be the same as having a set of glowing orange on black Jaeger dials ahead of you, but it’s in keeping with the 3E’s retro-futuristic approach. 

Meanwhile, the steering wheel comes from the Alpine A290, with a blue dial to switch between the different battery regen settings and a button to cycle through the four different driving modes. They are snow, neutral, sport and track, with the latter coming with a drift assist (though if it’s anything like the simulator Renault put on, it’ll slide just fine without it). That bar in the middle is the aforementioned handbrake, not a gear selector sadly, though the firm clearly expects its customers to use it liberally given the words ‘accroche toi!’ (or ‘hold on!’ in English) are inscribed on the passenger footplate.

If, however, you’d prefer to not warn passengers about the Turbo 3E’s lunacy, you can ditch the slogan through Renault’s new personalisation programme. The ‘unlimited’ service will let you customise anything, though the firm has drawn up a set of retro-themed styles to get the ball rolling if you’re stuck for inspiration. Obviously, it’ll jack the price up, and while that’s yet to be confirmed, expect a starting figure north of £130k or, with a generous amount of personalisation, upwards of £200k. No wonder Renault keeps on calling it a supercar. But with the performance and static presence of one, who are we to argue? It ought to be an attention-getter on any street in the world. Will Renault struggle to find 1,980 buyers in time for deliveries in 2027? Not. One. Bit.