Alpine A110 R driven - a mini GT3 RS? | Autocar

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.



Autocar, the world's leading motoring magazine and website, delivers industry-leading news, the most in-depth car reviews and opinion from our team of experts. Our presenters include some of the world's top motoring journalists who have unrivalled access to the world's fastest, rarest, most exotic and most exciting cars on some of the world's best roads and race tracks.

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[ccr]

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.

[petrolheid]

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.

[jamieorton]

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.

[BastarD]

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.

[joseluismoroder]

I apreciate your honesty that’s what we expect your real opinion. Thank you

[redeye]

That opening monologue was like someone reading the list of ingredients on a tin of soup

[bwest]

This is the ONE car I wanted to buy when it came out, but NOPE we don’t get it in the USA 😖

[taforth]

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 🙄

[nevarran]

Looks really good. A relatively affordable track toy.

[derbender]

I love doing track day’s, the A110R it is 👍🏼

[FreestylerAlbert]

pretty disappointed with the test. :( a car focused for track usage, and a video which is not about that.

[guillaumesandmayer]

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!

[sutats]

Would be nice to have a manual gearbox in it.

[scottbryan]

I read the title an was like Whoah now let’s not get carried away. But it looks sick af

[mikeholt]

Alpine realise that peeps will just flash the ECU. More power, more track ability.

[marijnkramer]

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..

[mikefaulhaber]

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.

[darrenprior]

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.

[dommo]

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

[jaymoore]

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.