Renault 5 - long-term review

I’ve pretty much waxed lyrical about the R5 ever since it arrived on the TG fleet, so it’s about time I put this car into context by comparing it to something at a similar price point. Although to make this an even sterner test I’ve dragged along a competitor that costs the wrong side of £30k. The mid-range Renault is just £27,795. And that’s before any new government grants.

As you’ll well know if you’ve even glanced at pictures of the back of it, today’s rival is the BYD Dolphin. Yes, BYD does stand for ‘Build Your Dreams’, and no, you can’t tick a box to remove the badging from the rear lightbar. Shame.

Anyway, the Chinese aren’t just coming, they’re already here. According to JATO Dynamics’ data, in April 2025 BYD sold more EVs than Tesla in Europe. Renault has its work cut out.

The Dolphin is ever so slightly longer, wider and taller than the 5 and wants to compete with full-sized hatchbacks like the MG4 and Volkswagen ID.3, but its 60.4kWh battery and 265 miles WLTP only put it slightly ahead of the 252-mile Renault in the range wars.

Our little French city car certainly looks better too. The BYD’s aquatic name is supposed to be reflected in its styling, with an “ocean aesthetics design concept” and LED lights that apparently take inspiration from actual dolphins jumping out of the sea. To our eyes it just looks a little too tall and ungainly, and the less said about the two-tone paint and those multi-coloured wheels the better. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but the R5 is a fantastic piece of design that manages to look retro and futuristic at the same time. It also nails being both cute and cool.

And while the Renault feels solid and mature to drive, the Dolphin gets overly assisted steering and supremely soft suspension. Around town it’s perfectly pleasant but get some speed up on country roads and the lack of body control is tiring as it bounds around. I also saw an average efficiency of around 3.5 miles per kWh, which would mean a real-world range of 211 miles.

The R5 is still averaging an impressive 4.2 miles per kWh, which theoretically means a possible 218 miles from its 52kWh battery. Which one was the city car again? Interestingly, the BYD clearly also identifies as a supercar, because for some reason it’s got an acceleration timer built into its infotainment. A standing start to 62mph takes around seven seconds, if you’re interested and don’t mind a bit of torque steer.

And on the subject of infotainment, you may have seen the Dolphin’s viral trick – it’s rotating central touchscreen. I’m not really sure what the point is. Still, the touchscreen itself is higher quality than the Renault’s and feels more responsive. There’s a useful amount more room in the BYD too, particularly in the rear seats and for luggage.

If I regularly carried rear seat passengers, perhaps I’d consider the Dolphin over the R5. Although actually, that’s precisely what the newly reborn R4 is for, and that starts at £26,995 for a base spec version.

Renault really has knocked it out of the park with these new age, retro-look EVs, and it has even managed to undercut the Chinese competitors on price at the same time.