The exterior’s retro theme extends to the interior, where the designers have carefully cherry-picked classic design elements and combined them with 21st-century tech to create something that is instantly recognisable as a Renault 5, yet also original, modern and easy to use.
The passenger side of the dashboard, with its ribbed stitching, clearly takes inspiration from late versions of the first-generation Renault 5, but the big instrument binnacle that now integrates two 10in screens is more reminiscent of the mid-engined Renault 5 Turbos, as are the unusually shaped seats, with their seemingly free-standing side bolsters.
Renault has also deployed colours and materials to very good effect. All seat upholstery in the 5 is fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. Some might miss the option of leather (the related Alpine A290 does offer it), but most testers found the soft material very welcoming, particularly when specified in the striking yellow of our test car. It’s a breath of fresh air compared with the often dour colour schemes of new cars.
Many expensive new cars are blighted by an interior that is stripped of quality materials and intricate details to drink in, which makes you question what you are spending all of that cash on. The Renault 5 is quite the opposite. With the price tag cut off, you would guess it to be one of the more expensive cars in its class. Instead, it’s one of the cheapest.
You can, of course, find harder, scratchier plastics in the 5, but that’s a given in this segment. Even those materials feel high quality. If there is a lapse in perceived quality, it’s the tinny sound of the door panel when you open and close it.
Renault hasn’t skimped on physical controls either. It’s not that the designers have gone button-mad like Ineos or Hyundai (an approach we’re not against), but the controls that are there are carefully chosen and laid out, and work very well with the touchscreen, to create a user interface that you simply don’t need to think twice about on a day-to-day basis.
It’s just so intuitive to use. There are conventional controls for the mirrors, and there’s a row of rocker switches for the climate control, complemented by a permanent control bar on the touchscreen.
One slight annoyance is the column stalk-type drive selector. This arrangement works well in a Mercedes, but in the Renault the drive selector is joined on the right-hand side of the steering column by the wiper stalk and the media control widget, which can cause confusion. The 5 also doesn’t have a ‘park’ setting, though you get used to simply putting on the handbrake when you’ve finished driving.
The benefit of a column shifter is that the centre console remains free for storage. In the Renault 5, it’s not a very wide space, but it does include a wireless phone charging tray, two generous cupholders and a decently sized armrest cubby.
It all adds up to a great driving environment, and the final piece of this puzzle is present and correct too: the 5 has a nicely resolved driving position. Past Renaults often suffered from a shortness of leg room and thigh support, but that’s not the case in the 5. Although the seats don’t have cushion angle adjustment, their default position is semi-recumbent. This supports taller drivers’ legs very well but may be less comfortable for shorter drivers. The steering column offers plenty of manual adjustment too.
Rear seats
The 5 is unapologetically a small car. At 3922mm, it is shorter than a Clio (4053mm), and despite small overhangs, the 5’s wheelbase is shorter than the Clio’s as well.
