New Alpine A290 ‘Turbo 3E’ could follow in fast Renault 5’s footsteps

Late last year, Renault confirmed its plans to build the outrageous Renault 5 Turbo 3E – a handbuilt, rear-wheel-drive electric hot hatchback with more than 500bhp and a six-figure price tag. It’ll be produced in limited numbers, via a specialist team in France.

Now, Renault brand CEO Fabrice Cambolive has suggested the firm’s sporty Alpine off-shoot could create its own take on the 3E formula, possibly with more power and even more hardcore internals. Speaking to the media at the Brussels Motor Show, Cambolive said the Turbo 3E gives Alpine “motivation to do even better”.

While far from absolute confirmation that Alpine is now working on an uprated 3E, Cambolive emphasised how the Renault 5 and Alpine A290 had been considered as one model in the recent European Car of the Year discussions: “We presented R5 and and the A290 together for Car of the Year,” he said.

“After that, we spoke about Turbo 3E. And of course this is part of the Renault history – you can't have another brand taking this heritage,” he told us. “That's why we decided to do this car, which is for us a complement of what the Renault 5 did in 1972: to go through all the social classes and all the price brackets of the automotive world.

“So that's what we will do with Turbo 3E – and, of course, this will give Alpine another motivation to do even better. That’s my point.”

How an Alpine A290 Turbo 3E might look is open for discussion. The standard A290 is a little bit more aggressive than the conventional R5, with more muscle around the bumpers and lower portions of the car. But the Renault 5 Turbo 3E turns the dial to 11, with a wide, race car-inspired bodykit, huge air intakes and a wild rear diffuser. We can expect much of the same, plus a few subtle differences, for any Alpine-badged alternative.

Yet it’s under the metal where the biggest changes could play out. Even the standard A290 gets a bigger, more powerful motor than the Renault 5, plus wider axles, a unique subframe and a completely new suspension geometry with hydraulic bumpstops. If these differences were manifested (and exaggerated) on any so-called Alpine Turbo, the performance uplift could be substantial – playing to Cambolive’s comments about the sporty sub-brand doing things “even better”.

Of course for now, any future extra-hot Alpine remains firmly under wraps. Whatever happens, it’s likely parent company Renault will want to sell, build and deliver its ration of R5 Turbo 3Es before announcing further variants, meaning any Alpine derivative is likely years rather than months away from being revealed.

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