I generally don't care about French cars or expensive 2-seaters, but the Renault Alpine A110 is back and I have to say, it is pretty awesome. The big deal is weight, or lack thereof, tipping the scales at just 2450 pounds. Jean Rédélé would be proud indeed! It is powered by a Nissan/Renault 4 cylinder with just under 250 hp/ftlb which gives it a better power-to-weight ratio than a Cayman. And it gives up little in the way of comfort, convenience or economy, it's a car you could easily drive every day then rip up the track or autocross on the weekend. It would be about $70K if it were available in the US, which it definitely is not. That's probably not a bad thing because for $70K you can be in a pretty serious Mustang or Camaro or Challenger, but none of them would have the lithe, tossaable nature of the A110. And once converted into a racecar, as above, they get pretty bitchin.
Too bad we're not getting them in the US. That thing is gorgeous.
The front says A110, profile says Cayman, and butt says FD RX-7. Can't complain at all.
The A110 did pretty well in the most recent COTY (car of the year) issue of evo magazine.
I also love these kinds of cars, but I can understand why they don't sell well in the USA. Lightweight, low-powered, and "tossable" cars are great fun on the twisting mountain roads of southern France and Italy. But they're a lot less compelling with cruise control set to 72 mph on an arrow-straight interstate while surrounded by 18-wheelers and bro-dozers.
I've always felt the difference between American performance car preferences and European performance car preferences can be explained by the prevalence of traffic lights and roundabouts in each region.
The Alpines of the 80's always attracted me for some reason. Of course, I think the exterior styling of Biturbos is cool as well, so obviously I have some sort of 80's disease. The new A110 does a good job of modernizing the classic A110 shape.
NOHOME
UltimaDork
1/4/19 10:35 a.m.
In reply to LanEvo :
They do sell them. Look under FRS or BRZ.
Every enthusiast in the world WANTS such a car, they just don't want to have to BUY it.
70k is a lot of $$ for a toy that is going to get chopped in the land of " Way too much berkeleying hp is still not enough"
Pete
NOHOME said:
In reply to LanEvo :
They do sell them. Look under FRS or BRZ.
Every enthusiast in the world WANTS such a car, they just don't want to have to BUY it.
70k is a lot of $$ for a toy that is going to get chopped in the land of " Way too much berkeleying hp is still not enough"
Pete
160lb-ft in a FR 2700+ lb car != 250ft-lb in a MR 2450 lb car.
Like, it's not even close.
You could pop a BBR turbo on an ND Miata and be pretty darn close to those power and weight numbers. Doesn't make it MR, but it's a lot closer.
NOHOME said:
They do sell them. Look under FRS or BRZ...Every enthusiast in the world WANTS such a car, they just don't want to have to BUY it.
I dunno. Every complaint you hear/read about the 86 is that there isn't enough power/torque. There's just a different driving culture here that (I think) has a lot to do with how our cities/towns/roads were built and developed.
Keith Tanner said:
I've always felt the difference between American performance car preferences and European performance car preferences can be explained by the prevalence of traffic lights and roundabouts in each region.
Absolutely. European cities evolved over millennia; paved roads came much later and had to be adapted to the local geography. We had the "luxury" of planning cities and suburbs from scratch. That's why we ended up with stop-and-go traffic in towns/cities. (which are interconnected by broad, flat, and straight multi-lane highways). Very efficient, but maybe not as much fun.
I think this is why American car culture has diverged from Europe. If I'm driving stoplight-to-stoplight around town or cruising at high speeds in a straight line, a Mustang GT350 is probably going to be more fun than a Fiesta ST.
I had a blast with the 68-hp Toyota AYGO we rented on the island of Leros, Greece last summer. But I wouldn't enjoy it much on a 1 hr slog along the Cross Bronx Expressway or NJ Turnpike.
I was once driving in southern France and was passed by an alpine going very fast on a twisty road. I had no idea what it was! Just the word Alpine seared into my brain. I’ve wanted one ever since. This new one looks nice!
j_tso
New Reader
1/4/19 11:49 a.m.
NOHOME said:
Every enthusiast in the world WANTS such a car, they just don't want to have to BUY it.
Yep, same with the Alfa Romeo 4C. It was also light, MR, good looking but most people will scoff at paying over $50k for a little over 200hp.
In reply to j_tso :
The Alfa might be a poor example. I haven't driven one, but all the reviews I've seen/read have complained about the wooden handling and (especially) responsive gearbox. Throw in a cramped, plasticy interior and reputation for unreliability...and it's not exactly going to fly off the shelves.
If the 4C felt more premium and/or behaved more like a true sportscar, I don't think the $50k price tag would have been a barrier. After all, people are happy to pay way more than that for a Lotus. The Elise/Exige looks a lot like the 4C on paper, but it gets the fundamentals right.
Snrub
HalfDork
1/4/19 2:07 p.m.
It looks like the price for the road A110 starts closer to $48k. It's down 51hp to the base Cayman/Boxster, but ~600lbs lighter. I'd definitely like to try it.
The picture at the beginning of the thread looks great. The base road car looks slightly unbalanced to me, I think the small spoiler in the picture improves things a fair bit. It's a little weird looking in general (it's french), but I really like it.
The comparison to the 4C is probably apt. Both are lower frills/noisier inside than a Cayman and lighter. It sounds like the A110 suspension tune has a good handling/comfort balance and cornering performance is more inline with the Cayman, whereas the 4C fell short. I still think the 4C is the best looking of the bunch. The 4C's carbon fiber is more exotic than the A110's aluminum monocoque, but the A110 weighs less, so...
The rear spoiler is actually a big deal, the designers didn't want one on the road car to preserve the looks, so they gave it an underbody tray/venturi to stick the back end. The profile is also unique considering that it is a mid-engined car with a glass hatch. Looks like it should be FWD.
I have to wonder, if I had disposable income for a 4th car to play with, would I go for this? Honestly, I can't see me in a Corvette with chrome wheels, or in a hairy-chested muscle car. Its things like the M2 or M3, RS4 and C43 that this would be up against. I hate the Germans (they fired me for no reason and started 2 wars so screw them) so maybe I would go French. I do love their bread, toast and fries.
Dave M
Reader
1/8/19 5:45 p.m.
Keith Tanner said:
You could pop a BBR turbo on an ND Miata and be pretty darn close to those power and weight numbers. Doesn't make it MR, but it's a lot closer.
Much cheaper too! And you get to row your own.
Snrub
HalfDork
1/8/19 5:57 p.m.
I love the ND, but if we're specing like for like you'd probably pick a RF Club for $32k+, then $7k for the BBR turbo (realistically you have to consider your install time as worth something too). You'd probably throw some suspension at it too, etc. to make it more alike, so you're talking low $40ks vs. higher $40ks. They're not completely different. I'm sure they'd both be awesome.
