Alpine A110 owners
Discussion
bcr5784 said:
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The best thing to generate more sales would a targa top, but that would also be expensive to do.
I think the S model in particular should have been higher specced - almost a 10 grand premium for mostly a remap is very steep, hence the lukewarm at best reviews. Given the premium this should have been more akin to a Cup model, with more significant upgrades throughout. Instead it will be a tiny seller.The best thing to generate more sales would a targa top, but that would also be expensive to do.
bcr5784 said:
I think one of the first updates should be to provide more interior storage. That should be relatively easy. But making the boot larger? That seems very difficult and would surely entail lengthening the car. As it happens I think that a longer tail would be aesthetically a good thing, but I can't see it being a cheap development.
The best thing to generate more sales would a targa top, but that would also be expensive to do.
Good point on the interior storage - shows I haven't lived with one yet! The best thing to generate more sales would a targa top, but that would also be expensive to do.
Agreed, both targa and any significant boot expansion would be very unlikely developments. I'd settle for the ability to fit a roof box (which I think you can't, even with suckers?)
khart said:
According to last weeks Autocar Alpine sold 1529 cars in 2020, a drop of 68 % on 2019. For comparison Porsche sold 14666 Cayman / Boxter and BMW Z4 15,172. Worryingly small numbers for the future of the car. Not sure an update will help much.
Fingers crossed that this was somewhat caused by the rumours of Alpine being abandoned. Now Renault has committed to the brand (to the point of rebranding the F1 team!), hopefully that'll help their numbers.Fingers crossed!
I was chatting about this with my wife the other day — I love my A110 _so_ much that I think it might be a "forever" car for me. One that I keep until it's literally unusable any more. If Alpine does do a "last edition" at some point (like Lotus with the Elise, etc) — especially if it has an upgraded infotainment with CarPlay etc — I'd likely be tempted to trade mine in for one of those and run _that_ into the ground instead.
I'd also get it in a stupid colour (like yellow, or orange) just to protest the sea of grey the roads are these days!
Olivera said:
I think the S model in particular should have been higher specced - almost a 10 grand premium for mostly a remap is very steep, hence the lukewarm at best reviews. Given the premium this should have been more akin to a Cup model, with more significant upgrades throughout. Instead it will be a tiny seller.
Speccing up a Pure to similar levels as the standard S does close that 10k gap to less than 5k, but yeah, they had to at least include the higher power tune. Although this hardly counts as data, it does seem like all the initial Atelier cars they've built are S models, so some people are buying them. Works better in Europe (and more profitable) I imagine.Targa would be great, but agree, major job so unlikely. Same for creating meaningful additional space. With a hovering finger over the order button and so so tempted... I'd be equally a bit narked if a much more modern infotainment suddenly appeared. I do recognise that in the grand scheme of things its not critical but having used the current BMW interface you do get very used to its clarity and ease of use.
iKenndac said:
khart said:
According to last weeks Autocar Alpine sold 1529 cars in 2020, a drop of 68 % on 2019. For comparison Porsche sold 14666 Cayman / Boxter and BMW Z4 15,172. Worryingly small numbers for the future of the car. Not sure an update will help much.
Fingers crossed that this was somewhat caused by the rumours of Alpine being abandoned. Now Renault has committed to the brand (to the point of rebranding the F1 team!), hopefully that'll help their numbers.Fingers crossed!
I was chatting about this with my wife the other day — I love my A110 _so_ much that I think it might be a "forever" car for me. One that I keep until it's literally unusable any more. If Alpine does do a "last edition" at some point (like Lotus with the Elise, etc) — especially if it has an upgraded infotainment with CarPlay etc — I'd likely be tempted to trade mine in for one of those and run _that_ into the ground instead.
I'd also get it in a stupid colour (like yellow, or orange) just to protest the sea of grey the roads are these days!
Olivera said:
I think the S model in particular should have been higher specced - almost a 10 grand premium for mostly a remap is very steep, hence the lukewarm at best reviews. Given the premium this should have been more akin to a Cup model, with more significant upgrades throughout. Instead it will be a tiny seller.
I suspect this is a stage in a plan which will see them steadily increase the price of this car to keep up with the premium image and help residuals. Also gives existing owners something different to buy when their PCP ends.Hoofty said:
Good point on the interior storage - shows I haven't lived with one yet!
Agreed, both targa and any significant boot expansion would be very unlikely developments. I'd settle for the ability to fit a roof box (which I think you can't, even with suckers?)
https://boot-bag.com/2/language/en/by-make-model/alpine-a110-luggage-rack-boot-bag/Agreed, both targa and any significant boot expansion would be very unlikely developments. I'd settle for the ability to fit a roof box (which I think you can't, even with suckers?)
I'd be thinking about all the scratched paint... but its an option!
jjgreenwood said:
I suspect this is a stage in a plan which will see them steadily increase the price of this car to keep up with the premium image and help residuals. Also gives existing owners something different to buy when their PCP ends.
The other elephant in the room for the S is the Cayman GTS 4.0. Once the S with options is into the 60ks then (imo) it's a no brainer to go for the Porsche, even if it ends up 5-10k dearer with options. The S really needs to be of a higher spec to compete.biggles330d said:
Hoofty said:
Good point on the interior storage - shows I haven't lived with one yet!
Agreed, both targa and any significant boot expansion would be very unlikely developments. I'd settle for the ability to fit a roof box (which I think you can't, even with suckers?)
https://boot-bag.com/2/language/en/by-make-model/alpine-a110-luggage-rack-boot-bag/Agreed, both targa and any significant boot expansion would be very unlikely developments. I'd settle for the ability to fit a roof box (which I think you can't, even with suckers?)
I'd be thinking about all the scratched paint... but its an option!
Olivera said:
The other elephant in the room for the S is the Cayman GTS 4.0. Once the S with options is into the 60ks then (imo) it's a no brainer to go for the Porsche, even if it ends up 5-10k dearer with options. The S really needs to be of a higher spec to compete.
To compete where? The main market for Alpine will always be it's domestic one. On registration of an A110, its frugal engine results in a French malus tax (pollution tax) of around 2000 euros. The Cayman GT 4.0 with a whopping 246g/km CO2 figure maxes out on the 2021 malus at 30,000 euros. I don't see many Frenchies paying an extra 28k in tax to trim 0.2sec off the 0-100km/h time. Nor do I see Alpine manufacturing a car which is essentially unaffordable in their domestic market, as the GT 4.0 is, just so they can sell a few to the UK. Edited by rick.e on Tuesday 16th February 16:58
Hoofty said:
Olivera said:
I think the S model in particular should have been higher specced - almost a 10 grand premium for mostly a remap is very steep, hence the lukewarm at best reviews. Given the premium this should have been more akin to a Cup model, with more significant upgrades throughout. Instead it will be a tiny seller.
Speccing up a Pure to similar levels as the standard S does close that 10k gap to less than 5k, but yeah, they had to at least include the higher power tune. Although this hardly counts as data, it does seem like all the initial Atelier cars they've built are S models, so some people are buying them. Works better in Europe (and more profitable) I imagine.khart said:
I bought my S with the view it was a more practical Elise, I never really considered a Cayman and second hand with a 10k discount it made sense.
Same here. Having previous owned an Elise and Exige the A110 just felt more grown up for 95% of the fun of a Lotus. Also didn’t consider the Cayman, whilst a good car it felt too big, expensive and less involving.Olivera said:
The other elephant in the room for the S is the Cayman GTS 4.0. Once the S with options is into the 60ks then (imo) it's a no brainer to go for the Porsche, even if it ends up 5-10k dearer with options. The S really needs to be of a higher spec to compete.
I have to agree that the S looks expensive (compared with a well specced Pure). However, most of those that have bought an A110 could have gone for (or came from) flat 6 Porsches, so I doubt the GTS 4.0 will make any difference to them. I think those that really want the bling that goes with a Porsche won't "get" what an A110 is about - and heavy extras like electric seats etc are anathema to the ethos of the A110.
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