RE: Alpine A110 | PH Used Buying Guide

[CABC]

SidewaysSi said:

sege said:

Bloody hell, 11 pages and no definitive conclusion on if an Alpine is better than a Cayman or not! I'm confused.

Can someone help me? I want the best performing sports car in this segment. My priorities are:

Residuals
Badge snobbery appeal, to impress my neighbours.
Ability to carry golf clubs (no i don't actually play I just think this is an important measure of practicality)
A high level of "perceived quality" (perceived by others that I want to impress, obviously).
Ability to go to the shops and get shopping, in bags.
German.

?

They are the most important considerations in a sports car I think.

Don't forget that you need it to be light too. You have no idea why but remember a bloke mentioning something about "adding lightness" or something like that.

I haven't being paying attention, maybe I'm a millennial, anyway, I understand 350kg to be:
- not true, somebody made it up
- only accounted for with options anyway
- not very heavy in any case
- even if it is, it's irrelevant to sports cars

is that correct?

[Royal Jelly]

This is turning into a great circle-jerk - can anyone join in?

[BarryGibb]

otolith said:

931kg according to that link.

The Exige tested by Autocar recently was 80kg more than claimed, so wouldn't be surprised if the Elise was more also.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/lotus/exige/r...

[ddom]

Royal Jelly said:

This is turning into a great circle-jerk - can anyone join in?

Not enough action in Porsche circles?

[Royal Jelly]

ddom said:

Not enough action in Porsche circles?

I thought there was a robust circle jerking scene there, but I’m jealous that it’s been comprehensively outdone.

I shall place my order STAT!

[cerb4.5lee]

So is the A110 better than the Cayman overall then or not?

I presume that you have to get both of them to be fair though. Then you've the Porsche to impress the neighbours and go golfing/shopping in, and you then have the A110 to enjoy as a lighter weight drivers car as well. A win, win.

[Sporky]

cerb4.5lee said:

So is the A110 better than the Cayman overall then or not?

Anyone with any sense and £50k to spend on a sports car would buy an 18-year-old 230,000 mile Camry. It's got the same engine as an Evora after all.

[tarquin274]

Alpine fans - just obsessed with bloody Porsches...

[cerb4.5lee]

Sporky said:

Anyone with any sense and £50k to spend on a sports car would buy an 18-year-old 230,000 mile Camry. It's got the same engine as an Evora after all.

[cerb4.5lee]

tarquin274 said:

Alpine fans - just obsessed with bloody Porsches...

I think that the Porsche fans also feel threatened by the Alpine as well being fair....well judging from the threads on here anyway.

[Royal Jelly]

Sporky said:

Anyone with any sense and £50k to spend on a sports car would buy an 18-year-old 230,000 mile Camry. It's got the same engine as an Evora after all.

I’d sign off on that

[Miserablegit]

tarquin274 said:

Alpine fans - just obsessed with bloody Porsches...

Not half as obsessed as the Porsche fans who don’t own a Porsche are with alpine.

[PH User]

Miserablegit said:

tarquin274 said:

Alpine fans - just obsessed with bloody Porsches...

Not half as obsessed as the Porsche fans who don’t own a Porsche are with alpine.

I think both your replies show just how difficult it is to have a sensible debate about these cars. Both cars have things that they do better than the other, so just choose the one that fits your needs better.

[Miserablegit]

Thanks for your input.

Tarquin is a constant troll and doesn’t even own a Porsche.

This is an Alpine buyer‘s guide - it is there to provide guidance to would-be buyers.
The Porsche is the natural competitor and there has been a constructive debate about weights etc.
What would you rather see?

[Sporky]

Also highlights the ability of the Internet to get people backed into a corner, from which position they'll fight to the death about one car's superiority over another based on the colour of the pen used to indicate that the seat bolts have been correctly torqued.

[otolith]

BarryGibb said:

otolith said:

931kg according to that link.

The Exige tested by Autocar recently was 80kg more than claimed, so wouldn't be surprised if the Elise was more also.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/lotus/exige/r...

931kg quoted in the AutoCar link is more than 922kg quoted on the Lotus website.

https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/model/elise-sport-...

It is also claimed that if you spec all the weight saving options (lithium ion battery, polycarbonate rear window, carbon panels, presumably also the titanium exhaust) you can get it sub-900:

"Further weight savings can be achieved with an extensive range of optional carbon fibre panels, including sill covers and engine cover, lithium-ion battery plus a lightweight polycarbonate rear window. With all the lightweight options chosen, the mass of the Elise Sport 240 reduces further from 922kg to 898kg."

https://centrallotus.com/elise-sport-240-final-edi...

I'm sceptical that manufacturers flat-out lie about weights because validating the claims is hardly rocket science - I think they could be more transparent about the spec of the cars they quote, and I think the magazines could be more transparent about the spec of the cars they test. That Exige review suggests that noise levels could be reduced by adding the optional sound insulation pack - I wonder if they actually already had it...

[Miserablegit]

otolith said:

I'm sceptical that manufacturers flat-out lie about weights because validating the claims is hardly rocket science - I think they could be more transparent about the spec of the cars they quote, and I think the magazines could be more transparent about the spec of the cars they test. That Exige review suggests that noise levels could be reduced by adding the optional sound insulation pack - I wonder if they actually already had it...

I don’t think the larger discrepancies can be down to trim levels..
Just don’t ask Alfa about the 4c weights…

[Miserablegit]

just found out extended warranties are available- £1250 for 3 more years /up to 80,000 miles. Might be worth negotiating one of those into any dealer sale.

[nickfrog]

You've got to wonder what kind of disgruntled weirdo trolls a thread about a car they've never driven nor will ever buy.

[otolith]

Miserablegit said:

otolith said:

I'm sceptical that manufacturers flat-out lie about weights because validating the claims is hardly rocket science - I think they could be more transparent about the spec of the cars they quote, and I think the magazines could be more transparent about the spec of the cars they test. That Exige review suggests that noise levels could be reduced by adding the optional sound insulation pack - I wonder if they actually already had it...

I don’t think the larger discrepancies can be down to trim levels..
Just don’t ask Alfa about the 4c weights…

I think they quote weights which are misleading (like quoting dry weights) but the DIN weights should be measured to a standard. If they are flat out lying, that's a dieselgate level sin.