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Written by Tom Harrison
Eighties-era hot hatches are very much in" right now. But while there"s no shortage of models to choose from the Peugeot 205 GTI, Ford Fiesta XR2, Volkswagen Golf GTI and so-on finding a decent one is tricky. The sort of men and women who bought these things new, then second- or even third-hand (before they became genuinely collectible) weren"t known for being especiallycareful with them. So scores of these cars were tuned, crashed, nicked or merely ragged to death. Shame. Not this one though. It"s a 1989 Renault 5 GT Turbo, and it"s tremendous. To clarify, this is not one of the homologation specials Renault was forced to build in the early Eighties so the 5 could go rallying. That thing was a Renault 5 in name only, with its engine in the middle (so no back seats) and comedy wheel arches. The 5 GT Turbo came out in 1985, and was a hotted-up version of the standard car in a more traditional sense. Its 1.4-litre turbocharged engine (contemporary rivals were mostly naturally-aspirated) gave 115bhp and 121lb ft, which in a car weighing comfortably less than a tonne meant 60mph came up in a respectable 7.5 seconds. And of course it was great fun reviews praised the way it handled and accelerated. Nowadays some would no doubt argue this thing should rank among the fast Clios of the Noughties as one of Renault"s very best hot hatches, such was the praise this thing was handed.
Date written: 23 Oct 2018
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 13794
Eighties-era hot hatches are very much in" right now. But while there"s no shortage of models to choose from the Peugeot 205 GTI, Ford Fiesta XR2, Volkswagen Golf GTI and so-on finding a decent one is tricky. The sort of men and women who bought these things new, then second- or even third-hand (before they became genuinely collectible) weren"t known for being especiallycareful with them. So scores of these cars were tuned, crashed, nicked or merely ragged to death. Shame. Not this one though. It"s a 1989 Renault 5 GT Turbo, and it"s tremendous. To clarify, this is not one of the homologation specials Renault was forced to build in the early Eighties so the 5 could go rallying. That thing was a Renault 5 in name only, with its engine in the middle (so no back seats) and comedy wheel arches. The 5 GT Turbo came out in 1985, and was a hotted-up version of the standard car in a more traditional sense. Its 1.4-litre turbocharged engine (contemporary rivals were mostly naturally-aspirated) gave 115bhp and 121lb ft, which in a car weighing comfortably less than a tonne meant 60mph came up in a respectable 7.5 seconds. And of course it was great fun reviews praised the way it handled and accelerated. Nowadays some would no doubt argue this thing should rank among the fast Clios of the Noughties as one of Renault"s very best hot hatches, such was the praise this thing was handed.
Date written: 23 Oct 2018
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 13794
