<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Production of the road-going Turbo 5 commenced in 1980 and the first 400 examples were built by September of that year. This allowed the competition car, aptly dubbed the 'Cevennes', to compete in the Group 4 class. The car's World Championship debut came at the Rallye Monte Carlo early in 1981. Jean Ragnotti took an impressive win, and affirming the compact Renault's reputation as a tarmac specialist, he also won the Tour de Corse in 1982. Meanwhile, the road-legal cars were in high demand and as many as five were built per day. In 1983, the Turbo 2 was released, which less exotic steel body panels but more power.
For the newly introduced Group B class, the 5 Turbo was further developed and the 'Tour de Corse' model was introduced in 1983. Like its Group 4 predecessor, it was best suited to tarmac rallies as the four-wheel drive rivals proved superior on looser surfaces. Although numerous victories were scored in national events, the best placing in World Championship rallies was a third in the 1984 Tour de Corse. The ultimate development came in the form of the 'Maxi' developed ahead of the 1985 season. It featured a wider body and larger engine, which sported an innovative anti-lag system. Fittingly, it would score a win in the Tour de Corse rally on the 5 Turbo's favoured tarmac.
Production of the road-going 5 Turbo would continue through to 1986 in Renaults French and Belgian factories. Of the road cars only the first 400 were produced by Alpine and these slightly more exotic homologation specials formed the basis for all the competition cars. Eventually close to 5,000 examples were produced, underlining just how brilliant Terrarmorsi's original idea was. The mid-engined hatchback was revived by Renault in the late 1990s with the Clio V6 but this was no rival on the road or track for the original 5 Turbo. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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5 Turbo 2
Production of the road-going Turbo 5 commenced in 1980 and the first 400 examples were built by September of that year. This allowed the competition car, aptly dubbed the 'Cevennes', to compete in the Group 4 class. The car's World Championship debut came at the Rallye Monte Carlo early in 1981. Jean Ragnotti took an impressive win, and affirming the compact Renault's reputation as a tarmac specialist, he also won the Tour de Corse in 1982. Meanwhile, the road-legal cars were in high demand and as many as five were built per day. In 1983, the Turbo 2 was released, which less exotic steel body panels but more power.