Renault continues celebrating the Renault R5 3E Turbo’s 50th anniversary with an all-new electric concept designed to run. It will be announced in the next few days at Chantilly.
Like all manufacturers, Renault will also become a 100% electric brand from 2030, while thermal cars will no longer be authorized for sale in Europe by 2035. But that is not why the firm at the diamond makes a cross on its past. And for a good reason, while 2022 is the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the legendary Renault 5, the brand is multiplying the tributes to its star of the 1970s.
A CRAZY NEW CONCEPT
To tell the truth, it had already started last year since, in January 2021, the brand unveiled its Renault R5 3E Turbo Prototype, a concept announcing a future production model scheduled for 2024. Last July, it was another version of the city car that had been presented. Called Renault R5 3E Turbo Diamant, this is a unique model created by designer Pierre Gonalons and again features an electric motor.
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A few months later, the firm returned to the charge by unveiling the Renault R5 3E Turbo, a 100% electric shower whose “3” marks the continuation of the 1983 Turbo 2. Designed by the team of Gilles Vidal, the style director of the brand, this new creation is equipped with a carbon fiber body, which takes up the design of the original version.
This magnificent reinterpretation then displays width of 2.02 meters, or 25 centimeters more than its predecessor, which was 4 meters long and 1.32 meters high. Front and rear, pink, blue, and yellow LEDs light up when the vehicle is rolling. Inspired by the video game world of the 80s and 90s, this concept also cleverly hides the charging socket into the hood’s air intake.
On board, the driver and passengers sit in the bucket seats of the Carbon Fiber Racing Seat, while ten small digital screens display various information related to driving, again inspired by the game. Classic.
DESIGNED FOR DRIFT
Equipped with a tubular chassis protected by a flat bottom, as explained in the brand’s press release, this Renault R5 3E Turbo is equipped with a propulsion architecture designed for drifting. A total of two electric motors power the concept, developing a total power of 280 kW, or the equivalent of 380 horsepower, for a torque of 700 Nm.
The 0 to 100 km/h is then achieved in 3.5 seconds (3.9 seconds in Drift mode) for a maximum speed displayed at 200 km/h. Finally, the sports car has a 42 kWh battery, although its autonomy has not been communicated. Several driving modes are offered, called Turbo, Track Invader, and Donut, to achieve 360°.
The concept is also equipped with around ten fixing points allowing the installation of onboard cameras in the driving position as well as outside. If this totally sassy vehicle should unfortunately not see the day of production, it will be visible to the public during the Chantilly elegance contest, which will take place this Sunday, as well as at the Paris Motor Show, from October 17 to 23 next. Finally, a collection of NFTs around this concept will also be offered for sale.