LeglessGarage: Alpine A110, Hyundai Ioniq 5
Discussion
Mezzanine said:
What changed your mind on the Emira front Alex?
Too heavy, not fast enough, and, somewhat embarrassingly, I think it's going to be too common. A big part of my decision is that I have zero interest in a 1,400kg+ car with a four cylinder engine. I've heard it's a great engine, and that's cool, but a 4cyl is something I'll put up with if there's a point to it, such as saving weight. In an Elise, Mk1 or Mk2 Exige, Caterham, MX5, Clios and so on, I get it. Light cars, and for me the A110 is right on the edge of that weight wise. But in something the weight of the Emira it's a hard no from me.
So that leaves the V6 with it's only 'okay' auto gearbox. Well, that version is probably going to be something around 1,500kg, and that's not great. In addition to this, something that always struck me about the Evora is that the chassis ability was never done justice with only 410bhp from the V6. The Lotus guys have told me that they've made the chassis even better, with more weight and less power that doesn't sound very appealing.
I'm at pains to say that I'm really happy for Lotus, it's going to be a huge success and they definitely deserve that. But for me, it's just another ~1,500kg sports car with threads on spec and whether to PCP it or not, that kind of thing. To me, that makes it feel a lot less special, and with the added knowledge of how the Evora drove and what the drawbacks of that were, I'm pretty confident that it's not for me.
Now, that said, one of the chassis engineers mentioned to me that they have moved the firewall further forward compared to the Evora. Toyota 2UR conversion one day? That could be pretty cool...
SteveGrosvenor said:
Spotted the Alpine parked outside C&M today. Must say, looked very nice.
It's practically the car's second home these days, but I'm rarely there on weekends. We had 37 A110s on site this morning! I'm really really happy how the car is sitting right now, and there's more to come. Have some pics:
Been Life110-ed by Alex D, on Flickr
A110 at Coombe Gibbet by Alex D, on FlickrShould be some nicer pics on the way from a photoshoot I did the day of the second pic.
The map is throwing up some issues on the post-2020 engines, but we're hoping to get that sorted soon. It's not anything mechanical, it's just an software bug we think, some emissions bits are butting heads with the new map.
I'd love to share pics from an awesome Pennines trip, but it was the weekend of Storm Eunice and I still went up, but in the Skoda. Mates bailed, didn't have a great time. It happens.
The next lot of changes to the car will come around May/June time in the form of an aero kit, a body colour lip spoiler and maybe even some R53 dampers. I'm also looking into the brakes, moving to a 355mm rotor with a lighter calliper and possibly a slightly larger pad area. It seems the current Brembo callipers are heavy (4kg!) and have quite large pistons, 40mm, which gives a lot of options. If I keep the piston area about the same I should be able to get away with fitting a new set and keeping the original booster, master cylinder and front-rear balance.
No, it doesn't need new brakes, the current ones are very good, especially on the PS4 tyres which they can quite easily overwhelm. But with the hand controls it's nice to have a slightly lighter, but not grabbier, pedal.
That will be very expensive, probably, so I think I'll wait till next winter. The interior will all get done then, and I'll start on some other plans. Externally, other than the aero stuff, it's not going to change much now, I'm happy with it.
Oh, I did have a small idea. On the original A110, on the front above the Alpine logo, there was a small, half size Renault badge. I think I'm going to get one made or make one myself on my 3D printer and put it on.
I had a little drive of Alex's A110 with the new mods and it has totally transformed the car. The body control was much nicer, with a more immediate reaction from input of steering, to the car doing exactly what you want. You can feel the road a bit more through the steering too which is nice as it gives you a bit more confidence. The extra power really helps too, it's actually a quick car now 
GFWilliams said:
I had a little drive of Alex's A110 with the new mods and it has totally transformed the car. The body control was much nicer, with a more immediate reaction from input of steering, to the car doing exactly what you want. You can feel the road a bit more through the steering too which is nice as it gives you a bit more confidence. The extra power really helps too, it's actually a quick car now
Good to know the improved aesthetic wasn't at the expense of any of the dynamic prowess 
Possibly a bit cheeky, but did you manage to capture any pictures to share...?
Chunkychucky said:
GFWilliams said:
I had a little drive of Alex's A110 with the new mods and it has totally transformed the car. The body control was much nicer, with a more immediate reaction from input of steering, to the car doing exactly what you want. You can feel the road a bit more through the steering too which is nice as it gives you a bit more confidence. The extra power really helps too, it's actually a quick car now
Good to know the improved aesthetic wasn't at the expense of any of the dynamic prowess Possibly a bit cheeky, but did you manage to capture any pictures to share...?
We'll get pics at some stage, G says. We're always just too busy chatting complete s
te This thread 'forced' myself and the current wife to pop to see Adam in Winchester to have a look at the Alpines in the showroom and forecourt on Saturday. Initially the wife said we were there to look. She was the one I had to prise away and take home, as she saw a metallic grey car on the forecourt and said ' thats the one'. In mentioning Alex , Adam said they don't need to spend money advertising , as Alex seems to send many a person here.
Must admit it pushed the Evora out the window and ticked the box of a car we can get into in old age. Its better in the flesh and also learning about specs of the cars helped us to understand more.
Must admit it pushed the Evora out the window and ticked the box of a car we can get into in old age. Its better in the flesh and also learning about specs of the cars helped us to understand more.
Justin S said:
In mentioning Alex, Adam said they don't need to spend money advertising, as Alex seems to send many a person here.
Does this make me an #influencer? Very pic heavy post coming up, sorry anyone on slow internet.
A friend of mine, Charlie Brenninkmeijer, decided that the world has been a pretty miserable place in the last two years, and supporting those that support the people suffering is a good thing. Accordingly, he created #CarsForCALM, where every photoshoot booked in January he took no fee for, and asked for the money to be donated to CALM instead. CALM is the Campaign Against Living Miserably, it's a suicide prevention charity. Obviously I got right on this, and donated £400 for my photoshoot to CALM.
Here's a selection of the photos!
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-161 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-151 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-147 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-136 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-138 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-133 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-109 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-98 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-78 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-73 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-27 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-25 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-22 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-13 by Alex D, on Flickr
#CarsForCALM - Alpine A110-4 by Alex D, on FlickrDamn, how the bloody hell did I miss this thread, and your last one?!
Can you talk a bit about the adapted controls? What's good and bad about them? What elements driving do they hinder? I'm guessing throttle / brake overlap isn't possible?
Beyond that, I adore the Alpine, especially in that colour scheme
Love the Honda as well - they always turn my head when I see them. Much more interesting than a Tesla, for me.
Can you talk a bit about the adapted controls? What's good and bad about them? What elements driving do they hinder? I'm guessing throttle / brake overlap isn't possible?
Beyond that, I adore the Alpine, especially in that colour scheme
Love the Honda as well - they always turn my head when I see them. Much more interesting than a Tesla, for me.Edited by TheJimi on Wednesday 23 March 23:41
TheJimi said:
Damn, how the bloody hell did I miss this thread, and your last one?!
Can you talk a bit about the adapted controls? What's good and bad about them? What elements driving do they hinder? I'm guessing throttle / brake overlap isn't possible?
Beyond that, I adore the Alpine, especially in that colour scheme Love the Honda as well - they always turn my head when I see them. Much more interesting than a Tesla, for me.
So these are the simplest and most basic kind, a push/pull setup. Push to brake, pull for throttle, and as you guess, throttle and brake at the same time . There are I think two main types with one lever, push/pull and push/twist. The push twist one you move the lever down, away from the wiper stalk to accelerate, and then push to brake, whihc enables burnouts/trail braking. Can you talk a bit about the adapted controls? What's good and bad about them? What elements driving do they hinder? I'm guessing throttle / brake overlap isn't possible?
Beyond that, I adore the Alpine, especially in that colour scheme
Love the Honda as well - they always turn my head when I see them. Much more interesting than a Tesla, for me.There are so many other kinds, but the only one I might be interested in is a setup where there's a ring in front of the steering wheel, which you press down into the wheel with your thumbs, and then a lever to the side to brake. It's a much more expensive setup, but it does allow you to keep two hands on the wheel when not braking, which is appealing.
Overall, the setup I have is intuitive and easy to use, with the main drawbacks being no throttle and brake at the same time, and also not being able to keep two hands on the wheel.
It gives me some unusual wants when it comes to the cars though, steering with lots of feedback is no longer particularly desirable, and I like a light (but progressive and non-grabby) brake pedal, with a heavy pedal my right arm just gets tired.
The Honda, as I think I've mentioned before, gives me real hope when it comes to electric cars. It has so much personality and character, things the Skoda totally lacks with it's petrol engine. Wonderful little things!
Mr Tidy said:
Somehow I also missed this before. 
The Alpine looks great in that colour with the gold wheels, and I'm not sure why but there's something about the Honda e that really appeals to me!
Thank you! The Honda is so great, but man, it's a sThe Alpine looks great in that colour with the gold wheels, and I'm not sure why but there's something about the Honda e that really appeals to me!
t car in absolute terms. The price:range ratio is utterly awful Sorry about the delayed reply gents, had a lot to be doing last week!
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