1982 Renault 5 Turbo

Motorsports has birthed many special and important models over the years and among them was the Renault 5 Turbo, directly linked to the evolution of the rallying scene. Beginning with the introductory 'Cévennes' model, the Turbo dominated the 1981 Monte Carlo and the 1982 Tour de Corse Rallies. The Renault 5 Turbo, not to be confused with the conventional front-wheel drive Renault 5 Gordini Turbo or GT Turbo, was a mid-engined homologation special built in limited numbers for Group 4 and Group B rallying between 1980 and 1986. It was a thinly disguised two-seater supercar that was first seen in prototype form at the 1978 Paris Salon and made its competition debut in 1980 on the Tour de Corse where Jean Ragnotti's 250bhp works car leading the event before succumbing to electrical trouble. In 1981, Ragnotti/Andrie won the Monte Carlo Rally outright for Renault and the following year Ragnotti won the Tour de Corse again. As competition from other four-wheel-drive cars increased, Renault responded with more powerful 5 Tour de Corse and 5 Maxi Turbo variants. Ragnotti added another Tour de Corse victory in the 5 Maxi Turbo in 1985. Renault retired the 5 Turbo from competition at the end of the 1985 season.

In 1976, the design work of the Renault 5 Turbo (project 822) began under the leadership of the late Jean Terramorsi and his colleague Henry Lherm, followed by Gérard Larousse, the director of Renault Sport, who was looking for victories at Le Mans, in F1 and in rallying. The aggressive exterior style that was both sporty and modern was courtesy of Marcello Gandini at Bertone. Following an official presentation of the R5 Turbo in August of 1978, the car was slightly restyled by Yves Lega, the Alpine stylist, and in September 1979, the car was first presented to the public at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Production began two months later at the Alpine factory in Dieppe and after four hundred examples were built, the car was homologated for Group IV competition.

The introductory 'Cévennes' version produced 185 horsepower, the Group IV version of 1981 developed 250 horsepower, and the Tour de Corse version of 1983 offered 285 horsepower. The Maxi Group B version of 1985 developed 350 horsepower. A total of 1,820 'Turbo 1' versions were built while production of the Turbo 2 was higher with 3,167 constructed. The Turbo 2 version followed the homologation models and incorporated more stock Renault 5 parts replacing many of the light-alloy components of the Turbo 1. As a result, the Turbo 2 was less expensive and offered nearly identical levels of performance with zero-to-sixty mph accomplished in 6.9 seconds.

The front mid-mounted four-cylinder engine had overhead valves, a Garrett AiResearch T3 turbocharger, and displaced 1,397cc with fuel fed by Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection system. The transmission was a 5-speed Type 369 manual unit. At the time of its introduction, it was the most powerful production French car.

by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2021