Think a Renault 5 Nurburgring record attempt is madness? It's on!

Auto Express

6 days ago

The wild Renault 5 Turbo 3E flagship is heading to the Nürburgring for an electric lap record attempt, Auto Express can reveal.
With 533bhp and 4,800Nm of torque from two electric motors and 0-62mph in less than 3.5-seconds, the Turbo 3E has the firepower to set a competitive lap time.
The fastest production electric car on the 20,832m-long Nordschleife circuit (12.944 miles) is the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra saloon, which posted a time of 7:04.957 in April 2025 and has gone even faster in uprated, prototype form. Advertisement - Article continues below
The Rimac Nevera and Porsche Taycan Turbo GT aren't much slower but it'll be the Tesla Model S Plaid (7:35.579) and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N's 7:45.59 time that Renault has its eye on.
One record is odds-on – the fastest rear-wheel drive EV around the 'Ring – because strictly all-wheel drive cars posted the existing benchmarks.
The 5 Turbo 3E packs two advanced in-wheel motors spinning its rear end and an aluminium and carbonfibre construction that should keep weight below 1,450kg. Much of this technology will be shared with the upcoming Alpine A110 Electric.
'The 5 Turbo 3E has the potential to do two Nordschleife laps at full throttle,' Fabrice Cambolive, the Renault brand CEO, told Auto Express. Can it post a respectable lap in the 7-minute zone? 'We will communicate it at the right time,' winks the boss. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below
'With its in-wheel motors and really low centre of gravity, it's like piloting a video game,' claims the CEO, slumping down in his chair and making darty hand movements with an imaginary steering wheel.
Renault Group test driver Laurent Hurgon, who also races a Lamborghini Super Trofeo, is tipped for the record run. He posted the Megane RS Trophy-R's front-wheel drive lap record in 2019, a 7:40.100 time (on a slightly shorter loop) subsequently bettered only by the FL5 Honda Civic Type R. Advertisement - Article continues below
The Nordschleife is a huge challenge for any electric car, with repeated maximum accelerations and decelerations taking a massive toll on the battery, motors and brakes, and thermal management of the power cells critical to prevent a drop-off in performance.
Hyundai's European R&D boss Tyrone Johnson told Auto Express that computer simulation was critical to prime the Ioniq 5 N for its arduous 'Ring run. 'With the Ioniq 5 N, we were the first [EV] to be tested on the Nurburgring with an official lap time by Sport Auto, a German magazine. Before Porsche,' he said. 'We did two laps and simulated that for a couple of months beforehand, to get the battery temperature and the [brake] rating just right, just to be able to make the two laps.' Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below
Turbo 3E prototypes should be out testing in public soon, with the record run expected before the weather becomes too unsettled.
The pumped-up little hatch takes its inspiration from the original mid-engined versions of the Renault 5, which first appeared in 1980. That number is the production ceiling for the Turbo 3E, with Renault claiming to have more than 1,000 prospects lined up for the £135,000 superhatch.
'We want to demonstrate that a pure BEV car can also be a sporty car,' says Cambolive. 'The sportiness of the Renault 5 is already quite good, now we can replicate what we did in the past when the Turbo arrived.'
The 5 has given Renault real electric car momentum, says UK managing director Adam Wood. The charismatic supermini was Britain's top-selling EV in April and May, with 70 per cent of buyers retail rather than the fleet customers lured by low company car tax.
And its formula – mixing a retro form and nameplate with modern details and zero emissions tech – is being expanded into the small electric SUV segment with the Renault 4. Order books have just opened, after a UK introduction at this month's Goodwood Festival of Speed.
In early 2024, with Renault reliant on just the Megane E-Tech, EVs contributed about 5 per cent of the French brand's sales. The introduction of the Scenic E-Tech grew this to 15 per cent by the year's end, and with Renault 5 deliveries now on song, one-in-four new Renaults are currently electric-powered. This is critical to meet the UK's Zero Emission Vehicle sales target which is pegged at 28 per cent of passenger car sales in 2025.
The boss is confident this share can be maintained with another EV – the Twingo city car – confirmed for right-hand drive and arriving in 2026.
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