Alpine A110 owners

[springfan62]

Infotainment is a bit pants but I just stick music on bluetooth from phone, use waze for navigation and ignore the thing.
Sound quality is pretty average even with the Premium option.

Certainly wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

[bcr5784]

springfan62 said:

Infotainment is a bit pants but I just stick music on bluetooth from phone, use waze for navigation and ignore the thing.
Sound quality is pretty average even with the Premium option.

Certainly wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

I thought the Focal system without the subwoofer was much better than with it (and actually pretty good). Couldn't get clean bass with subwoofer however I played with the settings.

[domrusty]

s111dpc said:

Changing the subject for a minute it looks like the Renault Alpine owners club are organising a meet at Thruxton in September. Would be great to see some of the owners on here, assuming we’re out of lockdown by then of course

I’m up for that

[bcr5784]

s111dpc said:

Changing the subject for a minute it looks like the Renault Alpine owners club are organising a meet at Thruxton in September. Would be great to see some of the owners on here, assuming we’re out of lockdown by then of course

Do you have a link? Didn't spot it on the RAOC site (but only had a man look).

[Franzino]

Sporky said:

I'd planned on a brief trundle on Sunday but the battery was flat again - fully charged it two/three weeks ago.

I've therefore ordered one of the CTEK chargers with the eyelet connector cable that can be permanently left attached so I don't have to keep popping the plastic trim off, and then I can leave the car on trickle whenever it's in the garage.

This may be a silly question, but I'm aware that car batteries can be very ouchy if you poke them wrong. What is the correct approach to connecting the eyelets to the battery terminals?

This is how I did the CTek LED connector under the hood. Connection is straight forward on the battery.

By the way; The Alpine has a Enhanced Flooded Battery (EFB). When charging this EFB battery, don't activate the EGM function that certain Ctek chargers have.

[Franzino]

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.

In all honesty; the S model is mostly a marketing car (even my Alpine dealer calls is this way). But it has his purpose; if you don't like to modify your car and want to use the A110 more on track then the S is a nice option to have. But it's nothing like a GT or Cup car look a like....maybe this will come some day (together with the Targa).

[Franzino]

s111dpc said:

My original plan was to go for a Pure with a few options, but once I’d spec’d it up the S was ‘only’ a couple of grand more so I went for that instead. Can’t say that I regret it

True; when you spec a Pure till de level of a S the price difference is not that big.

[Franzino]

bcr5784 said:

I thought the Focal system without the subwoofer was much better than with it (and actually pretty good). Couldn't get clean bass with subwoofer however I played with the settings.

Honestly; we have the premium Focal system with subwoofer and when I drove the Alpine of the dealer (with Focal system without subwoofer) I also had the idea the cheaper system sounded clearer, more natural.

[bcr5784]

Franzino said:

True; when you spec a Pure till de level of a S the price difference is not that big.

4grand or so for a remap and stiffer springs and dampers (which cost practically nothing) and minor cosmetic differences seem like a lot to me.

[Franzino]

bcr5784 said:

4grand or so for a remap and stiffer springs and dampers (which cost practically nothing) and minor cosmetic differences seem like a lot to me.

A remap + a set of stiffer springs/dampers + stiffer anti rol bars will be around 3K to fit afterwards. Some people just don't like to modify their new car. For the record; if I wanted a more track orientated A110 I would take a Pure and fit aftermarket suspension and not a S. For me the S was not my taste of Alpine when I drove it. It lost some of the unique and typical A110 character...for me personally the best A110 is the one with slightly stiffer Life110 springs and different geo (but that's my personal opinion that suits my driving style and usage of the Alpine best).

[s111dpc]

bcr5784 said:

s111dpc said:

Changing the subject for a minute it looks like the Renault Alpine owners club are organising a meet at Thruxton in September. Would be great to see some of the owners on here, assuming we’re out of lockdown by then of course

Do you have a link? Didn't spot it on the RAOC site (but only had a man look).

Hopefully this works:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1329574710758685

[bcr5784]

Franzino said:

Honestly; we have the premium Focal system with subwoofer and when I drove the Alpine of the dealer (with Focal system without subwoofer) I also had the idea the cheaper system sounded clearer, more natural.

The music that convinced me that the subwoofer detracted from the bass was Queen We Will Rock You. The initial "drum" beat isn't a drum at all it's actually a boot stomping on floor boards. With the basic Focal system it's quite obvious that its a boot not a drum - with the subwoofer you really couldn't be sure.

[bcr5784]

s111dpc said:

Hopefully this works:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1329574710758685

It does! Thanks!

[khart]

Franzino said:

A remap + a set of stiffer springs/dampers + stiffer anti rol bars will be around 3K to fit afterwards. Some people just don't like to modify their new car. For the record; if I wanted a more track orientated A110 I would take a Pure and fit aftermarket suspension and not a S. For me the S was not my taste of Alpine when I drove it. It lost some of the unique and typical A110 character...for me personally the best A110 is the one with slightly stiffer Life110 springs and different geo (but that's my personal opinion that suits my driving style and usage of the Alpine best).

plus larger wheels and tyres , sports exhaust , bigger brakes, upgraded sound system and head lining as standard. It's a bit like comparing an Elise 220 and an Elise cup 250....

[bcr5784]

khart said:

plus larger wheels and tyres , sports exhaust , bigger brakes, upgraded sound system and head lining as standard. It's a bit like comparing an Elise 220 and an Elise cup 250....

Not quite. You can specify all of the bits except the bigger tyres you mention on a Pure. It comes to 3.5k less than an S. So you are paying that much for the remap, slightly bigger tyres, stiffer springs and AR bars.

[Sporky]

You get orangey bits too!

[bcr5784]

Sporky said:

You get orangey bits too!

I did specify coloured calipers in the configurator - albeit you can't get orange ones on the pure.

[khart]

bcr5784 said:

Not quite. You can specify all of the bits except the bigger tyres you mention on a Pure. It comes to 3.5k less than an S. So you are paying that much for the remap, slightly bigger tyres, stiffer springs and AR bars.

I get that you don't rate the 's' and consider it a waste of money but they are all great cars. 1 is more track oriented which is what some people prefer. Having driven the pure it is great but a little ' soft' for me. Some people are more pipe and slippers.

[bcr5784]

khart said:

I get that you don't rate the 's' and consider it a waste of money but they are all great cars. 1 is more track oriented which is what some people prefer. Having driven the pure it is great but a little ' soft' for me. Some people are more pipe and slippers.

Not what I'm saying - just that you are paying a lot for changes that cost Alpine almost nothing. Just a value for money judgement.

[Sporky]

khart said:

Some people are more pipe and slippers.

I do own a smoking cap, and a rather nice blue velvet jacket. No pipe though.

If there'd been one, I'd have taken a softer option than the Pure. Maybe a turbo 3-cylinder doing 180bhp, 16-inch wheels, and a 50mm suspension hike. We have some big potholes 'round here.