Re : The Alpine A110 (finally) cometh | PH Fleet

[Olivera]

Great purchase.

I must admit that I've had some reservations about the Alpine: styling not entirely cohesive to my eyes, auto, 4 pot, open rear diff.

However, from what I've read the lightweight bespoke chassis certainly does make it special to drive.

[egor110]

Sharon-coizu said:

I'm not an MX5 evangelist but it is enough car for me on public roads. Each to their own. Personally I find it more fun at 9 tenths than anything I have owned since my MK3 MR2 - which was also derided as a "hairdressers car" by people who liked big numbers!

As for the Alpine comparison. My point is that on the A39 east of Lynmouth I doubt an Alpine is twice as fast or twice as much fun as an MX5 but it is twice the price!

230lbft of torque is going to make over taking easier though compared to the mx5 .

Great to see he ventured off the a39 and onto the b3223

[Sharon-coizu]

egor110 said:

230lbft of torque is going to make over taking easier though compared to the mx5 .

This was certainly an issue with the ND1 but the latest 2.0 engine has much more mid range punch. Overtaking isn't effortless but it only takes a drop down to third to dispatch most traffic. The Alpine must be a rocket ship with all that torque and so little mass...!

[nickfrog]

Sharon-coizu said:

This is essentially my point, where in the UK can you really exploit a car quicker than an MX5 without risking your own life or worse still other people?

Silverstone, Cadwell Park, Brands, Snet, etc etc

[Sharon-coizu]

nickfrog said:

Silverstone, Cadwell Park, Brands, Snet, etc etc

Haha. Point taken. Oh to be able to afford to risk my daily on a track or live anywhere near a circuit...or to have the time (publican)...

[nickfrog]

Sharon-coizu said:

nickfrog said:

Silverstone, Cadwell Park, Brands, Snet, etc etc

Haha. Point taken. Oh to be able to afford to risk my daily on a track or live anywhere near a circuit...or to have the time (publican)...

On the other hand, running a pub does have its benefits

I pay about £100 per £25k worth of car per day for track day insurance. I do travel a fair bit too for the right track as my local is boring (Goodwood). The main risk with track days is addiction IME.

[cerb4.5lee]

Sharon-coizu said:

egor110 said:

230lbft of torque is going to make over taking easier though compared to the mx5 .

This was certainly an issue with the ND1 but the latest 2.0 engine has much more mid range punch. Overtaking isn't effortless but it only takes a drop down to third to dispatch most traffic. The Alpine must be a rocket ship with all that torque and so little mass...!

I loved my Cerbera for this too, it was only around 80kg heavier than the Alpine but it had 380Ibft. Overtaking cars was a doddle in that.

What I really like about the A110 though is that it only has a 1.8 engine but it offers the exact same 0 to 100 time(10.5 secs, plus it is quicker to 60 as well) as the manual V8(4 Litre) M3 I had!

Lightness counts for pretty much everything in my eyes hence my strong love for the Alpine.

[greenarrow]

Its funny but every article about the A110 is followed by comments by MX-5 owners explaining how their cars offer as much fun for a fraction of the price. I owned an NB MX-5 myself and for the price I paid it was huge fun, but really, an old MX-5 and a modern car like an Alpine are apples and pears! In fact the law of diminishing returns (price v fun) could apply to any new car. Strangely we don't see comments like that however when the latest Porsche Cayman/Boxster is reviewed.

I think we should just enjoy the Alpine while it exists. People have been moaning on PH for ages that cars are too heavy/remote/over-tyred etc and when one comes along that is nice and compact/light/not over powerful and tyred, people don't like it. Strange...

[Fittster]

Sharon-coizu said:

nickfrog said:

I always find that on the road the limiting factors are line of sight, traffic and licence/freedom preservation rather than skill so you probably only came across drivers who perhaps were less "committed", ie the vast majority on the open road, thankfully.

This is essentially my point, where in the UK can you really exploit a car quicker than an MX5 without risking your own life or worse still other people?

The limits of an MX5 are beyond what can be used on the public road. Do you really want to have to put up with an Austin A35 on cross ply tyres so you can honestly say you can drive to the cars limits on the road?

[Sharon-coizu]

Fittster said:

The limits of an MX5 are beyond what can be used on the public road. Do you really want to have to put up with an Austin A35 on cross ply tyres so you can honestly say you can drive to the cars limits on the road?

I think that is taking things to extreme. All I am saying is that on UK roads - specifically the roads that Dan is driving on, which I know very well - the MX5 is, in my opinion, going to be more than fast enough and has the advantage, to me, of being open topped.

I have driven the following cars on that road in ascending order of enjoyment

TTRS MK2
Honda Accord Type S
BMW M5 E60
Ford Fiesta 1.1 Popular Plus
Seat Ibiza FR
Mini Cooper S R53
Mazda MX-5 ND1
Mazda MX-5 30th Anniversary Edition
Toyota MR2 MK3

Edited by Sharon-coizu on Sunday 29th December 16:38

[MC Bodge]

I approve.

[MC Bodge]

jet_noise said:

For those puzzled about the foglights (and in case of grandmother egg sucking tutorial then I've a parrot cage ready) 'tis a nod to previous A110


ETA Beaten to it!

That would have a prominent place in my fantasy garage

[Onehp]

greenarrow said:

I think we should just enjoy the Alpine while it exists. People have been moaning on PH for ages that cars are too heavy/remote/over-tyred etc and when one comes along that is nice and compact/light/not over powerful and tyred, people don't like it. Strange...

As long as enough people get it, but seems like it is diminishing all the time...

cerb4.5lee said:

What I really like about the A110 though is that it only has a 1.8 engine but it offers the exact same 0 to 100 time(10.5 secs, plus it is quicker to 60 as well) as the manual V8(4 Litre) M3 I had!

Lightness counts for pretty much everything in my eyes hence my strong love for the Alpine.

Amen. People are blinded by 4-pot and hp figures, but it's plenty quick for the job. The 4-pot is necessary to keep weight goals. Like money can't buy health (sometimes it helps), likewise hp can never fully compensate increased weight.

By the way, doesn't this engine come with a ceramic ball bearing turbo? That's pretty neat and by @Dan Prosser review, the lag is very minimal which is great for engine enjoyment°. Likwise to weight, outright hp figures are trumped by response imho°°....



°what do other owners think? - getting a testdrive is near impossible where I live...

°°soon retrofitting my is38 turbo with a gt30 ceramic ball bearing hybrid is38, because response matters and staying 4-pot 2wd to keep weight down...

[anonymous-user]

I had an MX5 and yes it had all the power I needed. Did I want more? Of course! Because lets be honest, power is fun. I love the A110, and would love to own one one day. I can't massively see why the 2 cars are being compared, to me they seem like completely different things!

[Wills2]

I think it looks good grey, the lights are the best bit of the design I really like the front end of the Alpine, why it's turned into a thread about the Mx5 I'll never know...

[MC Bodge]

Onehp said:

greenarrow said:

I think we should just enjoy the Alpine while it exists. People have been moaning on PH for ages that cars are too heavy/remote/over-tyred etc and when one comes along that is nice and compact/light/not over powerful and tyred, people don't like it. Strange...

As long as enough people get it, but seems like it is diminishing all the time...

cerb4.5lee said:

What I really like about the A110 though is that it only has a 1.8 engine but it offers the exact same 0 to 100 time(10.5 secs, plus it is quicker to 60 as well) as the manual V8(4 Litre) M3 I had!

Lightness counts for pretty much everything in my eyes hence my strong love for the Alpine.

Amen. People are blinded by 4-pot and hp figures, but it's plenty quick for the job. The 4-pot is necessary to keep weight goals. Like money can't buy health (sometimes it helps), likewise hp can never fully compensate increased weight.

By the way, doesn't this engine come with a ceramic ball bearing turbo? That's pretty neat and by @Dan Prosser review, the lag is very minimal which is great for engine enjoyment°. Likwise to weight, outright hp figures are trumped by response imho°°....



°what do other owners think? - getting a testdrive is near impossible where I live...

°°soon retrofitting my is38 turbo with a gt30 ceramic ball bearing hybrid is38, because response matters and staying 4-pot 2wd to keep weight down...

This is supposed to be an enthusiast forum, so I'm confused by how many people appear to be critical of a car like this....

[nickfrog]

Onehp said:

By the way, doesn't this engine come with a ceramic ball bearing turbo?

Officially no but in practice I reckon there is only one turbo accross the entire Alpine and Megane RS range now. A RS engineer revealed to an Argus journo that they had to fit it on the 280 engine to offset the power loss when the particular filter was introduced. So perhaps the same applies to Alpine. I also think it would have made a lot of sense from a rationalisation POV. My particular 280 has excellent throttle response that's for sure.

[FaNtheMaN26]

I think colour choice makes such a difference to a cars look, and I know it's all subjective, but in white with the blue calippers, proper little looker....sorry dan but your spec is a bit anonymous to me.

But hey, your clearly happy (apart from the sports exhaust..!)

[anonymous-user]

Sharon-coizu said:

I think that is taking things to extreme. All I am saying is that on UK roads - specifically the roads that Dan is driving on, which I know very well - the MX5 is, in my opinion, going to be more than fast enough and has the advantage, to me, of being open topped.

I have driven the following cars on that road in ascending order of enjoyment

TTRS MK2
Honda Accord Type S
BMW M5 E60
Ford Fiesta 1.1 Popular Plus
Seat Ibiza FR
Mini Cooper S R53
Mazda MX-5 ND1
Mazda MX-5 30th Anniversary Edition
Toyota MR2 MK3

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 29th December 16:38

Yes, we’ve established it’s all you want.

[Speedgirl]

Its a bit odd this journalist reviewing his own stuff thing. Now I like Dan, and the Alpine, but objectivity left the room when the PCP was signed. Journos should avoid drinking too much of the Kool Aid methinks.