Renault 5 Turbo

From Classic Car Life

The Renault 5 Turbo or R5 Turbo is a high-performance hatchback automobile that was produced by the French manufacturer Renault in the early 1980s. The car was designed for rallying, but was also sold in road-going guise.

Design

Although the standard Renault 5 has a front-mounted engine, the 5 Turbo featured a mid-mounted 1397 cc Cléon turbocharged engine placed behind the driver in mid-body in a modified Renault 5 chassis. In standard form, the engine developed 160 PS (118 kW; 158 hp). Though it used a modified body from a standard Renault 5, and was badged a Renault 5, the mechanicals were radically different.

The first 400 production 5 Turbos were made to comply with Group 4 homologation. A second version, named Turbo 2, was introduced using stock Renault 5 parts replacing many of light alloy components in the original 5 Turbo version. The original 5 Turbo was in retrospect called "Turbo 1". The Turbo 2 was less expensive, but had nearly the same levels of performance.

Credit for this page must go to the excellent Wikipedia, the original page can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_5_Turbo