Jobbo wrote: Fri Apr 05, 2024 9:51 am
Yesterday's test drive was an Alpine A110. I tried to make my life easier by arranging it for the end of the day but stupidly forgot that test driving a car in a Birmingham suburb in rush hour was going to be a bit frustrating. Fortunately I had long enough (after the initial 15 mins queuing to get through temporary traffic lights) to get a feel for it. This is the car I test drove:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 0052702689 - it was only looking at it online that I realise the stickers weren't an advert for the dealer but a truly awful livery
Fortunately they had plenty of A110s in stock in different colours not to be put off by this one
In the showroom before I drove it, I had a look at a couple with Atelier paint and a couple of A110Rs. The R wasn't on my radar and I'm not going to be buying one despite its placing in ECOTY but in the flesh it didn't seem as bad value as it did in the magazines. It has the aura of something very special. And in black (not a colour I've seen in reviews) it looks stunning - hides the black bonnet which helps, but menacing with the carbon wheels:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 2066273683 - the different wheel design front and back isn't nearly as apparent in the flesh either. It looks right.
The normal A110 looks right too. It does need the A logo on the front wing/filler cap; weird how bare it looks without that inexpensive option. But despite the wide Atelier colour palette I wasn't particularly sold on any paint other than Alpine Blue in the flesh; I
quite liked the Azure Blue which is on the Miami Beach edition and which was on a new unregistered stock car they could sell me but not enough to pay the Atelier paint premium of £4,500. Even Alpine Blue is about £1800 though. The one Atelier paint choice I would have loved (Black Tulip - which is purple) has reached the end of its run, with each Atelier paint being used on up to 110 cars only. Anyway, Alpine Blue, Thunder Grey or Black are probably the colours I most like but I'm not entirely sold on any hue currently.
The big spec choice is whether you go for the fixed-backrest lightweight bucket seats (3 height positions but has to be adjusted by the dealership) or the comfort seats which are 6-way adjustable (manually, and the 6-ways are only up/down, fore/aft and backrest recline). The car I test drove had the fixed backrest ones and those felt like the right choice because they're lightest and they were a selling point of the car from launch. They were in the middle height position. Oddly I still felt perched relatively high. The steering wheel is quite adjustable but at its highest was still slightly lower than I wanted for the seat position. The seats are comfy; there's a lot of foam padding which feels like it might disintegrate internally over the years. But it did feel slightly narrow in the arse region so I tried the comfort seats when I got back and would definitely go for them instead; they have plenty of bolstering still but I was immediately sat lower at what felt like the correct height and they just suited my shape better. Obviously the comfort pack (which includes the adjustable seats, upgraded stereo, parking sensors and reversing camera etc) is about £3000 to spec on a new car. I don't think it adds any 'value' per se except that it's necessary for me to sit comfortably.
Immediate thoughts when getting in and driving:
- The rear visibility is rubbish, way worse than an Elise because the rear window that looks so panoramic has the engine cover and other things getting in the way of your rear view out. Needs a rear camera for reversing, I'd say. The mirrors are OK and forward visiblity is good; rather nice in fact being quite low and the car being narrow.
- It doesn't feel special like my early S2 Elise did inside. The leather on the steering wheel is good quality and the design is pretty good, but the trade-off for having actual functions (compared to an Elise) is that you have to put up with more trim and more plastic. I approached the A110 thinking it was an Elise competitor and actually it quite suits a more luxurious interior; the brown leather available in the GT version probably works rather well.
- Being a 4-cylinder is not an issue. It feels rorty and the exhaust makes a good noise. The one I test drove had the sports exhaust with a switchable valve in it; there's a Sport button on the steering wheen (where Porsche put the Sport Chrono knob) and it's in just the right place to press and make the exhaust a bit noisier and gearbox map more aggressive. That's the mode in which you get the crackle-pop on the overrun and it may be completely engineered in but it sounds great. Not farty like a VW DSG trumpet.
- The steering is not as amazing as I'd expected. It faithfully goes exactly where you point it, it's very natural feeling in a corner, it doesn't get deflected by a single wheel dropping into a drain cover (plenty of those round the dealer) so it's objectively fine but it feels like it has a bit of rubberiness or stiction as you initially turn the wheel, and it doesn't have a lot of feel. A million miles away from an Elise with unassisted steering where you hold it in your fingertips and it talks to you.
- Performance is just right. I test drove the normal 248bhp version, not the 288bhp GT, and I would be quite happy with that. Autocar tested it at 10.9s to 100. The gearing and performance are such that you can rev it out in the lower gears and not feel like you're going to be nicked immediately - I didn't use full throttle once in my 911 test drive but I did a couple of times in the A110.
- It is more refined than an Elise but still likely to be a bit wearing on a long journey; I did wonder if I'd actually choose to get in it and drive to the office.
- While it still feels quite special in town traffic, the chassis does wake up as you increase the speed; it would definitely be able to demolish a bumpy B-road and do it without ruffling you too much. Is that actually fun? It may be more capable than thrilling.
- It doesn't feel particularly light. The control weights and so on are not engineered to make it feel like a lightweight car; it uses the relatively low mass to aid its chassis tuning more than showing it off, I think. Or maybe 1100kg isn't actually that light - it's 100kg more than an MX5 (which also doesn't feel light like an Elise).
Overall I'd say I handed it back not being sure if it was what I was after. I was told by the Alpine specialist that they don't generally discount new ones, that the finance deal (0% on a GT, 2.9% on a base model) had finished but they're still doing 2.9% on all versions from stock, but that they had no GTs even in Alpine central stock anyway, and that speccing options (like the paint, comfort pack, sports exhaust etc) added nothing to the residual value of a base model so the finance deals didn't work out so well then. Helpful but not exactly selling it. As I left he offered me the 24-plate pre-registered (negligible miles) Atelier Green one from the showroom at £58k - that's this car:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 2066273676
And the green is nice, but I don't want a green car and it still feels expensive against a 1-owner 1200 mile 23 plate car like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 9182095979
Or a 73-plate GT on my favourite alloys like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 1033609359
I'm still swaying towards a new MX5; the 2024 update version comes with recaro seats in the Homura which lists for about £34k. Now that is a lot for an MX5 when I can get a brand new stock 2023 model which is not much different (other than the seats) for £26-27k:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 0183097137. But I reckon if I wait a couple of months there will be discounts on new ones and I do really want the nicer seats.
Is an MX5 special like an A110? No, because you see so many of them around. But it's a one-tonne manual sports car with an incredibly simple and usable soft top; it is far more of a contrast to my daily car than the A110 with its roof and auto box.
Part of me thinks I should try a 718 Boxster and part of me thinks I should just go for that ivory 992 with tartan seats. All of me thinks I really love my S6 and enjoyed taking it the fun way home even after trying the A110. So no decision as yet
