Comparison Alpine Boxster practicality for touring
Discussion
Hi
Been looking at Alpines for a while. I owned a lotus elise a few years ago and currently have a few classics incl a TR4. I'm used to small, limited luggage space. I quite enjoy the challenge of packing light and done a few trips here and abroad in the TR4. This month went to Le Mans with a friend in his Boxster S (986 model I think). Clearly the Boxster trumps the A110 for boot space but one thing I found odd (coming from a TR4) is the Boxster seemed to have literally no space at all behind the seats. I've driven an Apline but at the time didn't really think about checking out the space behind the seats. Photos suggest there is a lot more useful packing space in an A110 than a Boxster. Is that right? I'm 5'11 ish and my wife is 5' 8".
The reason I ask is that if I buy, I intend to do some long European trips. We are both happy to pack light but a small tent and a couple of compact sleeping bags gives you more options when touring if you don't want to book in advance. I dont think a tent is possible unless you can stash it or something else behind the seats. I would get a GT rather than fixed seat car.
Finally, always used a soft top when touring. Would I miss that in a coupe? Subjective I know but interested in people's thoughts.
Thanks
Robert
Been looking at Alpines for a while. I owned a lotus elise a few years ago and currently have a few classics incl a TR4. I'm used to small, limited luggage space. I quite enjoy the challenge of packing light and done a few trips here and abroad in the TR4. This month went to Le Mans with a friend in his Boxster S (986 model I think). Clearly the Boxster trumps the A110 for boot space but one thing I found odd (coming from a TR4) is the Boxster seemed to have literally no space at all behind the seats. I've driven an Apline but at the time didn't really think about checking out the space behind the seats. Photos suggest there is a lot more useful packing space in an A110 than a Boxster. Is that right? I'm 5'11 ish and my wife is 5' 8".
The reason I ask is that if I buy, I intend to do some long European trips. We are both happy to pack light but a small tent and a couple of compact sleeping bags gives you more options when touring if you don't want to book in advance. I dont think a tent is possible unless you can stash it or something else behind the seats. I would get a GT rather than fixed seat car.
Finally, always used a soft top when touring. Would I miss that in a coupe? Subjective I know but interested in people's thoughts.
Thanks
Robert
Having experience of packing light will definitely help. And yes, the Alpine cabin is massively longer than a Cayster so while the boot and frunk are smaller, you can get more in the cabin behind the seats.
Where I'd miss a soft top is in big scenery - Alps, Pyrenees etc - you just appreciate so much more without a roof. A roof definitely makes long autoroute or other major roads more civilised, and in weather like we have at the moment in a soft top you might still want the roof up to have the aircon on. I had an Elise in the south of france around this time last year with similar weather and on a couple of days had to put the roof on for sanity when I wasn't up high in the mountains.
Where I'd miss a soft top is in big scenery - Alps, Pyrenees etc - you just appreciate so much more without a roof. A roof definitely makes long autoroute or other major roads more civilised, and in weather like we have at the moment in a soft top you might still want the roof up to have the aircon on. I had an Elise in the south of france around this time last year with similar weather and on a couple of days had to put the roof on for sanity when I wasn't up high in the mountains.
I can get a small tent behind the seats in my A110. We recently did 3 weeks in the SW of France. You have to pack carefully, as you would with most two seater sports cars, but it is pretty straightforward. You need the right bags for the frunk though and there is still no cup holder.
Obviously, how much space remains behind the seats depends on their adjustment. I'm 5'11'' and with the seats adjusted to my liking, you could stuff quite some luggage behind them as long as it is 'malleable' such as clothing. If you're used to travelling light, I see no reason why you couldn't do a road trip two up. I've done road trips of up to two weeks with a mate of mine in an MX-5 NC and we had room to spare; I think the A110 would have no problem holding that amount of luggage. We tried cramming our stuff into my Elise as well but that was not going to happen 
. The only thing I cannot cram into the A110 is my Quechua tent that packs as an oversized saucer.
. The only thing I cannot cram into the A110 is my Quechua tent that packs as an oversized saucer.Yuri75 said:
Obviously, how much space remains behind the seats depends on their adjustment. I'm 5'11'' and with the seats adjusted to my liking, you could stuff quite some luggage behind them as long as it is 'malleable' such as clothing. If you're used to travelling light, I see no reason why you couldn't do a road trip two up. I've done road trips of up to two weeks with a mate of mine in an MX-5 NC and we had room to spare; I think the A110 would have no problem holding that amount of luggage. We tried cramming our stuff into my Elise as well but that was not going to happen . The only thing I cannot cram into the A110 is my Quechua tent that packs as an oversized saucer.
Is that the 2 man pop up one? I couldn't get that in my Alpine either . The only thing I cannot cram into the A110 is my Quechua tent that packs as an oversized saucer.
I did a month away in the A110 bringing food, stuff for cooking and a cooler box as well as cold weather and hot weather stuff, a small beach shelter tent, hiking boots etc
I'm 5' 11" and there was room behind the bucket seats.
I was on my own but I only filled the passenger seat and foot well on the way back with cheap wine
I have a MX5 ND4 now, interested in your packing for two as I reckon I now have less space than I had in the Alpine. Nothing behind the seats, no frunk but a larger more useful boot.
Really helpful replies. Always good to hear actual owners. There is some really good stuff re luggage cupholders etc on this forum but knowing there is decent room behind the seats is really helpful and, by the sound of it, will easily even up the luggage capacity of the the boxster and Alpine. The open top thing is a shame in some circumstances but I agree an open car can be a pain on long fast trips (though the boxster was pretty civilised to be fair - even on the motorway). In my experience blokes are far keener on the open air thing than the girls....!!
croyde said:
I have a MX5 ND4 now, interested in your packing for two as I reckon I now have less space than I had in the Alpine. Nothing behind the seats, no frunk but a larger more useful boot.
If you've got the soft top ND, there are a couple of cubbys behind the seats (or at least behind one of them, it's a while since I had my ND softtop. In the RF the roof motor is there).Agree that overall the Alpine has more space, but less practically arranged. We've still taken the MX5 on road trips over the Alpine because of the soft-topness though.
I can't compare A110 luggage space to Boxster since I have no experience of the Porsche but we just did three weeks road trip from Finland to Pyrenees in the Alpine.
Yes, you definitely need to plan carefully what you pack but lengthy road trips are doable on A110.
With regards to luggage space behind the seats, I'm 191 cm and there is practically no space behind me but my partner is 175 cm and we had a suit bag with quite a lot of stuff in it behind her seat on the road trip. She had plenty of space to sit even with the bag behind the seat.
Yes, you definitely need to plan carefully what you pack but lengthy road trips are doable on A110.
With regards to luggage space behind the seats, I'm 191 cm and there is practically no space behind me but my partner is 175 cm and we had a suit bag with quite a lot of stuff in it behind her seat on the road trip. She had plenty of space to sit even with the bag behind the seat.
Cabinmax bags fit the frunk so closely (and mine have blue stitching) that they look like they were manufactured to fit. Rear boot is good for smaller, squashy bags and coats etc. Somewhere on here there are some rather clunky cup holders which fit over the seat belt stalks -most of them is hidden between the seat and the centre console, and they are useful for water or sunglasses. On longer road trips we have booked accommodation that has a washing machine; so not difficult, just needs a bit of forethought.
An Alpine is so engaging on Alpine roads that you may not miss the lack of a drop-top...
An Alpine is so engaging on Alpine roads that you may not miss the lack of a drop-top...
I bought these bags, plus they do compression packing cubes that really help.
kdempsie said:
I agree with the posters above.
Here s my solution for the frunk. I couldn t find Alpine-branded carry-ons and didn't want to order a custom bag from Roadster, so I bought expandable carry-ons with detachable wheels from Carpisa. They match most airlines carry-on dimensions (and if not, you just detach the wheels
). Other brands offer similar functionality as well.Since the frunk is slightly curved, we can easily fit the detached wheels in front of the luggage.
Extra layers of clothing or small items go into the expanded section of the carry-ons once we reach our final destination.
I use part of the trunk for the fire extinguisher, tire kit, and a few other items. Even so, the remaining space is large enough for my laptop backpack and a duffel bag.
If I m not mistaken, two small (0.4 L) Sigg water bottles fit into the non-existent cup holder. We usually refill them at every stop. We have the storage package, and I keep another small bottle inside it.
I prefer not to load anything inside the cabin, but a few times I ended up having some clothes.
Edited by Safak on Sunday 28th June 20:00
We're off next weekend for most of July, down to Italy from Scotland. Two of us, no camping. We've now done several multi-week trips into Europe in the A110 and haven't had any issue with space. Sure you have to pack carefully but cabin max bags in the front fit perfectly with room around for shoes, books and things like that. With squashy bags, the boot can take quite a bit if you use all the side space - for us one on each side, one in the middle and shoes stuffed in. The boot does get warm to not where you'd want to put food but everything else is fine.
Behind the seats we stuff towels and raincoats, snacks, bottles of water going out (and wine coming home). I'm 5'11" and behind me there's decent space, even more behind the passenger. Hard, large and bulky things are the problem, but avoid them and pack sensibly and you'll have no problem.
It makes a great touring car - comfortable, reasonably quiet and economical on the long motorway slogs and once unloaded when you're there, great fun and small enough to enjoy the roads. For this sort of use, I'd far rather have the A110 than something much more hardcore and track biased.
Behind the seats we stuff towels and raincoats, snacks, bottles of water going out (and wine coming home). I'm 5'11" and behind me there's decent space, even more behind the passenger. Hard, large and bulky things are the problem, but avoid them and pack sensibly and you'll have no problem.
It makes a great touring car - comfortable, reasonably quiet and economical on the long motorway slogs and once unloaded when you're there, great fun and small enough to enjoy the roads. For this sort of use, I'd far rather have the A110 than something much more hardcore and track biased.
If you choose your Alpine and intend to use a much space as possible, I suggest
- to take a car without the "storage pack", als the Toblerone-box behind the seats is not usefull for maximized luggage transport
- to store the tire repair kit hidden above the passenger's feet, where a normal car has a glove box. After unclipping the cover, you find plenty of space there and can thus save valuable room in the trunk.
- to take a car without the "storage pack", als the Toblerone-box behind the seats is not usefull for maximized luggage transport
- to store the tire repair kit hidden above the passenger's feet, where a normal car has a glove box. After unclipping the cover, you find plenty of space there and can thus save valuable room in the trunk.
A110Wienerwald said:
If you choose your Alpine and intend to use a much space as possible, I suggest
- to take a car without the "storage pack", als the Toblerone-box behind the seats is not usefull for maximized luggage transport
- to store the tire repair kit hidden above the passenger's feet, where a normal car has a glove box. After unclipping the cover, you find plenty of space there and can thus save valuable room in the trunk.
That’s a great idea. I will try that. - to take a car without the "storage pack", als the Toblerone-box behind the seats is not usefull for maximized luggage transport
- to store the tire repair kit hidden above the passenger's feet, where a normal car has a glove box. After unclipping the cover, you find plenty of space there and can thus save valuable room in the trunk.
Gassing Station | Alpine | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff