Renault is loose on the design of the R5 Turbo 3E and it feels good


It looks like a machine straight out of a video game, but it is a real, rolling show car that was developed by the French brand. It will be exhibited on the Renault stand at the Paris Motor Show in October 2022.

Renault continues the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Renault 5, this time by lifting the veil on the main characteristics of the R5 Turbo 3E, its new 100% electric toy. Presented on September 22, it is a show car which, unlike Renault 5 Prototype, is not intended to become a concrete product in the near future. This explains why this machine is so extravagant. That said, we would not be against a slightly domesticated version of this wild animal.

Cupra had already launched a concept of its kind with its Cupra UrbanRebel. Renault is going even further in the same niche.

Carte blanche for a design between past and future

If the buggy concepts, worthy of lunar exploration, leave us somewhat unmoved, a small electric sports car show car thrills us. Renault clearly suspected this, by commissioning the concept car design teams with simple specifications: ” a work of art with exaggerated shapes, inspired by the world of video games, and which must refer both inside and outside to the original Renault 5 and Renault 5 Turbo 2. »

Rear of the R5 Turbo 3E show car. // Source: Renault

Mission accomplished for the design team. We perfectly find the elements that link this concept to the old sports cars of the Renault 5 range. We cannot miss the exaggerated shapes either with an XXL spoiler and more than widened fenders. This R5 Turbo 3E is as wide as some large SUVs with American sauce (like a Cybertruck) with 2.02 m wide and only 4 m long.

The design is deliberately outrageous, which is also what makes it a good show car, with lots of subtleties to discover.

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Interior of the show car designed for drifting. // Source: Renault

Designed to burn gum

But who says electric does not necessarily mean ecological. With this machine, it’s quite the opposite: this R5 Turbo 3E was designed to drift and burn rubber. We are not really into eco-driving.

This R5 Turbo 3E is not just a crazy design. It is also a vehicle created for performance, like the icons of the past that it reinterprets. Beneath this extravagant bodywork is a tubular chassis, flat bottom and roll bars like on a competition car. It is also a two-seater vehicle only.

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Technical basis of the Renault R5 Turbo 3E. // Source: Renault

Renault has placed a 42 kWh battery coupled with two electric motors each placed on a rear wheel. The R5 Turbo 3E develops 280 kW (or 380 hp) of power for a torque of 700 Nm. It can reach 200 km/h and goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds. It’s a little below other electrics, like Tesla, but which are much more powerful.

On the scale, this show car weighs 1,500 kg, including 980 kg for the vehicle and 520 kg for the lithium-ion battery. An interesting effort to have a contained weight, unfortunately undermined by the weight of the on-board batteries.

This machine piqued our curiosity. We would be curious to discover it in action, in drift and other gymkhana, to see if Renault keeps all its promises. In the meantime, we can already observe it more closely at the Paris Motor Show which is held from October 18 to 23, 2022.

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Renault Showcar R5 Turbo 3E. // Source: Renault



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