Alpine A110 owners

Alpine A110 owners

Author
Discussion

bcr5784

7,109 posts

145 months

Thursday 5th March 2020
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Had mine set up this week too. Just checking the settings because a courtesy car I had felt quite a bit different to mine. Mine was only slightly out - but like yours, rather asymetric. The car was noticeably keener to turn in to the left than to the right as a result. That's now fixed. Contrary to what David suggests, mine has never had any sidewind stability issues - sure it's not as "planted" as a Cayman, but even in high winds it's perfectly manageable at autobahn speeds. I had the courtesy cars geo checked to see if I could glean why the steering seemed to have more feel - but nothing obvious. It was noticeable that both my car and it had less caster on the OSF than the NSF - it's not adjustable unfortunately so nothing could be done.

Mine still hasn't got much steering feel - but I'm never in any doubt how much grip I've got - you get loads of feel through seat of your pants.

I'm a bit surprised that adding front camber would aid stability - though he is compensating with more rear camber. I'll be interest to see how you get on - I've downloaded David's settings so I can put them on if I want to.

banana

89 posts

238 months

Friday 6th March 2020
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Please could I ask if any fellow A110 owners have noticed fluctuating coolant temps?

I don't know if its the result of an undamped sensor or if the 2nd coolant expansion tank / thermostat coming into play.

Example I'm seeing is steady driving at around 60mph with coolant temp of 90 degrees - then accelerating and the coolant dropping really quickly by 20 degrees (less than 10 seconds).

Seems much too quick a response to the radiators getting extra airflow due to higher speed.

iKenndac

102 posts

214 months

Friday 6th March 2020
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bcr5784 said:
It was noticeable that both my car and it had less caster on the OSF than the NSF - it's not adjustable unfortunately so nothing could be done.
Mine's like that too, but only very slightly (0.08° difference between them). I'll be getting summer tyres on it in a couple of weeks, then a trackday a couple of weeks after that. Can't wait to really stretch this thing's legs!

banana said:
Please could I ask if any fellow A110 owners have noticed fluctuating coolant temps?
I've noticed that occasionally too. Since it's all within operating range I don't pay it much attention — these gauges are normally damped/smoothed/"faked" for a reason!

bcr5784

7,109 posts

145 months

Friday 6th March 2020
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banana said:
Please could I ask if any fellow A110 owners have noticed fluctuating coolant temps?

I don't know if its the result of an undamped sensor or if the 2nd coolant expansion tank / thermostat coming into play.

Example I'm seeing is steady driving at around 60mph with coolant temp of 90 degrees - then accelerating and the coolant dropping really quickly by 20 degrees (less than 10 seconds).

Seems much too quick a response to the radiators getting extra airflow due to higher speed.
Others on the FAR website have said the same, so I think it's "normal".

banana

89 posts

238 months

Friday 6th March 2020
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Thanks. Good to hear it might be normal but would love to know the technical reason behind it if anyone can expand.

I was thinking we need more photos on this post so as it Friday post up your favourite A110 pic.




springfan62

837 posts

76 months

Friday 6th March 2020
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Talyllyn by Springfan62, on Flickr

Here's an Alpine Sunset!

Miserablegit

4,021 posts

109 months

Wednesday 11th March 2020
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Lovely photos - this is only from the phone:
[url]

And then I went to take a photo and some old plastic Fiat parked in the way |https://thumbsnap.com/G0yc7mfN[/url]

s111dpc

Original Poster:

1,344 posts

229 months

Saturday 21st March 2020
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First picture on my new car - due to be collected new weekend, lockdown permitting!

Franzino

494 posts

160 months

Sunday 22nd March 2020
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Franzino

494 posts

160 months

Sunday 22nd March 2020
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springfan62 said:
I have been following David and his Alpine Life modifications, really interested to hear feedback from other people who have implemented the change.

I am not keen on making modifications to the car but tweeking the suspension settings may well be worth considering.

Did you install his alternative springs as well?
I preordered the bespoke springs in 2019...normally I'm going to get them fitted a the end of april (with the bespoke alignement).

Talking about suspension; when hitting bumps and stuff...is the Alpine suspension louder then in most other cars? I probably has to do with the full aluminium body and not so much sound deadening?

Franzino

494 posts

160 months

Sunday 22nd March 2020
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bcr5784 said:
Had mine set up this week too. Just checking the settings because a courtesy car I had felt quite a bit different to mine.
Had this also; when driving the courtesy Alpine it felt different.

By the way; do all you A110 guys have such bad FM/DAB radio reception (it's just horrible).

Franzino

494 posts

160 months

Sunday 22nd March 2020
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Montygt4 said:
Sorry that was “miles “ . More photos to follow .... promise no more than 4,000 revs until done 1,000 miles
I did the first 500km under 2.500rpm, then from 500km until 2.000km I stayed under 3.500rpm. Now I'm increasing rpm until I hit 3.000km.

bcr5784

7,109 posts

145 months

Sunday 22nd March 2020
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Franzino said:
Talking about suspension; when hitting bumps and stuff...is the Alpine suspension louder then in most other cars? I probably has to do with the full aluminium body and not so much sound deadening?
No. Bump thump is well supressed and there are no bonks, bangs or creaks from my suspension. I would say very good in that respect. Mine's a PE - tyre roar is a tad louder in the S, but no noises off in that either, but I didn't drive very far in the S on rough roads.

bcr5784

7,109 posts

145 months

Sunday 22nd March 2020
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Franzino said:
By the way; do all you A110 guys have such bad FM/DAB radio reception (it's just horrible).
My engineer tells me that on some cars the (separate) aerials for FM and DAB are fitted the wrong way round. Might be worth checking. Don't use the radio much - and mainly Radio 4 - but reception seems OK. After a software update that was supposed to improve DAB , my guy asked me to check DAB reception and between me (Buckingham) and West London DAB seemed OK - though not perfect. Is your reception bad everywhere - it's certainly seems location dependent?

Edited by bcr5784 on Sunday 22 March 13:51

Franzino

494 posts

160 months

Monday 23rd March 2020
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bcr5784 said:
My engineer tells me that on some cars the (separate) aerials for FM and DAB are fitted the wrong way round. Might be worth checking. Don't use the radio much - and mainly Radio 4 - but reception seems OK. After a software update that was supposed to improve DAB , my guy asked me to check DAB reception and between me (Buckingham) and West London DAB seemed OK - though not perfect. Is your reception bad everywhere - it's certainly seems location dependent?

Edited by bcr5784 on Sunday 22 March 13:51
Will ask in my garage next time...

s111dpc

Original Poster:

1,344 posts

229 months

Monday 23rd March 2020
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At the risk of appearing insensitive giving the current situation, I picked up my new 110s this afternoon. Was a fun 50 mile drive home, but I fear it will be the last time I drive it for a while. Keep safe everyone.

Miserablegit

4,021 posts

109 months

Wednesday 25th March 2020
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s111dpc said:
At the risk of appearing insensitive giving the current situation, I picked up my new 110s this afternoon. Was a fun 50 mile drive home, but I fear it will be the last time I drive it for a while. Keep safe everyone.
Enjoy! Try to find an excuse to use it for a food run!

TopazCerb

174 posts

181 months

Saturday 28th March 2020
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Franzino said:
I preordered the bespoke springs in 2019...normally I'm going to get them fitted a the end of april (with the bespoke alignement).

Talking about suspension; when hitting bumps and stuff...is the Alpine suspension louder then in most other cars? I probably has to do with the full aluminium body and not so much sound deadening?
You will not be disappointed with the new spring setup.

I took my standard Pure to David around 3 months ago and had his geo settings applied. The car was noticeably quicker during turn in and felt even more agile.

Then 2 weeks ago, I sent the car in again to have the new springs fitted, swapped out the wheels for a set of EVO Corses which are supplied by Signatech who build the WEC, A110 GT4, A110 Cup and A110 Rally Cars. I also had a set of new PS4 tyres in S spec sizes fitted to the wheels.

The result is incredible! The car has been completely transformed. Turn in is now even sharper and the stability is hugely improved, whilst maintaining the magnificent ride. I have only taken it out for a few short runs (before we were asked to stay at home) but it is now a absolute missile down twisty B roads!

I drove a S back to back with a Pure at the Alpine track day at Thruxton last year and came away thinking it would be nice to have a slightly stiffer setup, however I did not want to loose the playful nature of the Pure.

David’s setup has created exactly the characteristics I was hoping to achieve and I think it now looks a lot better too, with a slightly lower stance and the new wheels. I added the black lettering earlier today as a finishing touch.

For anyone looking to improve the handling characteristics of a already fantastic car, I would thoroughly recommend a visit to Spires Tuning and letting David work his magic!






Edited by TopazCerb on Saturday 28th March 22:24


Edited by TopazCerb on Saturday 28th March 22:26

TurboBlue

672 posts

163 months

Saturday 28th March 2020
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There is a good write up in Autocar too

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/three-...

Franzino

494 posts

160 months

Sunday 29th March 2020
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TopazCerb said:
You will not be disappointed with the new spring setup.

I took my standard Pure to David around 3 months ago and had his geo settings applied. The car was noticeably quicker during turn in and felt even more agile.

Then 2 weeks ago, I sent the car in again to have the new springs fitted, swapped out the wheels for a set of EVO Corses which are supplied by Signatech who build the WEC, A110 GT4, A110 Cup and A110 Rally Cars. I also had a set of new PS4 tyres in S spec sizes fitted to the wheels.

The result is incredible! The car has been completely transformed. Turn in is now even sharper and the stability is hugely improved, whilst maintaining the magnificent ride. I have only taken it out for a few short runs (before we were asked to stay at home) but it is now a absolute missile down twisty B roads!

I drove a S back to back with a Pure at the Alpine track day at Thruxton last year and came away thinking it would be nice to have a slightly stiffer setup, however I did not want to loose the playful nature of the Pure.

David’s setup has created exactly the characteristics I was hoping to achieve and I think it now looks a lot better too, with a slightly lower stance and the new wheels. I added the black lettering earlier today as a finishing touch.

For anyone looking to improve the handling characteristics of a already fantastic car, I would thoroughly recommend a visit to Spires Tuning and letting David work his magic!
I'm following David his IG account since some time. When he made the springs available to preorder at the end of 2019. I think I was number 2 on the reservation list. As he described; it perfectly addressed (changed) the small details in handling that were no so much my own personal taste on the standard A110 (we have a Legende). I also test drove a S; this was a great car…but for daily use I prefer a non S (also; at that time we already had the Legende sitting in our garage).

Normally I needed to go the UK at the end of April and I arranged my trip so that I would take the Alpine and at the same time visit Spires, get the springs fitted (the springs are now with them) and get the bespoke alignment done also. Like I said; it will be done on a later time when (hopefully) everything returns to a somewhat more normal world.

I know about the slightly wider EVO Corse wheels...the specs look really nice. But I’m not that in love with the design of these wheels and like our PE Fuchs summerwheels better (they are also lighter). I’m also planning to fit the PS4 tyres in S spec size when the time comes. These S tyres fit the standard PE Fuchs wheels also. Apparently the S and non S wheels (Fuchs) are exactly the same in size…only the tyres are different. You think the slightly wider Evo Corse wheels (besides the S tyres) make a big difference in handling?

By the way; are you Insta? Always nice to follow a fellow Alpine enthousiast.