RE: Litchfield Alpine A110: Driven

RE: Litchfield Alpine A110: Driven

Author
Discussion

CedricN

820 posts

145 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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rb_89 said:
This is the thing, people forget the R&D costs, sounds like Litchfield don't just ramp up the boost without proper testing etc and they obviously are confident enough in their work here to offer a warranty. It's not as though there are 1000's of these cars on the road either so will sell for more as they will sell far less than e.g. a remap for a popular car e.g. like a golf R.
i totally agree, its not the alpine remap that is expensive, its a golf GTI one, which they can sell thousands of that should be much cheaper. The work is the same (though the alpine is more expensive to buy), but the costs are split up on so many more cars.

MX6

5,983 posts

213 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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It seems a worthwhile upgrade, if I could afford an A110 then I'd give this consideration. I really like the light weight concept behind the car, and 300 horse in this is ample for a fast public road car. I can't say I love the look of it but it's okay.

Paddy78

208 posts

146 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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For those that have never modified a car (Or have no interest in doing so), £1100 for 50hp might seem steep. Having personally spent considerably more than that on engine / exhaust modifications for my old 350Z and getting no where near 50hp in return, it actually seems a very good deal. Obviously a turbo engine is far easier to squeeze hp from than a naturally aspirated one. Still, if I has an Alpine, this would be an absolute no brainer... minus the Litchfield stripe.

Mackofthejungle

1,069 posts

195 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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I have no doubt the engine can take it, but I wouldn't be rushing out to invalidate my warranty! Engines very rarely go "pop", it's the rest of the car you need covered!

Terminator X

15,038 posts

204 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
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Miserablegit said:
We were flying supersonic 20 years ago!
This is progress apparently but bravo to Alpine and Litchfield. I might have dropped Litchfield an email earlier today...
They won't answer it, totally awful at replying to emails.

TX.

Terminator X

15,038 posts

204 months

Tuesday 4th December 2018
quotequote all
Paddy78 said:
For those that have never modified a car (Or have no interest in doing so), £1100 for 50hp might seem steep. Having personally spent considerably more than that on engine / exhaust modifications for my old 350Z and getting no where near 50hp in return, it actually seems a very good deal. Obviously a turbo engine is far easier to squeeze hp from than a naturally aspirated one. Still, if I has an Alpine, this would be an absolute no brainer... minus the Litchfield stripe.
Area under the curve though too, peak power is often just half the story.

TX.

xjay1337

15,966 posts

118 months

Wednesday 5th December 2018
quotequote all
rb_89 said:
This is the thing, people forget the R&D costs, sounds like Litchfield don't just ramp up the boost without proper testing etc and they obviously are confident enough in their work here to offer a warranty. It's not as though there are 1000's of these cars on the road either so will sell for more as they will sell far less than e.g. a remap for a popular car e.g. like a golf R.
You would be surprised how little time it actually takes to perform ECU mapping and get a well running car.
I haven't checked to see what ECU the A110 uses but most cars share the same base ECU with only a few varieties of software so it's not like you have to learn a completely new language.

If it took more than a couple of months of work in "spare" time I would be surprised.

Si_man306

457 posts

185 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
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This is such a promising car and Litchfield look like theyve done a great job. Brand aside (for me) I think its one of the few cars that tempt me away from my Lotus Evora S.

The looks though are......subjective. Really do nothing for me and the back end is just horrible. It looks so cheap.

blade7

11,311 posts

216 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
quotequote all
Paddy78 said:
For those that have never modified a car (Or have no interest in doing so), £1100 for 50hp might seem steep. Having personally spent considerably more than that on engine / exhaust modifications for my old 350Z and getting no where near 50hp in return, it actually seems a very good deal.
I remember when 60 bhp more from a Sierra RS Cosworth was £300...

cerb4.5lee

30,488 posts

180 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
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blade7 said:
Paddy78 said:
For those that have never modified a car (Or have no interest in doing so), £1100 for 50hp might seem steep. Having personally spent considerably more than that on engine / exhaust modifications for my old 350Z and getting no where near 50hp in return, it actually seems a very good deal.
I remember when 60 bhp more from a Sierra RS Cosworth was £300...
I remember spending £800 for around 50bhp extra on my 200sx, plus I got a full decatted stainless steel mongoose/K&N cone filter/a set of colder plugs/an adjustable actuator for that money.

Remapping does seem very expensive to me unless I'm missing something.

blade7

11,311 posts

216 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
quotequote all
cerb4.5lee said:
I remember spending £800 for around 50bhp extra on my 200sx, plus I got a full decatted stainless steel mongoose/K&N cone filter/a set of colder plugs/an adjustable actuator for that money.

Remapping does seem very expensive to me unless I'm missing something.
All that and a tweak to the fuel pressure would add another 25 bhp to the Cos. And I reckon a Renault would be less fun to drive...whistle

MX6

5,983 posts

213 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
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Mod's can certainly be pricey if you buy the brand name stuff brand new and pay for it to be fitted. I guess the bang per buck depends on the car, you'll never get that much extra power spending money on an NA. I've just spend just under £1k on turbo conversion parts, should be good for 100bhp...

smilo996

2,783 posts

170 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
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Would have seemed like a logical move for Alpine. However well done Litchfield for stepping in.

xjay1337

15,966 posts

118 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
quotequote all
cerb4.5lee said:
I remember spending £800 for around 50bhp extra on my 200sx, plus I got a full decatted stainless steel mongoose/K&N cone filter/a set of colder plugs/an adjustable actuator for that money.

Remapping does seem very expensive to me unless I'm missing something.
Depends on the car

Most cars IE Mk5 / Mk6 Golfs are still well under £500
Even new Mk7 GTI is around that to map.

But when you say you have a £80k car instead of a £30k car it seems the price goes up significantly.

bcr5784

7,109 posts

145 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
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Terminator X said:
They won't answer it, totally awful at replying to emails.

TX.
I got an almost instant response to mine - though they ignored my query about the 320nm torque limit of the box and overheating on track on the standard car. I'm still tempted to give it a try.

bcr5784

7,109 posts

145 months

Thursday 6th December 2018
quotequote all
The key questions for me are:
What does the warranty cover and how long? 3 years and both engine and box would be a big tick.
Does it affect drivability - gearchange, general smoothness and refinement?
What happens when you can't get 99octane?

bcr5784

7,109 posts

145 months

Friday 7th December 2018
quotequote all
Si_man306 said:
This is such a promising car and Litchfield look like theyve done a great job. Brand aside (for me) I think its one of the few cars that tempt me away from my Lotus Evora S.

The looks though are......subjective. Really do nothing for me and the back end is just horrible. It looks so cheap.
As you say looks are subjective. I would probably have bought an Evora 400 had I not preferred the A110. Looks didn't enter into the decision, though if they had they had the A110 would have had the nod. The rear 3/4 view of the Evora is a bid odd, to put it kindly. If people would refrain from publishing pictures of cars taken with their phones then fewer misleading impressions would be created. Professional photographers don't use wide angle lenses to photograph people because it exaggerates their features and makes them look ugly. Same thing goes for cars.

Edited by bcr5784 on Friday 7th December 02:59

Derek Chevalier

3,942 posts

173 months

Saturday 3rd August 2019
quotequote all
bcr5784 said:
Terminator X said:
They won't answer it, totally awful at replying to emails.

TX.
I got an almost instant response to mine - though they ignored my query about the 320nm torque limit of the box and overheating on track on the standard car. I'm still tempted to give it a try.
What's overheating? The engine or gearbox?