Alpine A290 and Renault 5 get rally-style body kits from exhaust icon Milltek
The A290 and R5 don’t have an exhaust to upgrade, so Milltek has turned to modifying the bodywork
In a world of electric cars that don’t have exhausts, how are aftermarket companies that previously did a nice line in making combustion cars louder to pivot? Milltek Sport has an idea. Once mainly a proprietor of upgraded exhaust systems, it’s now getting into the body kit game with a new subsidiary, Milltek Design, and kits for the Renault 5 and Alpine A290.
It’s substantial too, erring on the side of ‘Black Series’ rather than ‘gurney flap and a splitter’. The kit is said to be ‘Group B-inspired’, calling back to the Renault 5 Maxi of 1985 that won the Monte Carlo rally.
The package consists of greatly extended front and rear arches, sections on the front and rear bumpers as well as the doors that are extensions of those arches, an extender spoiler, side skirts and uprated DRLs. The latter are only available on the A290, however, using the wiring architecture that feeds the standard DRLs that the R5 doesn’t have.
Both kits are said to use OE fitting points, which means no irreversible changes or damage needs to be done to the base car to fit the parts. The kits also use localised removable bonding to leave no trace on the car should the kit be removed.
What hasn’t been specified is how the aftermarket wheels sit where they sit – which is very nicely within the widened arches. Whether the wheels are wider, it’s spacers or more involved suspension upgrades is yet to be revealed. Nor has it been specified what the bodywork add-ons will be made of.
The kit is said to cost £2000 plus tax, which suggests the changes to the geometry are not that involved and that the material isn’t expensive carbonfibre. One fifth of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E’s looks for one-fiftieth the price sounds like a good deal to us.
