Renault 5 review

The e-motor is progressive, and frankly quick enough – it feels balanced against the tyres. It moves away from rest smoothly (unless you're using the auto park brake which tends to release with a snatch) and then gathers pace sweetly.

The mode button – called MultiSense – is on the steering wheel, and Eco limits power which makes you smoother when you're in traffic or hypermiling. Just kick down if you suddenly need full bore.

Then you have Comfort and Sport modes plus a Perso one where you configure pedal map, aggression of the A/C and radar cruise, and ambient colours.

Want more than 150bhp? The Alpine A290 is your thing then.

Arrive at a corner and the brakes are also progressive, in that stopping force builds proportionally with travel. We'd prefer a bit more rise in pedal effort too, but you adapt. The system is fully powered, with no mechanical link from pedal to pads. A controller balances the regeneration with the friction so you don't feel a transition and it doesn't change even when the battery's full and can take no regenerated energy.

So you’ve arrived at corners. How are they?

The initial steering response is much like the brake pedal: proportional but a little numb. Still, that makes it easy to drive smoothly, and it (mostly) masks torque steer. Besides, the body rolls a little, which gives you a sense of what's going on, as well as helping the inside-front wheel with traction.

But when you really push on, you do get more feel of what's happening with the tyres. The  R5 avoids any nose-heavy attitude and doesn't wash its front tyres wide. When grip does run out, it's likely to be from both ends, and you can tuck the nose in some more with a little accelerator lift. It's pretty engaging.

The original R5 was super-soft. How’s the comfort here?

No, it's not an old French cushion. At town speed the ride is pretty taut, but never harsh or noisy. As speeds rise on bumpy roads, the springs will take the big hits quite deftly. Actually it feels quite like a Fiesta, which is a compliment. Because the anti-roll bars are soft, you're not rocked about, and the sophisticated rear suspension keeps high-frequency harshness well under control.

This refinement, as with the progressive driving controls, makes the R5 feel like a bigger, more grown-up car when that's what you want. But it'll still play the kid when that's your mood.

Am I assisted?

The lower specs of R5 have basically the legal minimum of driver aids: lane departure warning and over-limit warning. They work pretty well, and there are configuration options for the levels of warning and intervention.

Once you've done that configuration once, you assign it to a hard-button so you can go from full intervention to your preferred scheme (or none at all) with a simple double-press of the button. No need to look away from the road when the speed limit bonger or lane departure grabber go off because they've misread the signs and markings. As all these things do.

The top Iconic trim adds full level 2 assist – adaptive cruise and lane centring which also slows you down for junctions and sharp bends – and surround cameras and hands-free self-parking. But you ought to be able to park this tiddler yourself.