bimbeano
11758
Where are my pills !!!! Yes ! It is THAT good!
This afternoon i passed by one of the 2 Belgian Alpine dealerships.
Frank the sales manager lives near my place and immediately recognized me and also immediately proposed a test drive 
.... .
.... .I was thinking at that point .. ' i'm done ' ... my accountant will probably have to kill me in a near future.
But they say you should never meet your hero's ... in this case the new A110 is my modern 2018 hero like the Ferrari F40 and Testarossa are my childhood heros (i never got to drive them anyway).
So with the Sabelt bucket seat already manually screwed to the lowest point i was very surprised i could put the seat halfway to wards the front !!!! Mind you most Purists who met me in person know i'm a lot above average length .
.What struck me first was the lightness of the whole thing at very low speeds, a nice sound but still comparable to the engine (the same one) in my Megane RS.
The Alpine's 1,8 turbocharged engine delivers 252 hp (320 Nm), the 'same' one in my RS delivers 280 hp and 390 Nm, so a pretty big difference.
The Alpine has a Getrag 7 speed dual clutch gearbox, the RS a Renault 6 speed EDC (also double clutch), the 7 speed is miles smoother for that matter :-(.
Full acceleration and pick up at any rpm is a lot faster in the A110, yes weight is everything and then there's the handling .
.At any speed this car feels fun, just like my 2010 Clio RS gives me, the Clio being an atmospheric (no turbo) 2 liter delivering 200 hp (for 1240 kilos .... Alpine=1080 kilos, Megane=1400+ kilos) gives a much rougher experience off course.
The steering never feels dull or unnatural just like that 'old' Clio, in the Megane it sometimes is difficult to estimate the correct input, probably due to the 4 wheel steering system (rear wheels also steer to a certain degree depending on speed ).
The comfort is amazing as the A110 is pretty soft, if you have a very light car you can use a soft suspension without loosing grip, just like my old Peugeot 205 that only weighs 810 kilos. Taking speed bumps at high speed is a piece of cake which is pretty funny.
This test drive only confirmed what i already knew, actually it was really unnecessary to try it out ... it was fun but now i really know how it feels and my hunger for it will probably only grow faster than intended :-( ... .
... it was fun but now i really know how it feels and my hunger for it will probably only grow faster than intended :-( ... .Here are a few pics, the blue color is simply stunning in the flesh, standing next to this tiny car also makes you realize why it sells so well (13 to 18 month waiting list depending on the country).
My verdict (being a very biased Renault fan) is off course: This is the best car in the world ... kind off
And now ... time for noodles ...
Where are my pills !!!! Yes ! It is THAT good!
This afternoon i passed by one of the 2 Belgian Alpine dealerships. Frank the sales manager lives near my place and immediately recognized me and also immediately proposed a test drive .... . I was thinking at that point .. ' i'm done ' ... my accountant ...
Don't worry .. i would as well :-) :-) :-)
Just like i really like my old 205 with only 85 hp ! I can't imagine how the old A110 would drive, but be assured the new one (for a modern car) is all about driving pleasure as well. ... are you coming to Belgium in the near future ?
Maybe around Xmas
If I would be around before, I’ll let you know for sure. All the best, Dirk
The original is just amazing...
with the little chrome details but alas I understand it is not possible to replicate such things nowadays. S
agreed ....who would not !
but the new one is pretty nice too. I am curious how it compares to a Cayman
Thanks for the excellent report! 👍🏻😃
I love that car! I hope I will have the chance to drive it some day … 🍀☀️😃
Thank you for stepping up to represent us!
I hope the test drive wasn’t too much of a burden! Mike
Big Congrats my Friend!!
I know the both of us have lusted after this car for such a long time and I can imagine how happy you were to finally test drive it, I can say I am bit jealous , I am also happy to hear you found the seat comfortable, as you are vertically tall and I am t...
No worries !
You will fit in, the only thing that kind of blocked my view was the rearview mirror on the windscreen but that's because i'm really 'long' The seats will fit a fat person ... LOL All models in the showroom are Anniversary models because production on Lég...
thanks for sharing, the Alpine looks really cool!
I find it refreshing to see something different from the usual Porsche, BMW and Audi's for a change (even they are nice as well) Best Stefan
It's a small jewel.
Tiny and nimble, a lot smaller than a Cayman but not less comfy for that matter. It's really something completely different from the usual German suspects, it has a lot of character.
Check out this review too..
Harry’s Garage just uploaded a great review of the A110. Love Harry Metcalfe. Such a gentlemen. 👍🏻
Saw that yesterday !
Indeed a gentleman and a car freak that once started EVO magazine back in 2000 (or was that earlier?). In that review he mentioned the A110 did a 0 to 100 mph (160 kph) in 10 seconds, same as a 996 Turbo. I did a full acceleration from a standstill to aro...
The Alpine is cool
but I'd like to see more of that Seiko automatic Tuna you're wearing!
Very cool! Thank you for the link to your review
And even better that you got a great "fire sale" price on your auto Tunas!
Forget the rest Nico.
I told you to try the GT86 or BRZ because it's a manual. From what i already experienced in my Megane RS and especially in this A110 the automatics might not give you the same feeling but they're 99% close. But for this A110 it's especially the lightweigh...
You will like it a lot !
Though it might feel like the engine misses some punch in the lower rev range. But this car is also all about fun and handling.
Reminds me of my old Honda, see pic
1994 Honda Del Sol SI Vtec. Fun car, modded engine, etc. ...
1.6-16 Vtec 160 hp
But modded engine ? How much extra power did it make ? With 160 or even more hp i can imagine this being a fun car to drive, when i was young i had a lot of fun in a 131 hp and a 150 hp Vtec CRX of the 2nd generation, those were pretty quick cars. The dou...