RE: Alpine A110: Driven
Discussion
Sw1000 said:
I have had several Clio 172/182's many many years ago, absoultey fantastic cars which made me think that it can only be a positive that the RS team have been involved in bringing based the Alpine, they know how to make very good handling cars.
I'm off to test drive thhe Alpine today, already ordered off the back of all the great reviews... can't see me changing my mind given I find the Skoda fun ;o)
Be interested in what you think. The Clio Trophy is probably my all-time favourite FWD car - but too hardcore for my wife. Interestingly (well I thought so) Harry Metcalfe has just taken delivery of an A110 (looks like a press car from the reg). He also is a big fan of the Clio. He will be posting a video shortly which will be worth watching.I'm off to test drive thhe Alpine today, already ordered off the back of all the great reviews... can't see me changing my mind given I find the Skoda fun ;o)
Edited by bcr5784 on Thursday 23 August 10:31
Hi All,
Just back from my testdrive, the caveat here is I don't have a great benchmark like some of you. I've done lots of go karting, driven fast saloons etc but very rarely driven little sporty cars.
On first impressions I loved it, it's really fun to drive without being too hardcore. I managed to take it around some nice country lanes just outside of Winchester and it was really great to drive.
The engine has a beautiful sound when you put it into sport mode, sounds great when you take your foot off the throttle. Acceleration is very nice and feels instant and progressive with no apparent turbo lag, the steering is also just right for me and feels nice and responsive without being light.
Didn't test the stereo as I was enjoying the engine to much, I'm guessing given they are Focal they will be very good, I have a Focal Dome 5.1 setup at home and it has fantastic sound.
The car is a real head turner, when we were at a major roundabout heading towards the test route we got lots of smiles and people admiring it, obviously not myself ;o)
Only minor thing I'm not keen on is the paddles being mounted to the dash and not the steering wheel so the paddles are stuck in the same position whilst the wheels turn, I prefer having them attached to the backside of the steering wheel like in my Skoda so they turn with the wheel so they are easier to access.
The seats are tight aswell, I'm only 12.5 stone and around 5.11 so I wouldn't want to be on the larger side in these seats.
This ticks all the boxes for what I was looking for and puts a major smile on my face. The premiere edition I will be taking delivery of in 6 months has just arrived in the showroom two days back and was sitting there on display, looks stunning and can't wait to receive it. They just need to get some Pure and Legendare models in before I can have it.
The sales chap also showed me a picture of lots of Alpines that arrived on a transporter the other day, they are frantically sorting them out ready for the 1st September deadline I have seen some of you reference earlier, his diary is full up for the next week doing hand overswith customers.
Hopefully that will be a few people on here that have been eagerly waiting for a long time.
Just back from my testdrive, the caveat here is I don't have a great benchmark like some of you. I've done lots of go karting, driven fast saloons etc but very rarely driven little sporty cars.
On first impressions I loved it, it's really fun to drive without being too hardcore. I managed to take it around some nice country lanes just outside of Winchester and it was really great to drive.
The engine has a beautiful sound when you put it into sport mode, sounds great when you take your foot off the throttle. Acceleration is very nice and feels instant and progressive with no apparent turbo lag, the steering is also just right for me and feels nice and responsive without being light.
Didn't test the stereo as I was enjoying the engine to much, I'm guessing given they are Focal they will be very good, I have a Focal Dome 5.1 setup at home and it has fantastic sound.
The car is a real head turner, when we were at a major roundabout heading towards the test route we got lots of smiles and people admiring it, obviously not myself ;o)
Only minor thing I'm not keen on is the paddles being mounted to the dash and not the steering wheel so the paddles are stuck in the same position whilst the wheels turn, I prefer having them attached to the backside of the steering wheel like in my Skoda so they turn with the wheel so they are easier to access.
The seats are tight aswell, I'm only 12.5 stone and around 5.11 so I wouldn't want to be on the larger side in these seats.
This ticks all the boxes for what I was looking for and puts a major smile on my face. The premiere edition I will be taking delivery of in 6 months has just arrived in the showroom two days back and was sitting there on display, looks stunning and can't wait to receive it. They just need to get some Pure and Legendare models in before I can have it.
The sales chap also showed me a picture of lots of Alpines that arrived on a transporter the other day, they are frantically sorting them out ready for the 1st September deadline I have seen some of you reference earlier, his diary is full up for the next week doing hand overswith customers.
Hopefully that will be a few people on here that have been eagerly waiting for a long time.
Edited by Sw1000 on Thursday 23 August 14:37
Edited by Sw1000 on Thursday 23 August 15:27
Drove 350 miles home in mine yesterday from Manchester.
Surprised by how good these things are at just cruising along ...very quiet , seat is comfortable despite the lack of adjustment,
Running in so taking it easy but all things very promising so far , handover was impressive at Alpine Manchester with the Master Tech taking you through the car .
Happy owner so far .
Surprised by how good these things are at just cruising along ...very quiet , seat is comfortable despite the lack of adjustment,
Running in so taking it easy but all things very promising so far , handover was impressive at Alpine Manchester with the Master Tech taking you through the car .
Happy owner so far .
Miserablegit said:
Congratulations - did you end up buying without a test drive in the end?
I see you were at a petrol station - did they not give you half a tank??
Traffic was so bad I said forget test drive and I’ll just take the car. They didn’t have time to fill the car up , so they kindly filled the car up as I left I see you were at a petrol station - did they not give you half a tank??
Re handover I’m impatient, so just asked for basics to get me on the road
Edited by DaveGB on Friday 24th August 23:27
Miserablegit said:
Re: running in.
What have the dealers said? It’s been a while since I bought a new car and dealers don’t seem to mention it but I avoid labouring the engine and keep it below 4K if I remember.
What is the recommendation and when is the first service ?
From what I saw on the FAR website the running in is pretty specific. Not more than 3500 revs or 85mph for the first 1000km. These days running instructions seem to be very vague generally, so that seems pretty old fashioned. I'm pretty old fashioned myself so I think I'll adhere to it and gradually wind it up until I reach 2000 miles. What have the dealers said? It’s been a while since I bought a new car and dealers don’t seem to mention it but I avoid labouring the engine and keep it below 4K if I remember.
What is the recommendation and when is the first service ?
Not sure whether the box will let you labour the engine - it certainly changes down automatically when it deems revs are too low, even in manual. PDK does limit labouring to a significant extent - but not as much as a sympathetic driver..
I notice that until the engine is warm that revs are limited in any case (not so severely though) - it will be interesting to see how far the Alpine goes in protecting itself from lead footed drivers.
Didzz said:
From what I've read on the FAR forum, the normal mode feels like a "slow"/cruising mode and has been developped mainly to meet the emissions regulations.
I did wonder myself if using sport with a light foot might be a good way of (at least in part) running in. Even in sport it will get up into the higher gears quite quickly when driving gently - but will change gear more and therefore vary the revs more. In some circumstances better than cruising around in just 6th or 7th at modest speeds in Normal.springfan62 said:
Torsby said:
Car is going in for an Xpel front end protection wrap next week so using it pretty sparingly till then.
Out of interest how much have you been quoted for this.But I live in North Scotland so not a huge amount of competition. The detailer I spoke to in the Manchester region were similar if a little cheaper.
I drive with a couple of 981 owners and a fair few are moving over to ppf as the nose picks chips up easily .
The car will go to the Alps next year and we get a lot of gravel up here so on my case worth it up here.
Edited by Torsby on Saturday 25th August 12:46
I have been contemplating whether to go Ceramic, PPF or both.
Full PPF, whilst no doubt good is expensive and its difficult to see how you will get your money back.
I have read mixed reviews of Ceramic, some people swear by it and others think its effect disappears rather quickly.
I suppose the PPF is going to be worth it if you are going to try and keep it as a long term classic investment.
I am more inclined to drive it like I stole it and enjoy the car and it will be what it is when, one day, I sell it.
Full PPF, whilst no doubt good is expensive and its difficult to see how you will get your money back.
I have read mixed reviews of Ceramic, some people swear by it and others think its effect disappears rather quickly.
I suppose the PPF is going to be worth it if you are going to try and keep it as a long term classic investment.
I am more inclined to drive it like I stole it and enjoy the car and it will be what it is when, one day, I sell it.
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