The revival of the French sports car brand Alpine has been well received in the automotive world. It is refreshing, smart looking and fast. It offers a fantastic blend of French emotions and serious driving performance to challenge the established brands. We had a go in the gorgeous Alpine A110 S.
Thanks to Alpine Centre Hengelo we had the opportunity to spend some time with the little French “supercar”, because the combination of a very light car and a pretty powerful 1,8 litre turbocharged engine makes it a serious performance car. This “new” A110 has had a big task since its launch in 2017 to live up to, it’s the revival for the very successful original A110 that was realised under the vision of founder Jean Rédélé back in 1969. His vision was to develop a lightweight, compact and highly agile sports cars that would be able to excel on roads and passes that would come after it. In 1973 the Alpine won the World Rally Champions for manufacturers proving its qualities. This new Alpine was born as a joint venture with Caterham Cars in 2012 but Alpine’s parent company Renault took over the development in 2014 due the investments into the project. The launch of the brand can be said to be successful.
Retro and elegant
This demo that we drove has an, couleur historique named Tulipe Noir, only 110 cars in total will be produced in this color. It’s a fantastic looking combination with the optional 18” inch black GT Race wheels and yellow accents. Great accents on the exterior are the small French flags on the rear-pillar. From every angle the A110 (S) is a homage to the original Alpine from the 60’s. The front-fascia especially is unmistakably what makes this car a real Alpine given the four iconic headlamps. In flesh it’s a fantastic looking sports car that has a lot more punch available to beat, for example the Porsche Cayman, but it’s different to drive.
Balanced and great performance
Given its compact size, weight and decent amount of horsepower on paper the Alpine A110 S will excite you even before getting behind the wheels. Inside the compact cabin you sit firmly in the Sabelt Sport seats that keep you in place. In straight line performance of the A110 S is not the supercar you should buy it for, it’s the balance and performance in cornering that makes it a thrilling car to drive.
The suspension is not a hard and aggressive set-up. It is greatly composed and offers a wonderful comfortable ride while still providing a huge amount of feedback. It gives the Alpine A110 S a genuine character in this segment. There is some extra excitement available when you push the Sport-button on the steering wheel. To be able to hit the limits on the public roads you will really have to push the A110S hard, really hard. Rather enjoy the playful balance and enjoy this sports car that can behave as an excited puppy.
Enjoy the drive
At Automotive Mugs we love driving and enjoy our coffee before driving or during our cruise. With this Alpine you do have access to a cup-holder, but we advice to get an espresso in at home, take an empty mug with you and fill it up during a stop to enjoy this fantastic car as much as possible.
And not to forget, it does have a cup holder for our fancy automotive mugs!
With many thanks to Alpine Center Hengelo!
