2018 Alpine A110 revealed - Porsche Cayman rival due at Geneva show

[AVANTI R5]

2018 Alpine A110 revealed - Porsche Cayman rival due at Geneva show

French two-seater retains shape of 2016 concept and its spiritual predecessor; will focus on driver engagement over outright pace

The hotly anticipated Alpine A110 sports car has been revealed in pictures ahead of its world debut at the Geneva motor show.

The two-seater model is a rival to the Porsche 718 Cayman and a spiritual successor to the original 1960s A110 model. It retains the look of the 2016 Vision concept it's based upon, with a pinched bonnet and twin front headlights clear nods to the classic model.

Alpine’s new car sits low on relatively small wheels, supporting suggestions that it will be significantly lighter than its rivals. Alpine confirmed that the car's structure and upper body is made from aluminium, and that the quilted leather seats weigh 13.1kg each (see gallery) - which is half the weight of those in the Renault Mégane RS’.



The A110 is therefore expected to have a kerbweight of just over 1000kg. The Porsche 718 Cayman weighs 1405kg.

A brief history of Alpine, 1957-2017

The car will use a set-up focused on driver engagement over outright pace, with skinnier tyres than its rivals to ensure a good balance of grip and power. It is expected to use a 1.8-litre petrol engine with as much as 300bhp on offer, derived from the turbocharged 1.6-litre unit of the Renault Clio RS.



A 0-62mph time of around 4.5sec is likely, which would bring the A110 into line with even the ultra-focused Porsche Cayman GT4.

Much of the car’s development has focused on aerodynamics, with a flat floor and complex rear diffuser negating the need for a spoiler (picture above). This has also enabled designers to retain the clean shape of the original at the car’s rear.

Alpine will officially reveal the A110 in Geneva next week. The model is expected to go on sale next year priced from around €57,000 (about £48,500), which is close to £10,000 more than the entry-level 718 Cayman.

Autocar

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[SCRAPPYDO]

Okay we simply must get Renault and other French cars into the states again. If for no other reason so I can buy a CPO one of these!!!!

[Sid03SVT]

I want it with polished or anodized body work, more displacement, and it must be a three-pedal manual. When it breaks, it will still look pretty.

[SCRAPPYDO]

not me bud, give me the blue.... that beautiful blue. Maybe a small bit of white pinstripes and a Croissant

[Hondaslayer]

I'll take mine in butter yellow with a white roof.

[godfather2112]

The small circular lights in the front do not look pretty. The rest of the vehicle thouhg, me gusta.

[bemani]

Rear-engine?

[torquemada]

here´s the old thread

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho...renault+alpine

[rob1n1]

Originally Posted by bemani

Rear-engine?

Mid engined, I believe. Similar layout as the Cayman.

[mhoward1]

yeah, I'll take the blue

[AVANTI R5]

Originally Posted by torquemada

here´s the old thread

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho...renault+alpine

Sorry torque I knew there was one searched with no luck kept coming up with
A120 Thread from December. Maybe Honda could slides theses together

[torquemada]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu55De8kp00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu55De8kp00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGmR9RQ2us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGmR9RQ2us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTzStauWOas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTzStauWOas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RAbjfaDcH8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RAbjfaDcH8

[Dex]

Error 404, Cayman competitor not found. Maybe it is, I didn't actually watch any of those. Also, no manual, no care.

[VaporTrail308]

I like the looks of the Cayman way better that that thing. Sorry, but it looks like a chick car to me.

[SCRAPPYDO]

I think in person, this car will make a lot more sense.

[Hondaslayer]

Originally Posted by SCRAPPYDO

I think in person, this car will make a lot more sense.

No, no.

This car cannot make sense.

It's French.

That and, I want it. Therefore, nonsensical is perfection.

[STix66]

That 4 light gathering at the front kind of reminds of the Celica gt-s ...anyone else see that?
Overall though not too shabby. Wouldn't kick it out of bed for eating crackers (errrr...chips).

[rob1n1]

Of Course The New Alpine Isn't Coming To America

This should come as little surprise to anyone, but it’s still a bummer: Alpine’s new sports car, unveiled this week at the Geneva Motor Show, will not come to the U.S. after all. Since Renault has a partnership with Nissan, which does in fact sell cars in the U.S.—some of them are even fun—there was speculation that somehow, some way, the Alpine could make it here too.

It’s not.

http://jalopnik.com/of-course-the-ne...ica-1793154424

Original source: http://www.leftlanenews.com/alpine-w...-us-94908.html

12345

[AVANTI R5]

Alpine A110 first ride: will it be a Porsche 718 Cayman beater?

Alpine’s bold intention for its new A110 is to create a lightweight sports car to rival the Porsche 718 Cayman on track while remaining comfortable every day on the road

We’ve seen the Alpine A110 production car – the model that revives the famous Alpine name – on the show stand at Geneva and we’ve learnt all about its technical specifications, but we won’t actually drive the car until October. However, I have just spent a day riding in it at Renault’s Aubevoye test facility in the north of France.

Before I was allowed to belt myself into the A110’s fixed-back bucket seat, Chief Engineer David Twohig and Product Planning Director Eric Reymann took a few minutes to set the scene. "We started doing some customer clinics as far back as 2012," says Reymann, "first with pure car guys, people who owned specific Porsches, Caterhams or Lotuses, and then with everybody else. We found there was an appetite for a sports car that could be comfortable to use every day, but that was also fun on the circuit."



Alpine A110 makes Goodwood Festival of Speed dynamic debut

"We wanted to build a car that was a pleasure to drive on the road at 40mph," adds Twohig, "but still bloody good when you go and do a track day every couple of months." From there, Twohig and his team defined the A110’s technical specifications, placing lightness front and centre.

"If the car is light,’ he continues, "that allows you to bring the spring rates down, so you don’t have a super stiff car that’s a pain to drive every day. That’s why the A110’s body is made from aluminium.

"The second important thing is the suspension set-up. We’ve got double wishbones all-round, which is very unusual in this class. The 718 Cayman, for instance, has MacPherson struts on its front axle."


It’s worth revisiting chapter one of the vehicle dynamics textbook here, because those double wishbones, as well as the lightweight build, really do underpin every one of the A110’s dynamic characteristics. Double wishbones allow the engineers to control wheel camber in hard cornering, whereas a less sophisticated strut arrangement does not. By controlling wheel camber, you’re keeping the tyre contact patch flat to the road surface, rather than allowing it to ‘fall over’ into positive camber, where it can’t grip effectively.

In a car with strut suspension, that can be achieved by fitting whacking great anti-roll bars to stop the body from leaning over in a bend. But that simply ruins the ride quality.

"Because we have double wishbones all-round," explains Twohig, "we don’t have to fight against the body roll. That’s why the A110 uses very small, hollow anti-roll bars, which are really good for the ride."

With weight kept to a minimum – just 1080kg at the kerb – and that double wishbone layout, the foundations of a good sports car are in place. The A110 should be agile and grippy (even on its relatively modest Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres), with a pliant ride quality and good body control. Everything else should simply follow along from there.



Let’s dive a little deeper. The A110’s suspension arrangement, says Twohig, gives it best in class camber linearity. That makes it progressive at the limit rather than spiky and unpredictable. Furthermore, in really hard cornering, the toe angle adjusts to slight toe-out, which gives gentle understeer characteristics, meaning there’s a safety margin built in. The basic chassis balance can therefore be tuned to be quite neutral, or even oversteery. All of that makes for a car that’s fun and adjustable at low and medium speeds, while also being stable and secure at high speeds. We call that the Holy Grail.

It’s worth noting, though, that double wishbone suspension isn’t without its drawbacks, mostly relating to packaging. A strut arrangement would have enabled a bigger front storage compartment. It’s encouraging to know Alpine’s priorities are as they should be.

There aren’t many people on this earth better equipped to demonstrate the A110’s dynamic ability than Laurent Hurgon, and there can’t be many better places to experience the car right on the limit than Aubevoye’s high-speed test track. Hurgon, the French racing and development driver, pilots the A110 with such commitment and ability around the flowing track – which links terrifyingly fast bends with tight, complex corners – that I can hardly believe I’m riding in a car so dainty and benign looking. This thing feels like a wild animal.



Straight-line performance is strong and there’s even an authentic sports car soundtrack to go with it, while the double-clutch gearshifts feel sharp and snappy. The Track ESC mode allows a certain amount of slip – enough that the car will drift slightly in low-speed corners but not beyond that – and with the systems switched off entirely, the car will hold long, lurid and very progressive slides. It also feels amazingly agile and responsive in direction changes while being safe and stable at high speed.

Over rougher sections of the test facility – by which I mean surfaces that would cause many cars to leap clean over the perimeter fence – that pliant ride quality is very plain to see. I don’t know of many cars that combine body control and ride quality as well as this.

Does any of that actually make the A110 fun to drive? We won’t know until we drive the car later in the year. I am now more confident than ever, though, that the Alpine will have what it takes to give the mighty Porsche 718 Cayman an equally mighty scare.

[AVANTI R5]

Why I don't know but it always reminds me of on a Honda S660

[KC]

They had one running at Goodwood this week. Looks too.... simple... to be a Porsche fighter.

--kC

[SCRAPPYDO]

I love it.

I love everything about it.

But I have been an A110 fan for a loooong time.

[mhoward1]

Originally Posted by SCRAPPYDO

I love it.

I love everything about it.

But I have been an A110 fan for a loooong time.

[torquemada]

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/alpine/...10-2018-review

Verdict

After a brief first encounter, it’s clear the new Alpine A110 does exactly what you expect from a mid-engined sports car. Yes, rivals like the Audi TT are more usable, but the French sports car offers more fun than a Mazda MX-5 can even dream of. Furthermore, it shows where the Alfa Romeo 4C so desperately missed the mark. That car was so extreme that it became unpleasant in daily use, but the Alpine does the reverse; it’s comfortable, yet it provides thrills when you ask for them.

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/alpine/a110/verdict

Overall verdict
Final thoughts and pick of the range

A terrific car, a genuine exponent of light weight and something pleasingly different to drive
The Alpine A110 does things differently. Whether that makes it better or worse than a Porsche Cayman depends on your priorities and perspective. But fundamentally it’s a terrific car, a genuine exponent of light weight that makes you question the claims of almost every firm that says they build light cars.

It tackles difficult roads with unflappable poise and agility, it’s a non-threatening sports car that proves that you can reverse the trend towards bigger wheels, bigger brakes, more power and more weight and still have a capable and exciting sports car. There’s not much that flows across country with so little effort and so little energy expended.

Will it be a success? I sincerely hope so, but above that I hope it will be influential, will show other marques that nothing’s changed and weight saving still matters and can be achieved. As we embark on the era of electric cars with their heavy battery packs, that seems curiously important.

http://www.evo.co.uk/alpine/a110

The chassis, on the other hand, is very much the star of the show. With a classic set-up of double unequal length wishbones at each corner and a lightweight aluminium body and frame, the A110 has all the credentials to deliver ride and handling greatness. But even so, the way in which it flows across the ground, ‘breathing’ with the road like only the best cars from Lotus did all those years ago, still comes as a very pleasant shock.

The steering is light, delicate and accurate, but delivers genuine feel through the rim, in all of its modes. You place the A110 to the nearest millimetre through most bends and have total faith in the front end because the turn-in response is so crisp, without being hyper-reactive.

At the same time the tail is also beautifully controlled, and very well balanced relative to the front end. And while all of this is going on there’s a fundamental composure to the ride that provides the A110 with a unique sense of maturity on the move. As a first-time effort it is phenomenally sharp, even if the amount of luggage space is a bit disappointing and the price seems a touch high for a relatively unknown brand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbCUmqjELsI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbCUmqjELsI

[SCRAPPYDO]

I am so very happy they nailed this!