LeglessGarage: Alpine A110, Hyundai Ioniq 5

[leglessAlex]

Sort of loosely following on from my thread here.

This thread will, I think, mostly be about the Alpine, but I'll include the boring cars too. I'm tempted to start modifying (ahem, ricing) the Honda, but we'll see. Also, my typing has really gone to crap the last few years, so there might be typos, mistakes and random capitalisations.

I'll start with where I've come from, and the last few interesting cars I've had. I think most people in the petrolhead world got to know me from my Lotus, I had a 2019 Evora GT410 Sport with the numberplate TW19 LEG. I loved this car for the time I had it, but I have to say I don't miss it, and for me that's a real reflection of how special it wasn't. It was a brilliant car for two years and 32,000 miles, and I've no desire to revisit it. In trying to find the 'best' pic of it to put here, I'm reminded of how awkward it was from many angles:

Touring the Burren no.2 by Alex D, on Flickr

I've also had two AMG estates, starting with an off-white W204 Performance Pack car from 2010. Good lord I miss this car, selling it was the right thing to do at the time but I seriously regret it. I really want one again, it has one of the great modern V8 engines in that M156 6.2l.

Mercedes C63 by Alex D, on Flickr

Next was a W212 facelift estate in black with the M157 5.5l. This car was nothing but trouble and I sold it after 6 months. It had a misfire that just couldn't be tracked down and as I had no warranty, I was getting more and more nervous it was going to lunch it's engine. It stranded me several times, and eventually it went to WBAC. I don't miss it. Apparently these engines are great when working properly, but I always thought it lacked a lot of the 6.2s character. No pics of this one, it can go get bent.

Ahhh, such a short history. There have been a couple of lease Fiestas in there too, they were Motability cars.

Speaking of Motability cars, lets get into my current one and the longest (only 8 months) inhabitant of the leglessGarage, my Honda e. I absolutely adore it, and I'm a full electric convert for this kind of car. Lets have some pics:

Untitled by Alex D, on Flickr

Honda e and cherry blossom by Alex D, on Flickr

Honda e by Alex D, on Flickr

I'll be honest, I didn't choose this for the supposed environmental benefits, as it's a lease car, they don't stack up as far as I know. Nor did I choose it for the cheaper running costs. I chose it because it's interesting (cameras for wing mirrors!), I thought I'd love the way electric cars drive (and I do), and because it's unusual (I love to be a bit special).

I got it when I was living in London, and it definitely works better in a city. The range is rubbish, but that doesnt matter when it's just a city runabout, and once you've got your head around working with it it's not a problem. The turning circle is hilariously small, like a black cab! It's more than quick enough and, if you really want it to on a slippery surface, it'll do doughnuts with the TC off. It's less good now I'm out in Hampshire as it doesn't much like NSL roads, but I still find being in it to be hugely enjoyable.

I don't find the screen to be much of an issue, Honda has wisely chosen to control things like radio volume with physical controls, and this works well. The fish tank is a bit of fun, and I have my own anime background which anyone who's an actual adult rolls their eyes at

I utterly love it. I don't recommend it unless you have a lot of money and it's a second (or preferably third) car, but I still love it.

The most recent arrival now, the Skoda. Oh god, the Skoda. Right, well, lets have some pics I guess, maroon over brown with small wheels. Old man spec.

Skoda Superb 280 L&K by Alex D, on Flickr

Skoda Superb Cockpit by Alex D, on Flickr

And here's a photo of the rear legroom as it's hilariously huge.

Superb Rear Legroom lol by Alex D, on Flickr

So this was bought to replace the E63 AMG, and I deliberately got the most ordinary car that I hoped was still vaguely interesting, with a big focus on reasonable running costs. On that front it's been successful, in several thousand miles all has been normal, it likes a drink (32mpg average) but other than that, insurance and tax are reasonable, and servicing will be too.

It's... boring. I guess I knew it would be when I bought it, but the reality is a bit rubbish. Don't get me wrong, it's a faultless car. The driving position is possibly a touch too high, but other than that it does everything it is supposed to do incredibly well. It's L&K spec, so Skoda's top level, and it has all the toys and all the automatic everything. The seats are comfortable, it's very quiet at speed, it's pretty quick with 4WD and ~280bhp, and the boot is enormous. I put it on Conti AllSeason tyres and they're fantastic in every condition it's encountered so far.

But it's just so boring. Interestingly, the 'white good' electric car, the e, has loads more personality and is far more interesting than the Skoda is. I think I'd far prefer the Skoda with an electric powertrain and fast charging, but I'm sure that will come in time. Right now it's going to stay, I can't justify changing cars again to something that's more expensive to run when I still don't own a house.

Right! Lets get on the the one, the Alpine A110. Here's some pics:

Alpine A110 by Alex D, on Flickr

Untitled by Alex D, on Flickr

Untitled by Alex D, on Flickr

When you leave, just keep it calm please… by Alex D, on Flickr

Freshly washed A110 by Alex D, on Flickr

As you can see, my sports car is green and gold once again. What can I say, at times I have little imagination, and it was Winchester's demo car so had a healthy chunk off the price. I paid £57k with 1,750 miles on it, and it listed at £63k. In the current climate I'll take that!

Why the A110? Well, lets get the most immature reason out the way first; I love to be a bit special and it's a rare car. Yes, that really was no small reason for buying it. Sad, isn't it? I'm a hipster of the car scene. Ah well, I can live with it.

There are other (more solid) reasons too. Number one is the weight, this car is 1,100kg I believe, althouhg I haven't had mine on the scales yet, they all seem to come in around that. That's a huge three hundred kg lighter than the Evora was, and much lighter than almost everything else on the market with a DCT and a vaguely reasonable price. It's also had glowing reviews of the way it drives, which is important as I cannot test drive cars, and I personally really like the unique looks, although I know many don't. I really think it's the last of it's kind, a truly lightweight petrol only drivers car that isn't well into six or even seven figures.

I love it. It's been a brilliant purchase, and I think I'm probably never going to sell it. The body control and primary ride charaistics are exceptional, and you can only start to tell the price point in the secondary ride, which isn't quite as good as the Evora was. The engine is decent, it makes a surprisingly nice noise for a 4cyl, and has a really toppy power delivery which encourages revving it out. The gearing is fantastic, redline in 4th is ~100mph, so you get to have fun through three gears without really having to worry too much about a court date if you're caught. Driving position is fab too, which is something that always bothered me about the Sparco equipped Evora.

It's standard for now, but I'm trying to collect the full Life 110 upgrades that'll be fitted all at once in late spring. Wheels, suspension, map, aero kit and geo. All of them aim to keep the same character but improve on OEM, so the suspension will keep the excellent primary ride with a plusher secondary ride I hope, the aero kit adds some stability at 50/60mph+, the wheels are a little lighter than the ones I have and look banging, the geo sharpens everything up. The map I think aims to keep the same feel to the engine, but just more power and torque everywhere. I'm a huge fan of what David Pook is doing with these cars.

I'm going to slowly change the interior to all black and charcoal alcantara with green stitching to match the exterior colour. It's a car for life I'm pretty sure, so I am both in no rush and I don't mind spending the money.

If anyone bothered to read all that, well done! I'll be keeping the thread updated with various photos and musings, mostly of the Alpine, but if you have questions about the other cars please ask away!

I think these cars will be hanging around for a while. Alpine for life, Honda for the next two and a bit years, Skoda until I just can't take the boring anymore. I'd like to add a Ferrari 599 at some point in the next few years as I think it would compliment the Alpine very well, it's the opposite in so many respects. I'd love another W204 C63 too...

[leglessAlex]

threadlock said:

...You say it's boring, but I bet it does its job very very well...

That's exactly it, it's going to be hard to get rid of because it's so good at what it does. For all my moaning I am slowly getting used to it, and I recognise how bratty it is to be trowing a tantrum because one of my three cars isn't as interesting as I'd like it to be

Chunkychucky said:

I must admit I was shocked at the MPG figures for your Superb, however then realised it was a petrol... I have a 2003 Passat 4motion estate, but being a 1.9PD then it returns more like 50mpg.

Look forward to reading how you get on with the A110 et al!

Thanks Chunky! Yeah, I just don't do the kind of mileage to ever really need a diesel, and I was hoping the power would keep things somewhat interesting. I actually wanted a Yeti, but they never did a 2.0 petrol one sadly.

Mark Benson said:

Wierd what makes a car likeable sometimes.

Ain't that the truth! It makes me hopeful that maybe some electric sports cars might be interesting, or at least not too soulless. That said, with my my nexty big purchase hopefully something with 12 cylinders, I'm not ready to migrate to that yet

[leglessAlex]

Thanks Percy, MDMA, GFW. I can't disagree, it's cute like me

FFS Dino, that was such a good day that was followed by so much disappointment over the next six months.

Panamax said:

Errm, but choosing my words carefully, nothing like as good as the green Lotus above.

Green is a difficult colour on cars. Mind you, a "highlighter green" Lamborghini has something a bit special about it.

I much prefer the Alpine green. The Lotus was a classier colour and would probably still suit the Alpine, whereas I think the Alpine green wouldn't have suited the Lotus.

But I like to take photos of the car to remember the trips I've been on, and as well as the Lotus being a slightly awkward car to take photos of shape wise, that colour was also a royal pain in the butt.

I do have a green car obsession, however, so don't be surprised if the future 599 ends up a similar dark green to the Lotus.

[leglessAlex]

Thanks Brett!

Swervin_Mervin said:

Great garage. I wasn't expecting that colour on the A110. It's top of my want list the Alpine, moreso having sat in one at the Manchester Late Brake Show Live.

Thank you! If you can, drive one. Exceptional cars, A lot of people say they're overpriced but I very much disagree. I think little else offers what they do.

Fully agree on everything else, the Skoda is just monumentally competent, but no soul. Still, until I've bought a house I'll have to put up with it.

Luke. said:

Lovely garage.

What did Chris Harris have to say?

And where'd the TW19 LEG plate go?

Thanks! Harris was just telling me to leave politely, which I was going to do anyway, being a regular of C&M and a supporter of the 'don't be a dick' motto. He did, however, compliment the colour... and ask me if it was a wrap!! Outraged

I've got the number plate still, when I gave the Evora back to Jamie at B&C he insisted on taking it off and giving it to me, which was the right thing in the end. I was going to put it on my Emira, but since I've decided not to get one I'm unsure. Maybe I'll put it on this?

[leglessAlex]

TheAngryDog said:

Enjoy Alex! Hopefully catch you around C&M sometime for a look around it!

Absolutely! I'll definitely be up there a lot in the coming spring months.

seefarr said:

A fine collection of cars and a Skoda!

I always stop and look at Honda e's whenever I see them. It's like the very near future has arrived, even though they hark back to the original Civic! I got the same sense from the BMW i3 / i8 as well. Definitely the cool side of electric motoring.

The green and gold A110 is a superb looking thing. I hope you're going to keep the gold colour if you're changing the wheels? Don't go bigger either!

Sassing the skoda

The wheels will be the same width and just 10mm wider, so I'll mount S-spec tyres on them. They're staying gold for sure, it's my thing! I think I'm just going to go for a slightly paler gold to match the calipers, but I'm undecided on that yet. I've gotta pull my finger out and get a colour code sorted, I think my wheels are just cluttering up Life110s garage

[leglessAlex]

Well, it's a miserable Sunday, I'm at a loose end, and some things have changed on at least one of the cars. Lets get into it.

First, the Skoda! Only joking, it is of course unchanged. It's had a replacement headlight (not cheap!) and the adaptive cruise loves to disengage randomly, but overall it's done exactly what I bought it to do, which is be huge and comfortable. I still don't really like it, but it's so good at everything I have no reason at all to change it. I will, eventually, get another W204 C63, but not while I still don't own a house.

The Honda is plodding along, I don't have a change point installed for it yet which is a bit of a pain, and it really hates cold weather. I'm still enjoying it a lot, and I've been considering some wheels for it, these:



I think with a graphic on them they could look really really cool, along with the car being a little lower. But they're going to be ~£1,500 for the wheels and discs, and that's a lot...

Okay, so the Alpine! The good one. The changed one.

It's still exceptional, in fact I'm coming to love it even more. As I think I've said before, while it often gets accused of being very expensive, in reality I think it's a bit of a bargain. Nothing is offering what this does, and while I'm sure the Cayman GTS is an exceptional car, the Alpine is 300kg lighter. That's a lot.

Where have I been, what have I done, how much have I driven it? Well, last one first, the odo is now at 8,200 miles, which I'm pleased with. I'm getting to know the car well! Anyway, here's an unsurprising photo

There again?! Surely not… by Alex D, on Flickr

Oh look, it's at C&M. Wow! Not like I've ever been there before. Have another photo:

OFM Van by Alex D, on Flickr

The man that owns this truck, Jon, is both a huge petrolhead and a supplier of the most amazing burgers. Genuinely exceptional, and I highly recommend following him on Instagram and hunting him down when he's parked up sometime. You won't regret it, I promise. Also he's just lovely, and that always helps.

Oh, and because most of you have probably noticed that my cars are always dirty, I got something to help with that!

New Goodies by Alex D, on Flickr

So! There are two photos of the car looking suspiciously the same, but I said it had changed? Allow me to explain.

I briefly covered in my first post what I plan on doing with the car, and the first part of that has been completed. Here's now it now looks:

A110 at Spires by Alex D, on Flickr

A110 at Spires by Alex D, on Flickr

A110 at Spires by Alex D, on Flickr

It's had springs, wheels, spacers, geometry, front pads and a map. The map was done at TRS Performance, and all the other work carried out at Spires Tuning next door. I really can't speak highly enough of Peter at TRS and Matt at Spires, really fantastic people who know their stuff. Life110 works closely with them both for a reason!

What's it like? Even better!

The map has made it a properly fast car, but not at the expense of the character. It still wants to be revved out to the limiter, but now you're really travelling some when you get there. It's not even close to being 'unusable' power or anything like that, it's just had a healthy improvement over standard. I rate it highly.

The wheels and spacers have just made it look banging, and allowed it to run the same tyre size that's standard on the A110S, 10mm wider front and rear. They're a little lighter than the Seracs I had too, which is a nice bonus.

The brake pads are just a 'nice to have', I actually forgotten that I'd ordered them and they turned up when we opened the box for the springs. Less fade, less squeal, less dust. Standard aftermarket brake pad stuff.

Springs. Interesting one this. They've improved the look and taken the initial roll out of turn-in, with the penalty of a slightly firmer ride at low speed, as well as slightly amplifying the poor secondary ride characteristics of the standard dampers. I believe this to be a worthy trade, and I'm hoping that the later addition this year of fancy dampers will help improve that secondary ride. They've also contributed to the car feeling more planted on the road, but I think that's far more because of...

...the geometry. Oh boy, here's where things get really good. More 'planted' and stable feeling, and less deadness around TDC. The whole car is so alive and alert now, if you have an A110 and are considering changing anything, good god make it the geometry. The fact the settings are offered for free from Life110 is just a bonus.

I'm really happy with the effect on both the drive and the look, it's not drastically changed how the car feels, the mods have just improved on the drive in every area. I have other things planned/in the works, but I won't spoil them just yet.

The interior is getting some work done too, but that's long term. My spare wheel is currently with a trimmer getting done in black alcantara with green band and green stitching, and the rest of the interior will be in a similar vein. I'd like to get my hands on some of the Sabelt buckets, but no luck yet. I'm also going to try and work on some interior storage nets and pockets, but that's not a priority currently.

Plan for the next few months is just to drive it more, I want to start doing some track days and organise some good road trips. I do have a weekend in the Pennines coming up, got a little cottage to myself and I'm hoping it's not too snowy or icy!

Edited by leglessAlex on Thursday 16th June 19:31

[leglessAlex]

Thanks guys, the stance is just right now. Really happy with it.

George, you're gonna love it!

[leglessAlex]

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...

[leglessAlex]

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 Flickr

Should 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.

[leglessAlex]

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...?

Every time I go and hang out with GFW the car is filthy

We'll get pics at some stage, G says. We're always just too busy chatting complete ste

[leglessAlex]

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 Flickr

[leglessAlex]

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.

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 st 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!

[leglessAlex]

Oh hell yes Mezzanine. For those that don't know:



However... I won't be doing it to mine, as it's a motability car. Strictly speaking I'm not even allowed to put different wheels on it, let alone lower it.

I think in two years time, when the motability car goes back, it'll get replaced with this, which will also replace the Skoda:



But it's horrifically expensive, £97,000 even with my VAT exemption. I don't know. Maybe one last hurrah for a big petrol estate like an Alpina B5? But I actually like having an electric car. I've very undecided, just as well I don't have to make my mind up for a while!

[leglessAlex]

It's fun, isn't it Jimi? I'd love to do it to mine.

mwstewart said:

Luke. said:

That Taycan is utterly stunning.

Agreed.

I love them so much, they're leagues ahead of all these rubbish electric SUVs in my eyes. I even think the Taycan is relatively future-proof, with it's fast charging. The issue in my eyes is that it's similar money to an Alpina B5, and I feel like it's the last chance to buy a big, non-hybrid uber estate.

Ah who knows. I'll think about it again in 12 months when I'd have to order one.

Lancia888 said:

I see what you mean about the interior, the blue stitching doesn't match the green. Just a beautiful car .

Yup! I'm having issues finding the Sabelt bucket seats and two new ones are extraordinarily expensive from Alpine (£7,400 ish), so whatever ends up happening to the interior it'll be next winter now.

[leglessAlex]

Ah thanks guys! I was on my way back from exploring the Brecon Beacons, the M4 was much more quieter and tolerable than it usually is. I might have overly aggressively moved from L3 to L1 in front of a middle lane dawdler a couple of times, but we all have our flaws and things that rile us up a bit

The exterior will nearly be 'done' next week, the aero kit from Life110 arrives in the country and I've managed to sort the lip spoiler too with some (a lot of) thanks to Pooky at Life110. The lip spoiler needs to be painted, and I need to take a mould of the front splitter as I'll almost certainly destroy the first one, I'm not used to having a car so low and frankly I can't actually afford to buy another

I've just been driving the car a lot, and of course, I'm really enjoying it. Even with the geometry changes I think it's slightly more vague in a straight line than the Evora was, and not quite as communicative through the steering wheel, although just as much through the chassis. As a friend pointed out to me, however, that might be rose tinted glasses, I have been out of the Evora more than long enough to forget the little details of how it drove. I don't want that to take away from it, it's an incredible car, and I'm still firmly of the mind that I'll never sell it.

It's sailed past 10,000 miles and is closing in on it's 12k service interval, not bad for 6 months over winter, although I guess I cannot claim it's first 1,750 miles.

Still trying to sort out some road trips. Why does the time pass so quickly? And why is everything so expensive?

At rest by Alex D, on Flickr

The same shot as always! by Alex D, on Flickr

[leglessAlex]

Thanks Mezzanine and Jimi! I appreciate that. Mezzanine, if you’re on Instagram the guy that took the front shot is called machina.studios and damn is he handy with a camera! Great guy too.

Fastgerman, I’m still incredibly undecided about the next car. The Taycan looks beautiful, but it’s a lot of money for something that’s going to be outdated relatively quickly. An Alpina B5 is less money, and a 5.5l E63 retrimmed and repainted to my preferences is cheaper again. Or do I go electric because I like them, but go cheap, maybe an Ionic5? I just don’t know.

Here’s a pic of what’s going to be on the car in the next few weeks, I’m very very excited. It’s going to look like a freaking race car

[leglessAlex]

Mezzanine said:

Stop it! Don’t you be drawing him into a who’s wing is bigger competition

Me and George love a huge wang

There has been a change... I'll let the pic do the talking:

New Stance by Alex D, on Flickr

Alpine A110 by Alex D, on Flickr

Alpine and Pork by Alex D, on Flickr

The aero kit has been fitted, and while I was just hoping for some cool race car looks (which I got), it's added a staggering amount of stability. I'm surprised, if anything David Pook at Life110 is underselling the kit, it really is night and day.

I can't wait to do a trackday now, the geo change, aero and slightly wider front tyre have made such a difference over a standard car.

[leglessAlex]

So! update time, sort of. Not too much has changed I don't think, but there are bits and pieces to cover.

First, Life110 news. The aero kit continues to be worth every penny, although I am afraid of getting the car up in the air since going to Ireland, the splitter took some proper hits. I've also got a rear lip spoiler now, but it's going to get painted body colour before it goes on. In map news, we were still encountering some minor software issues on the my21 and later cars. These will be sorted in time, but for now I'm running what's close to an S/GT spec map, so around 320-340nm and 300PS or so. I'm really enjoying it, it has a little less surge at the top end and for me that makes it a little more enjoyable on the road, you can keep full throttle on for longer. Overall, Life110 continue to make awesome stuff, and we're talking about a brake kit too. I've run out of money for now, but maybe this winter. That might sound like an ad, but I don't care, it's good to give a shout out when people make good stuff.

Interior is as yet unchanged. The person I sent my wheel off too eventually got around to looking at it (and, to be fair to him, I clearly and repeatedly said there wasn't a rush, so the wait is my fault) but was unwilling/unable to get the sport button housing off. I think this might just be a case of not wanting to risk damage which I totally understand, but it's hard not to feel a little deflated. When I get the wheel back I'll tackle the sport button housing myself, and then attempt to go again with the retrim. I'm still on the lookout for some buckets, if anyone thinks they actually want the comfort seats...?

Lets have some photos! First things first, I passed another A110 going the other way just outside Oxford the other day, and it strikes me how distinctive the face is with the DRLs, I just love it!

The Face by Alex D, on Flickr

I did a few miles when I went back to Ireland for a wedding too, it's sitting around 14,500 now I think. Lets see some pretty pics.

Connemara by Alex D, on Flickr

Glassilaun Beach by Alex D, on Flickr

West Coast Sunsets by Alex D, on Flickr

Cooling off by the sea by Alex D, on Flickr

Emerald Green by Alex D, on Flickr

Very 911 ish by Alex D, on Flickr

Really needs a third eye on each side… by Alex D, on Flickr

It was a great trip, but... it really highlighted that the damping isn't up to scratch when the road gets more uneven and the speed picks up. It's incredibly good considering the dampers it uses, and shows the benefit of good design and light weight. That said, it isn't good enough for the roads there, it used to much travel on compressions in particular it felt like, and after a few undulations at speed it can be a little unsettled compared to how the Evora rode the same stretches of tarmac. I'm so hyped up for the upcoming Life110 damper kit.

And that's about it! I really need more roadtrips, but the motivation to do anything at the moment is pretty low. I just like driving it around.

[leglessAlex]

Three posts in a row, ooft. If anyone is interested, I did a little bit of chatting rubbish with Collecting Cars. Have a watch!

[leglessAlex]

Thanks for the super kind words everyone! I definitely couldn’t not wear my green GS for that shoot.

The smoothness with hand controls isn’t as hard as it might seem, at least in performance cars with nice progressive pedals. Shopping/small cars with grabby brakes and short throttles are a pain in the ass to drive smoothly, they need a lot of concentration.