You have to hand it to the French…

While the rest of the world’s busy building soulless pods that whisper down motorways and apologise for existing, Renault has decided to drag a legend out of retirement, pump it full of electricity, and send it back into battle wearing more LEDs than a Tokyo nightclub.

Meet the Renault 5 Turbo 3E. The name might sound like a printer cartridge, but what you’re looking at is the spiritual successor to the original Renault 5 Turbo—an ’80s rally lunatic that looked like a hatchback but behaved like a hand grenade. Only now it’s electric. Obviously.

Visually, it’s completely bonkers. Massive box arches you could sit a dinner party under, a rear wing that might get you blacklisted by Heathrow, and paintwork that looks like a rave exploded in a wind tunnel.

It’s a concept, technically, but this isn’t one of those sterile, non-functional show cars. It moves. It skids. It smokes tyres like a Le Mans burnout competition.

Underneath all that neon and madness, there’s a proper motorsport-spec carbon-fibre chassis, two rear-mounted electric motors, and a 42kWh battery. So far, so electric hot hatch. But then you get to the torque. That is 4,800Nm.

Yes, you read that correctly. Not 480. Not 840. Four thousand, eight hundred Newton metres. Enough to twist the Eiffel Tower into a corkscrew. Enough to tow the moon out of orbit. It’s completely unhinged.

That’s what happens when you apply instant torque through two motors directly to fat rear tyres with no traction control in sight. Combine that with 375bhp and a weight of just under 1,500kg, and the result is a 0– 62mph time of 3.5 seconds and the sort of sideways antics that would get you banned from most racetracks and probably a few countries.

Top speed? 124mph. That’s plenty. Any more and the thing might take off, given the aerodynamics are somewhere between a wardrobe and a brick.

Inside, it’s less “car interior” and more “gaming convention meets Tron”. A steering yoke, because obviously. Ten digital screens. Yes, ten. A huge, meat-hook of a handbrake. Carbon seats. Neon everywhere. It’s not so much retro-futuristic as it is a full-blown hallucination, and that’s before you even start moving.

And now for the sting: £135,000.

Not cheap, the official figure Renault slapped on it when they opened reservations. And no, that’s not just wild marketing bluster. It’s very real, and it makes this thing officially the most expensive exercise in nostalgia this side of restomodding a Porsche with gold-plated screws. Still, for that money, you get exclusivity. Only 1,980 will be made, and only the first 500 get that intro price. After that? You’re on your own with the bank manager and possibly your therapist.

In terms of rivals, you could look at the Abarth 500e, which is adorable and lively but has nowhere near the muscle. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N? That’s properly quick and technically more advanced, but it lacks the lunatic soul. The Renault is just something else entirely. A rally-bred fever dream on a lithium binge.

But here’s the thing: it isn’t trying to be rational. It’s not about commuting or range anxiety or saving the whales. It’s about joy. Plain, stupid, irreplaceable joy. The sort of car that makes no sense on paper and every kind of sense when you’re power-sliding it through a roundabout in a plume of tyre smoke and digital whooshing.

People will moan. “No manual!” they’ll cry. “No turbo lag!” “No engine noise!” And to them, I say: grow up. The original R5 Turbo was a deathtrap with a cigarette lighter. This is faster, safer, cleverer, and still just as deranged.

Should they build it? Without question. We’ve got enough crossovers designed by accountants. The world doesn’t need another beige EV called something like the EcoAir Vibe 400. It needs this. A French riot on four wheels. A fluorescent middle finger to conformity. A car that makes you grin like an idiot just looking at it.

Vive la stupidité.

Max Taylor

Motoring Journalist and Presenter

Max Taylor is a motoring journalist and presenter focused on cars, culture, and everything in between. His work blends insight with a conversational, often humorous tone that keeps readers engaged. Max’s writing covers everything from modern EVs and new releases to classic metal and motorsport commentary. His full portfolio can be found on Medium at medium.com/@maxtayloroncars, and additional information is available via his website. He also creates content on YouTube. Links Below –