The Renault 5 Turbo 3E feels like a race car, but can it be worth £140k?
The Renault 5 Turbo 3E is a cross between a hot hatch and an electric supercar, and yours for £140k. We get an early taste from the passenger seat on track
It’s no secret that high end electric performance cars are a tough sell these days, but Renault doesn’t seem to be put off. It’s launched an extreme EV hot hatch based on the Renault 5, called the Turbo 3E. Being a 547bhp rear-drive hatch built for track driving (and drifting), it promises supercar levels of performance and a huge dose of fun to go with it, for a very punchy £140k asking price. There’s no way to rationalise a six-figure hot hatch, but having ridden in the Turbo 3E around Goodwood Circuit, we can confirm it’s as mad and intense as you’d hope.
Despite looking like a concept car the Turbo 3E is far from a fantasy creation, being road legal and available to reserve for delivery in 2027, with a limited production run of 1980 units. Renault names everything from the Lotus Emira to the Nissan GT-R as the Turbo 3E’s potential competitors, although there’s currently nothing like it on the market.
That’s because the Turbo 3E is a highly bespoke electric hot hatch that shares almost nothing with the base Renault 5. The exterior mirrors, door handles, tail lights, windscreen (albeit cut down) and the infotainment system are the only major shared components, with the Turbo 3E getting significantly widened, redesigned carbon bodywork and a unique aluminium EV platform. At 4.08 metres long and 2.03 metres wide, it’s as short as a supermini but the width of a supercar.
Like the original 5 Turbo, the 3E is rear-drive, but its source of propulsion couldn’t be more different. Being an EV it swaps the classic’s midship turbocharged four-pot for batteries and motors, with a 70kWh pack mounted in the floor powering a pair of rear e-motors with a combined 547bhp. In a first for a production EV, these are in-wheel items mounted within 20-inch rims and forming part of the sprung mass of the car, with the suspension pick up points and arms (double wishbones all round) reinforced and the dampers tuned accordingly. They supposedly provide even more instantaneous response than a conventional EV drivetrain and no transmission losses, and allow for torque vectoring across the rear axle.
The engineering of the Turbo 3E is being carried out by Alpine, despite the car wearing a Renault badge. Reducing weight has been key in its development, with the 3E tipping the scales at 1450kg – about the same as an FL5-generation Honda Civic Type R – with a 47:53 front-to-rear split. That helps it achieve a 3.5sec 0-62mph time and a 167mph top speed, with ‘over 248 miles’ available from a full charge.
Part of the Turbo 3E’s brief is to perform several hot laps on track between charges, with 20 minute sessions followed by 20 minute recharges. Thanks to an 800-volt architecture, the peak charging rate is 350kW which tops up the battery from 15 to 80 per cent in 15 minutes, with vehicle-to-grid and external device charging available too. As well as being capable of fast laps on track, the Turbo 3E has a wilder side, accessed via a drift mode and hydraulic handbrake.
On track in the Renault 5 Turbo 3E
It’s some time before we can experience it from the driver’s seat, but a few laps around Goodwood Motor Circuit in the passenger seat of a Turbo 3E has given us an idea of what to expect. In short? It’s as mad and extreme as it looks, and quite unlike any EV we’ve experienced.
This Turbo 3E is a development prototype, driven by Alpine vehicle dynamics engineer David Praschl. The setup and dynamics aren’t fully signed off yet, and certain elements such as the launch control system aren’t usable. Neither, unfortunately, is the enormous fluorescent yellow hydraulic handbrake separating us in the cabin.
Inside there are elements from existing Renault Group cars (a steering wheel borrowed from the Alpine A290 and the R5’s dual display panel, for example) baked into a redesigned cabin architecture. There’s a new dashboard, door cards with fabric pulls and a high central tunnel, while the seats are carbon buckets with six-point harnesses. Behind you there’s netting and a half cage, and a surprisingly generous luggage area (made possible by the compact in-wheel motors).
The driver is presented with a digital dash display that mimics the original 5 Turbo’s square dial pack. There’s also a boost button marked OV (for overtake) on the wheel, as well as a switch to cycle between four regen modes and a button to change from Snow, Regular, Sport, Race and the aforementioned drift mode.
We only have a couple of laps so there’s no time to play with the modes, but the Turbo 3E makes a big impression straight away. It takes off with that smooth, instant hit we’re used to from electric motors, but more of a surprise is that from the first few metres, it feels genuinely raw and racy. You’re not isolated from your surroundings as in most fast EVs – the Turbo 3E connects you to the road surface and relays plenty of noise, through the whine of the motors and the rush of its Michelin Cup 2 tyres against the tarmac. Pings and rattles from stones in the wheel arches add to the motorsport vibe.
It’s rapid, too. The relatively modest mass (for an EV) means it punts out of corners with real snap and energy. Down Goodwood’s back straight acceleration does tail off, but we still hit an indicated 220kph (137mph) before braking into Woodcote corner. The stopping power is violent, harness belts squeezing my chest as we tip into the long right hander.
Most importantly, the Turbo 3E doesn’t feel like an EV that’s dominated by its performance. Just as striking is how short, agile and playful it is in the hands of Praschl. It doesn’t feel like a conventional hot hatch, or a sports car in fact. It generates huge lateral grip but there’s a sense of it sitting square on the road, ready to change direction, or occasionally bite back when getting hard on the throttle out of slower turns. It doesn’t look easy to catch and hold slides, which Praschl puts down to the unfinished calibration of the chassis systems.
For all our hesitation around performance EVs, the Turbo 3E so far seems every bit as wild and intriguing as the original 5 Turbo – we can’t wait to drive it ourselves.
Price
The £140,000 figure is described by Renault as an ‘introductory price’, and doesn’t include the extensive customisation options that will be available to buyers. The so-called ‘dedicated reservation system’ is currently live and allows buyers to begin their R5 Turbo 3E ownership journey, and involves completing a form and selecting a preferred dealer. That dealer will then contact them to make an appointment at their nearest showroom, where they’ll sign a reservation form and place a deposit.
In addition to historic Renault 5 Turbo colours and racing liveries, buyers can work with Renault designers to commission their own exterior and interior colour schemes and decide on material and finish choices. Deliveries will begin in the first half of 2027.
