RE: Alpine A110: Driven

RE: Alpine A110: Driven

Author
Discussion

cib24

1,115 posts

152 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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God, it's so ugly. The front looks so bad! It's just something I couldn't deal with no matter how nicely it might drive.

gofasterrosssco

1,235 posts

235 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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I don't understand how people can think it needs more power and an LSD without actually driving it.

If it cracks near 4.5secs to 60mph, I can't see how either of those attributes are needed or even desirable..

I guess all those over-specced, £50k (£20k + "extra's") hatches have spoiled some to what a decent drivers car actually is.

Good effort by the looks of it.

Prestonese

793 posts

104 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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WCZ said:
love it but is crying out for more power
But why though? In any case, the concept centres around weight rather than power.

As in life, power corrupts.

jpf

1,311 posts

275 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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Should have:
1) Been made for the global market--Nissan in the USA could easily sold 1,000+ at $50,000 each.
2) Had a proper 3 pedal 6 or 7 speed manual as an option

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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gofasterrosssco said:
I don't understand how people can think it needs more power and an LSD without actually driving it.
I'd be tempted to a Quaife ATB-type diff, just to stop that inside wheel smoking thing which is very frustrating. Otherwise totally agree!

je777

341 posts

103 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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Too Drunk to Funk said:
je777 said:
Audi A7 at the back? Not a good thing.
Or even the original Alpine..




hehe
hehe

coastpath

8 posts

75 months

Friday 8th December 2017
quotequote all
4 cylinders, means a dull sound, 4 cylinders with a turbo, duller still. £50K for a dull sounding engine, no matter how good the car may be, is just too much.
Shame, because, like the flat four Caymen, for those reasons I will not be buying. I will be sticking with my M235,which sounds fab (and purchased new for a heavily discounted price of £31K,just two years ago).

PhantomPH

4,043 posts

224 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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Those seats look really inviting. Just sayin'.

housen

2,366 posts

191 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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coastpath said:
4 cylinders, means a dull sound, 4 cylinders with a turbo, duller still. £50K for a dull sounding engine, no matter how good the car may be, is just too much.
Shame, because, like the flat four Caymen, for those reasons I will not be buying. I will be sticking with my M235,which sounds fab (and purchased new for a heavily discounted price of £31K,just two years ago).
£31K would get u a hot rod i guess

why dont u buy that as will sound even better no ?

The Don of Croy

5,977 posts

158 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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What a fab thing.

Hope it does way better than the Spyder (killed by the Elise) which was another charismatic Frenchie.

Same weight as my MR2 Roadster, but so much more grunt and a stiffer body too.

Hats off to Reggie. Now, how do I summon up £50k out of nowhere...?

Prestonese

793 posts

104 months

Friday 8th December 2017
quotequote all
coastpath said:
4 cylinders, means a dull sound, 4 cylinders with a turbo, duller still. £50K for a dull sounding engine, no matter how good the car may be, is just too much.
Shame, because, like the flat four Caymen, for those reasons I will not be buying. I will be sticking with my M235,which sounds fab (and purchased new for a heavily discounted price of £31K,just two years ago).
I liked the M235 when I drove one across the NC500 though I suspect the two cars are very different propositions.

nickfrog

20,874 posts

216 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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gofasterrosssco said:
I don't understand how people can think it needs more power and an LSD without actually driving it.
Same. LSD on an inherently very tractable mid-ship chassis can be a mixed blessing too.


As for auto, it's perfectly conceivable that a driving enthusiast either prefers auto or doesn't mind either transmissions although there is no agreed definition of driving enthusiasts anyway.

That a large manufacturer launches stuff like that is brilliant even if many won't buy it simply because it doesn't have a LSD, it is too slow (!!), objectively ugly, etc etc - there is always a good reason not to buy a car.


Edited by nickfrog on Friday 8th December 15:51

jonby

5,357 posts

156 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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Prestonese said:
WCZ said:
love it but is crying out for more power
But why though? In any case, the concept centres around weight rather than power.

As in life, power corrupts.
anyone who says it needs more power is not the target audience

same reason it has skinny tyres rather than follow the current trend for huge wheels with wide tyres - this car is about fun

If it had 300 bhp or even 350, some people would still say they could get a TTRS, AMG45 and numerous other cars for the same or less money, with more power

They aren't playing the game and that's exactly what will appeal to some and not to others

They have worked hard on establishing what they are trying to do rather than attempt to be all things to all people, or enter into a power/lap time game of top trumps. They know their target market and they are sticking to it. To work, it has to polarise and it has to be a car that many don't and won't ever get

Whether there are enough people in that target market, time will tell but it's great they are giving it a really good, well thought out shot

PunterCam

1,069 posts

194 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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SPMX5 said:
I think the fact that every car released nowadays apparently looks like some kind of Audi has to be a sign of the strength of Audi's design
Haha! Really?!?

RedSwede

261 posts

193 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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Very nice - sounds like a great package.

But what has happened to a bit of rim on wheels? All cars have huge offsets on wheels now so that wheels are all so flat - and it just kills the way a nice haunchy sportscar sits on its arches. Obviously they are diamond cut over black as well. At least they're not solid matte black.

I mean - look at the dish/rim on the original. Brilliant!

framerateuk

2,730 posts

183 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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I would absolutely love one of these.

Ticks loads of boxes that the Elise does while perhaps being a little easier to live with.

Unfortunately I've got the dog in the back and a bike on the roof regularly these days so that rules me out for the time being! frown

curley

432 posts

218 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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If you want to know what Caterhams would have looked like visit their showroom in Crawley .

Its in there

Actus Reus

4,229 posts

154 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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This ticks a lot of boxes for me - but fifty large is a lot of money, and why not a manual? A car that's all about driving and it's not a manual. WHY!?!

(yes, I know why, really, but it's a major factor for me)

Still, it's another proper car and for that alone it's worth celebrating.

Burnham

3,668 posts

258 months

Friday 8th December 2017
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WCZ said:
love it but is crying out for more power
Same Power to Weight as a Audi S8 5.2 or Honda NSX R 3.2 V6. It'll probably be more fun than both of those with the power lightness its got!

ben5575

6,221 posts

220 months

Friday 8th December 2017
quotequote all
jonby said:
Prestonese said:
WCZ said:
love it but is crying out for more power
But why though? In any case, the concept centres around weight rather than power.

As in life, power corrupts.
anyone who says it needs more power is not the target audience
Not really. I think it's more about the fact it has a cooking engine from a warm hatch elsewhere in their range.

It's being sold on its rally heritage at a press junket in Monte Carlo. Such a special car needs a 'special' engine to add to its mystique and desirability.

That doesn't necessarily mean big power (and I agree with you that it's not a car for massive power), just more power than you find elsewhere in say a Megane or at least the same as they were threatening to put in that mental Clio. 280bhp would be perfect.

It's not about competing with an A45, just differentiating from a Megane.