The Renault 5 Turbo has one property missing from todays hot hatches; it is very light. As Colin Chapman noted adding power makes you quick on the straights but adding lightness makes you quick everywhere else. Not that the R5 lacks power of course, once the turbo’s on song it’s hard to believe it only has a dinky little l.4 tucked away under the bonnet. Obviously being a French classic build quality was not the greatest and there are enormous amounts of road and induction noise at all speeds. The gearbox has something of ‘stirring soup’ feel to it and there’s sometimes a fear that you’ve hit 3rd (or indeed, 1st) instead of 5th on a quick up change. Strong torque steer, lots of turbo lag, no traction control and snappy lift off oversteer all combine to make the car a handful when pushing on. In my opinion it’s all the better for that – no overly clinical modern car feel here!