Alpine A110 R driven - a mini GT3 RS? | Autocar
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- It’s hard to believe that the Alpine A110 is nearly six years old, isn’t it?
This brilliant coupe first snuck into our soft spot back in 2017, providing enjoyment like no other car on sale.
As good as the basic car is, though, Alpine always seems to run into trouble when trying to improve it. The A110 S couldn’t really improve on the base model’s fun simplicity, but now there’s a new version that’s trying to do that.
Called the A110 R, it’s the most hardcore Alpine yet. With no rear window, a sensibly-sized rear wing and carbon fibre everywhere, it certainly looks the part, and there’s a whole host of upgrades that you can’t see too, including improved brake cooling and a trick suspension system.
Although the R has lost a lot of weight when compared to the original A110, it now costs a lot more. This one starts at £89,990 - a lot of money for a car with no more power than its base version.
Is it worth it? Join Matt Saunders as he finds out.
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![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #30 ДВА В ОДНОМ [Один человек]• Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nrXy15orKhY/mqdefault.jpg)
I am fortunate enough to have been building and running Porsche race (series & production based) & trackday cars successfully for over 20 years everything from historics to gt3 etc. I bought myself an A110 last year more out of curiosity and not wanting "another" Porsche (a bit of a busman's holiday) just a regular Legende car with 250 odd Hp. I have to say that this car is completely misunderstood by 99% of people (including me pre purchase & most commentators). Put aside thoughts about it's "humble" Renault (a company with a rich and varied successful motorsport history by the way) base components and think about the following in the context of the homogenised car world of 2023. This is totally bespoke 95% + Aluminium chassis, suspension & bodywork sports car with double wishbone suspension on all corners with the kind of suspension kinematics that any Cayman or pre 992 gt3 would kill for. Good enough that with this R Alpine are implying that you can take 10mm out of the ride height at the track without having to adjust toe, camber or castor etc. So much genuine thought has gone into it's very singular design goals and the end product delivers a completely unique driving experience. In 6k miles nothing has gone wrong and no nasty noises have appeared. On the road it is civilised and fun at sensible speeds, the engine, gearbox and brakes especially are very well judged and the car is so compact that all roads at all speeds are enjoyable. On a track in standard delivery spec it is an absolute peach with a very accurate handling balance that is throttle drivable and resists understeer with a passion unless you really overdrive the tyres or brakes. The 3 drive modes give the car a very distinctly different character on the road without having to delve into a million sub menus etc & the Track setting pretty much removes the TC etc but the chassis has so much built in reserves & traction that this is just right & I'm not convinced a resistive differential would help on road tyres. I would defend a manual gearbox to my last breath BUT this car is better for having a very accomplished DCT box, especially on track where most drivers would IMHO struggle to deal with a manual given the kind of pace and driver input required on a quick lap (me included). I can genuinely say that this car would not be better with a bigger engine &/or manual gearbox, yes it could take a little more power (300 Bhp might well be the sweet spot) but all the continual Cayman comparisons, moaning about a 4 pot engine & no manual are completely missing the point. I actually really enjoy the fact that the car feels and sounds like an old school N/A engine on Carbs. Think of it as a competitively priced Mclaren "lite" (complex chassis, all things being designed with performance in mind, virtually hand built) and you would be nearer the truth dynamically. Yes this R version is not cheap but the carbon bits alone make up a huge lump of the cost difference and my own expectations for it based on the standard car I own are that it will be a very accomplished car on track with a little bit of circuit specific damper tweaking etc. I know a couple of road testers weren't blown away with it on track but with my experience of Cup 2's I have to suspect that only box fresh tyres will be good for quite a short window, this car on a trofeo R or Direzza would probably give more consistent performance for longer? Anyhow Please celebrate the difference the A110 offers to the market and try one for yourself, I think you will be as surprised as I have been about how excellent the overall package is to drive.
Thanks for this comment. This coming from someone who has a ton of exposure to Porsche race and road cars says a lot. And yes, people just whine about what a car looks on the paper, a big mistake if you ask me. Someday, i'd like to own an Alpine A110 and I am so glad it exists.
Very honest and insightful comments from someone who should know what a sorted sports car feels like. Very high praise indeed.
yup. And it kills me that i can't buy it here in the USA :/
@@machinegunakshay Thank you for your kind words, I am sure you will not be disappointed when you take the plunge.
@@hughstultz7849 Thank you for your kind words, It's just so refreshing that Alpine have shunned the "arms race" that the established manufacturers have been playing since the millennium and built a car that is simple but so well engineered that most people don't understand just how good it is on road or track.
I wouldn't have thought it possible to create a video as dull as this on what is seemingly a pretty exciting car. Absolutely dire stuff.
British auto journos are stuck in a rut. Very middle-aged guy territory.
Autocar is quite good at that for a few years already
Britishers are dead wood emotionally for the most part.
Driving it more spiritedly for the camera would really help, honestly you may well have just been reading out an article piece. Got no sense of what it’s actually like from that despite audio and visual.
Slowest car review ever? You needed that rear window to make sure an old lady in a Kia Picanto was not right on your back bumper.
Totally agree. No point in even sitting in the car for the review if you’re not going to drive it as intended.
I couldn’t get thru a minute of this. Pure snooze. Not even a clip of the exhaust to wake you from this slumber
Was probably a queue of traffic behind him waiting for him to pull over.
🤣 🤣 This road is amazing but usually it's full of speed cameras warning , helicopters and other stuff I guess when they recorded that not so much... But it's not closed.. It's a pity cause having the circuit closed it could have been nice to see it dancing...
Why do people complain about 1.8 4 cylinder? It's lighter than 2.0 not to mention 3.0 V6/L6. I mean this thing sprints to 100 km/h in under 4 seconds and that's M4 territory and with "only" 300 hp (that's only because it's so light). My only complain is, that they should add a bit more power for this special version (because it's special) and a manual gearbox. Lovely and special machine this a110r.
That opening monologue was like someone reading the list of ingredients on a tin of soup
Shockingly robotic
That's what happens when they don't use the best videographer they have (Matt Prior) and instead pick another staff member at random
@@th3b0untyhunter matt was just like that only few years ago. It seems they like their way of dull video reviews 😄
I apreciate your honesty that’s what we expect your real opinion. Thank you
This is the ONE car I wanted to buy when it came out, but NOPE we don’t get it in the USA 😖
Looks really good. A relatively affordable track toy.
I love doing track day’s, the A110R it is 👍🏼
Would be nice to have a manual gearbox in it.
What is it with numpties and manual gearbox’s. Driving a manual doesn’t mean you’re any better a driver.
Like above said it’s inferior and slower. If manuals were so good they would still be in race cars 🤦🏻♂️
@@bobdidit55 it’s not about being so good it’s because of the feeling and the inmersión a manual gives you
I read the title an was like Whoah now let’s not get carried away. But it looks sick af
Put put, put… Not exactly sure why you bothered commenting on this car while driving it, when you’re going so slowly. What’s the point of having a video if we’re not really seeing anything other than you talk 🙄
Exactly. this thing runs *almost* in road trim a time of 7.04min around the Ring'. Reference time. This is how quick it is for a so-called unable feeble 1.8 litre donkey
20. Aventador LP750-4 SV unknown 6:59.73 750 / 1699
21. Ferrari 488 Pista Christian Gebhardt 7:00.03 720 / 1476
22. Rimac Nevera unknown 7:00.93 1941 / 2150
23. Dodge Viper ACR (Mk V) Lance Arnold 7:01.30 654 / 1539
24. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Jörg Bergmeister 7:04.51 500 / 1451
25. Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R Pro Maro Engel 7:04.63 585 / 1637
26. Porsche 911 GT3 (992) Christian Gebhardt 7:04.74 510 / 1456
27. Porsche 911 GT3 RS unknown 7:05.00 520 / 1471
What does this mean? The Ring' has speed demon sections where the little Alpine struggles with outright speed. Shorten the track, add more hairpins and some of those hero cars will fall further down by way of being unable to exert their sheer power. It's a little Cheese goatey mountain climber!
pretty disappointed with the test. :( a car focused for track usage, and a video which is not about that.
Alpine realise that peeps will just flash the ECU. More power, more track ability.
They definitely do. Although they could just offer the option of a factory ECU flash, with keeping the warranty. I'm pretty sure most buyers would get it, but they could still keep the low CO2 headline in the brochures.
@@BeBarnee Sure, they could offer a factory flash but it'd be bad (EU) PR, and why offer a warranty if they don't need to?
Non il vaut mieux investir l’argent dans des cours de pilotage et à la fin vous roulerez bien plus vite que l’ECU MODIFIÉ 👌🔥
You might have an issue with the Getrag 7DCD300 double clutch gearbox if you up the power. It is rated at... 300nm. The gearbox is fine with more power/torque but the clutch might not handle it.
It is a lot of money, but you get some serieus kit for it. Special materials and saving weight from already a light and simple car is harder then from a regular car. They saved almost 4% car weight, that is the same like saving 50kg from a 1500kg car. BMW M4 saves only 50kg from a 1675kg stock m4… so to put it in perspective. Alpine done the same as BMW would have saved another 7 extra kg’s from its CSL without getting rid of the luxeries like the infotainment and aircon. For the same price.. and those last KG’s are the hardest to lose on a car..
I’m not sure how they can justify charging double the price of an A110s. 10-20K maybe but not double.
In Spain 63000 € a110 74.000 a110s and 107000 a110r all starting prices, I have a blue base a110 ok order really counting the days before it arrives
he never said they were charging double the price of an a110s but 50% more expensive. 50% of 70k means 35k. 70+35=105...
Certainly nothing against Matt Saunders - I always like his tone and delivery - but at the conclusion of nearly every review of an A110 variant it seems the same conclusion is reached: get the 'regular' one and enjoy what's arguably the best experience of the lot.
I love that they didn’t increase the power. 295 is plenty for a car that light. Any more would simply degrade the driving experience. If they want to use CO2 as an excuse, I’m fine with that.
I wish more manufacturers focused on weight saving v adding more power to compensate for additional fat. Less weight means less power is required for the same acceleration. Less weight means less emissions. Less weight means more steering and braking feel. Less weight means less wear and tear on components including tyres. Less weight means more agility. Less weight less emissions. Yet year after year cars become bloated with stuff humans think they need but don't and over time the joy of driving is dulled down by bigger tyres (whose limits can only be discovered on a race track), more fuel consumption and more consumption of the earth's resources. Anyone who is obsessed with high horsepower and BIG should try a light weight car. It'll shift your mind.
I mean for example, Rimac Nevera is actually Shinkansen levels of quick off the line on drag races, but it gets gapped by a lot of cars 1/8th of it's Andrew Tate levels of cheap price tag on the Nurburgring like Porsche Cayman GT4 RS (Manthey kitted or not), Ferrari 296, and even Dodge Viper ACR Gen 5 with prehistoric stick shifter lul thanks for being electric which naturally weighs as much as double decker Bus
£585 road tax no one mentions
Forgive me for being pedantic, but I'd swear that was a 5-point harness - even in the shot of it and the seat??!!
Do the belts in that harness have to be replaced. Racing belts have a defined lifespan.
Probably one of the most monotone and least inspirational car reviews I've ever seen, particularly for such a well revered car. No action shots of the car, no sound of the exhaust and to top it all there's no footage of the track that you'd just driven on. Very lazy and a real shame for one of the first UK reviews of the A110 R
It's very expensive to do all that. This video will generate maybe £50 via youtube looking at the way the views are going. Not sure what it feeds into the magazine sales, but that's a more complicated calculation. Everyone is tightening their belts.
@@AlanDoveKarting Then it was pointless of them to fly to Spain to review it! Look at any of the European reviews of the same car and they all cover track and road footage in detail.
@@dommo9056 coz he was there already for paper magazine I'd hazard a guess at
Might be an interesting car but that review did it's best to make it sound boring. A little joie de vie is allowed even for dour, old Autocar...
Did you enjoy Jarama race track?
Not sure about this, and it’s getting quite expensive too. If I wanted a new track toy this wouldn’t be it.
32 grams more downforce than the S version. Brilliant
It’s a shame it will never sell accept to track rat specialists. It’s far to expensive for what it is….
It's lovely and brilliant like all A110s, and like all A110s, it's missing just one thing to make it perfect - a manual gearbox!! 😯😂😀🤘🤞
I felt the same, but now I own one, I disagree. The box is perfect for the car and great fun.
Add 3 pedals, would have lightened the car and made it more engaging. Rear view camera was a missed opportunity. Otherwise nice attempt.
Nope
It does come with a rear view camera. At least in CH the R is sold standard with it.
Where is a 2.0 liter version?!
The days of these cars are numbered which to me does not bode well for automotive history 😢👍🏻🏴
for me it’s an incomprehensible mess that in the UK some measurements are metric while others are imperial! stick to metric it’s waaaay more comprehensible!!!!😜
Missed a trick at that money.. needs at least 50kg weight saving 310ish bhp and other touches like door pulls in material, thiner side glass, brakes etc
Terrible delivery, sorry. Gave up as soon as I saw the reviewer who clearly isn’t into weight saving measures 😵💫
It’s a safety feature to see what is behind you. Why didn’t they fit a camera with the rear view mirror as a screen, for example?
I have had plenty of road cars with no rear view. Add six points and you cannot turn around anyway for awkward junctions; you just think ahead. I have no issue with dropping the rear glass / central mirror and driving with the TWO remaining mirrors. Next you'll be saying that every van in the country is 'unsafe' because it doesn't have a rear view mirror... 🤣
Whoa whoa whoa the co2 tax adds $40k euros to the price of a cayman in France? Hahaha that’s insaaaaaane
Yep, it's a rip-off and a scam. There is no man made global warming, the criminal governments, media and corporations only spew that bs to introduce new taxes.
50 000€ in 2023…..😢
And here in America I don't even have a cat on my car 😂
If they had stuck a V6 and a manual gearbox in it, surely it would be more popular outside the French market
Non ce n’est pas sa philosophie et vous oubliez le poids , elle est parfaite comme cela , j’en possède une en S 🤩
90 K is more than a slightly used GT4 pdk. Whoops.. Good luck with that lol
Conduisez la et après vous parlez c’est mieux , les jugements sans essayer sont inutiles et pas considérés
A GT4 feels like a beached whale in comparison. 'Heavy' GT car Vs Ultralight track car. You are comparing chalk and cheese.
Looks great but 90k for it is kinda taking the piss, that’s second hand mclaren 570s or 991 GT3 money or there a-bouts.
89k for a four cylinder Megan engined Alpine ...not a hope in hell of selling this! Same power output with a few suspension tweaks and a bit lighter. Same impractical cabin and same parts bin controls. Think about it guys ...if you had 89k where you you spend it- sure wouldn’t be here
You do realise it's sold out for 2 years don't you?
I have test driven Alpine A110 and Porsche Cayman 718 back to back. My opinion is that Alpine is fun but Porsche so much the better all rounder and let's be honest how many people really go on track days.
I thought the opposite!
Ridiculous amount of money for what you get. You could buy a Porche Cayyman GTS 4.0 with it's great engine and still have £20k left over to make it lighter and more track focused.
The French reduced the CO2 so they did not get clobbered with huge tax added then added a huge price to the car ? Most of it is probably carbon wheels etc.
they should have got rid of the automatic transmission and made it manual to save more weight and make it more controllable and then maybe that price would have been justified
And not saved any weight.
@@red00eye Actually Twohig who was chief engineer on the Alpine, said the same thing he said in an interview on youtube when the car was launched, arguing that having no clutch pedal and being able to engineer a floating centre console that did not need to house a manual transmission clawed back the kilos "overall", meaning the manual box would have been lighter. If there was a will, then the clutch pedal and ancillaries could have been lighter also so i do not buy his argument. Manual gearboxes are less complicated and lighter always than paddle shift boxes, but the uptake perceived by Alpine of buyers wishing a manual was probably considered too tiny for their production costs
@@cbca6567 Its hard to debate soemone who quotes the guy who engineered the thing but refuses to believe what he says. 😀
@@red00eye he said overall they matched the weight of the manual! It was very clear the manual box by itself was lighter.
@@cbca6567 So are you suggesting that they should've fitted just the manual box without the clutch pedal and gear shifter etc. to save weight and to validate your argument? 😂
Shame it appears the gearbox is the limiting factor in extracting more performance. That’s according to certain specialists who work on these cars. Also it looks a bit too ‘Halfords’ to me. I’ve driven the S and whilst it’s brisk in a straight line it’s not exactly charismatic even for a 4cyl. When Mercedes are getting over 400hp from a 4cyl it makes you wonder what the 2.0 Emira will be like
Disappointing at only 360bhp in a 1440kg car... was tempted, but it's style over performance. Not knocking it if style is what you want, but not for me. 🙂
Oh ffs another Autocar fast car video by someone other than Matt Prior.
A stable doesn't keep a thoroughbred at home and race a donkey instead.
Matt Prior is by far and away the best Autocar has at doing videos - he should be doing all the high end stuff.
I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one to think like this because I've seen numerous similar comments in the past when a no mark is used instead of Mr P.
Please sort it out
90 K PMSL
Maybe compare it to a lotus cause this is no GT3 rs
Normal a110 is faster than lotus around tracks a110s has more or less same time than a m2cs a little bit faster around the nurburgring and 5 secs faster than cayman S Alpine R should be close to cayman t4 in times but yes it no gt3rs also is 3 times less expensive
@@aitorgallego98 I wouldn’t even compare a GT4 RS to a GT3 RS, this is clickbait, it has no noise, no cage, interior is terrible and looks worse than a lotus
£25K for a i20N kind of makes more sense…..
Plum crazy or black
Man that was dull
90k.......now that's being silly !
If they had only put AMG's 420hp, 2L, 4 cylinder engine into it........
Lindo carro
lovely car lads, just not worth the cash over a Cayman/Elmira etc (not that ive got the cash).
They've priced it right at the edge of the hot hatch bubble, that's encroaching on the sports car bubble...no competition
Emira
What a boring review
Buy an Emira.z
Find it so sad they never offered a manual transmission option on the A110. Would not buy one unless it had a manual. Alpine seems obsessed with charging more and more money for a less drivable A110. Crazy overpriced with horrid build quality
dude was boring af. being honest thats all. car? love em. and in R form? sign me up.
90000 pounds is just mad
Ludicrous. When the GT4 exists, how on earth can Alpine keep a straight face trying to charge 90k for a 1.8 4 pot?!
The French new car tax system means such a comparison isn't really valid, they don't give a damn about other countries. So it's a car which makes sense in France, possibly in China etc but not in the UK.
A110s tax due €3,119 .......GT4 225 €50,000. Even a base 982 attracts €31,000 tax, which would make it a similar price to this A110r.
The GT4 costs 110K pounds. Besides, the A110 R has other standard features such as carbon wheels that the Cayman gt4 hasn't. And overall they are not far in terms of lap times.
and then there's the GT4 RS, where that thing is buffed what you adored on the GT4 up to 11
One of the dullest sports car reviews I have ever seen. Void of any enthusiasm and excitement. Nobody needs to know about C02 outputs or if the 6 point harness works well. Driven by a total geek rather than an enthusiastic driver … Absolute snore fest!
what goes in the head of people filming themselves in a car review video !!! unwatchable !!!!!!
A "proper discussion" would be had during high speed driving on fantastic roads, not during this "fat boy going to buy tacos" drive we see here. It's plasticy and looks French which is to say - homely.
Looks awful never seen a alpine irl though since they are not sold in north America
Wonderful car, drearily awful review.
I don’t care how good it is, after I found it was £90,000 for a 4 cylinder engine I stopped the video. PLAIN STUPID PRICE.
well... considering the few A110R that will be constructed and bought and the electric wave comming in and the death of ICE, this car will probably resell for much more on second hand market. But go ahead spend your money elsewhere... ;) to get such a joyful ride, you'll need a GT4, and I believe that gvrnts will start to restrict high bhp and high c02 cars... I think this car makes much more sense than you do.
@@papa-mobile4025 Yes, you may turn out to be 100% correct, or partially correct. However, no one has a crystal ball and no one can predict the future. I believe car makers are in a race to see who can raise their prices the highest. Look at Honda charging £47,000 for a Civic Type R, BMW want £80,000 for an M4. They are just fleecing people. Also, I believe, and like you I’m only guessing, it will be manuals that will command the highest prices. But, who knows maybe batteries will become much lighter and electric cars will be really fast and great at handling. As I said no one can predict the future.
Wow, what a useless review! Is it even a review?
Track day special. You wouldn't buy that to use it every day. Incredibly small customer base for such a car, but fair play for making it. It was a terrible review though.
automatic lame
Nice, but still not as good as good as a 1999 (24 year old) Evo 6
except totally different cars😂 This will smoke Evo on track and thats coming from Evo VII owner.
The reason it hasn't sold is that, despite journos loving this car, it looks pretty ugly, and now also horrendously overpriced.
Except it’s sold out for the next 2 years 😂
@@dommo9056 that's because the UK's allowance was 4 cars.
@@husseinosman8017 Incorrect
@3:00 They could have added a rear camera and went with cam side mirrors too.