Renault 5 Turbo 3E: 533bhp electric rally homage hits the road in 2027

Every so often, Renault has a flash of brilliance combined with madness. We’ve seen it in the revival of the Alpine brand and the brilliant A110 sports car, the mid-engined Clio V6 of the early 2000s, and now we’re seeing it again with the Renault 5 Turbo 3E – a more than 500bhp, six-figure homage to the original Renault 5 Turbo of 1980.

If the madness is that Renault has seen fit to revive the box-arched icon at all, the brilliance is that it’s made it beyond the concept stage and into production – Renault first showed the Turbo 3E as a concept car back in 2021.

The concept was even more outrageous to look at, but not by much. The production 3E is visually related to the Renault 5 E-Tech supermini and its Alpine A290 cousin, but like the original homologation special of the 1980s, the Turbo 3E is much wider, with huge arches to accommodate the fatter tyres needed to put its newfound power to the ground.

There’s not a lot shared directly with the Renault 5 E-Tech – just the windscreen, door mirrors, tail lights, and the ‘5’ badges. The interior is similarly unique, with a roll cage, carbon fibre bucket seats, a rally-style handbrake, and plenty of Alcantara trim, though you may recognise the Alpine A290’s three-spoke steering wheel (complete with driving mode button), and the car’s driver display and touchscreen, which do get unique graphics.

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Just like the classic Turbo, the Turbo 3E is rear-wheel drive, with a pair of in-wheel electric motors delivering a combined 533bhp. There’s enough traction either way for 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds, 168mph flat out, and with a relatively slight kerb weight of 1,450kg, a power-to-weight ratio of 372bhp/tonne, more than a Porsche 911 GT3.

The electric drivetrain runs on 800-volt architecture, and the fairly large 70kWh battery pack is good for 248 miles of range – driven gently, that is. Perhaps more pertinent is Renault’s claim it’s good for 30 minutes of flat-out track driving.

If you’re wondering why the car wears Renault badges rather than Alpine ones, it’s because that’s how the original entered this world. While Alpine is responsible for the car’s aluminium structure and no doubt most of its development, the classic 5 Turbo was never badged as an Alpine, so this one isn’t either.

Customisation will be a big part of the car, and not in terms of stickers or 3D-printed parts like the 5 E-Tech: with a starting price of well over £100,000, each car will be much more bespoke to a buyer’s requests, and several liveries will be available too. The car pictured wears Renault’s traditional yellow and black, but expect homages to the red and blue Philips-sponsored rally cars and more, when the first of the 1,980 cars Renault plans to build hit the road in 2027.

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