Daily driver & if not what else do you drive

[PhilipIbrahim]

A new interior mods thread would be nice, it is a particularly good time to start as AlexNJ89 recently posted about his tan seat retrim.

I want to jazz up my interior to reflect (not match) my purple paint and a new thread would hopefully give me some ideas.

[Debbiesd]

20 year old 996 turbo is my daily ( it still surprises me how quick it is and how quick it must have felt 20:years ago)
I love my A110, almost 3 years old now,10,000 miles legende with pretty much every extra except carbon roof which if I had I’d paint in body colour.

I do worry a little that it won’t be as great if it were 20:years old and 110,000 miles like the turbo, just how well it will hold up , but I just enjoy it, got a rake a mods lined up for when the warranty expires next month ( I run a historic race team)

Other cars in the fleet
996.2GT3
Integrale Evo
Evo 6 RS
205 GTI fia historic rally
Volvo XC90 ( possibly the most comfortable and safest car on the road )

[kitcat7]

It's interesting to see what others consider necessary transport, in addition to their little Alpine. I believe in having a car for each use I need, therefore, in addition to the A110 Legende, I have an old Hilux double cab pickup with a custom flatbed platform for the dirty work, my daily is an all electric MG5, a fantastic car and so well priced too, my other fun car is a Morgan ARP4 with the 225bhp Cosworth 2 litre, my wife has an X5 which is also our long distance car and I will finish with my Ducato based coachbuilt Mo'home.

I think that little lot covers all my motoring needs and for the off road stuff I have a tractor and a quad, plus half a dozen trailers of varying sizes, as you do.

[Whaleblue]

I’m amazed (and not at all envious!) of the fleets folk on here have.

We have one car at present - a recent Seat Ateca 2WD but with “all the toys”. The Alpine will make two. As I’m semi-retired and mostly work from home for my three day week the Alpine will be the high days and holidays car - and my occasional commuter as long as there’s no salt on the roads.

Edited by Whaleblue on Saturday 11th February 22:45

[rix]

Bit of a bump to this thread...

After a year in a GR Yaris which I felt wasn't special enough inside and some basic convenience features missing (decent stereo, parking sensors, rear wiper!) I went back to a BMW and currently in a m340i which is a fab daily but a little anonymous. Remember the first time I saw a a110 on the road and have always been a fan. Originally put off by the DCT but actually now that is a plus point! Feels (looks) like a special car to me and love the idea of something small/light but easy to live with. Would you call the alpine 'fun' or more 'impressive'?

I don't need the practicality but my daily drive is 20 miles of motorway and a bit of local stuff either end. Appreciate the a110 would be wasted on this, but will it be annoying? How is the ride/comfort? How is the steering feel? Given the keen PCPs about I'm tempted with GT as a daily...

[Terminator X]

I had intended to use mine as a daily but it feels a bit too special to me to be driving it every day. I do still use it though

Other cars in the household - RSQ3 and old ish Polo.

I do have my eye on a 2nd car though, thinking perhaps a C63 estate to scratch the V8 itch. Again!

TX.

[bcr5784]

rix said:

Bit of a bump to this thread...

Feels (looks) like a special car to me and love the idea of something small/light but easy to live with. Would you call the alpine 'fun' or more 'impressive'?

I don't need the practicality but my daily drive is 20 miles of motorway and a bit of local stuff either end. Appreciate the a110 would be wasted on this, but will it be annoying? How is the ride/comfort? How is the steering feel? Given the keen PCPs about I'm tempted with GT as a daily...

Ive had a Cayman - and that was very capable, very well rounded and,yes, "impressive" - but for me, not that lovable. The A110 is, by comparison, just a bundle of "fun" that puts a smile on your face even on the most dreary of journeys. Go for the Pure or GT and the ride is very good - a bit firm around town but great at B road speeds and up. Motorways are fine - much less road noise than the Cayman and quiet enough to listen to stereo. Personally would go for the Pure that than GT - the seats are more comfy if they fit you. However you can't have the 300bhp engine in the pure if that's important. The San Remo special edition had that combination - but it's pricey and you might not like the decor.

[J321 ALP]

I guess most of us who own Alpines will feel that it could easily cope with a 20 mile daily trip to and from work. For me it’s just a great car to be in and I only need to slightest excuse to jump in. I even find that I take a longer route sometimes if I use it to pop to the shops or for petrol. In normal mode it will bimble along quite happily on a daily trip but I bet most days you would find yourself engaging sport or track to enjoy any curves or even the slip roads on and off the motorway, traffic allowing.

[Hoofty]

Another vote for 'yes it can' (and it'd be your car so use it how you wish) - I've driven 4/6/8/10 hours on motorways before now and it's surprisingly adept at both that and pottering about. After three years and 30k my only annoyance is the way the (pre facelift) infotainment defaults to radio on key-on. Wouldn't be an issue for you!

It has just been demoted from daily duties thanks to picking up an i3, but anything further flung than ~50 miles remains its remit.

Nick

Edit: More specific responses

Ride - widely praised by the press, although some find the base chassis surprisingly firm, particularly at low speeds. Could be argued that it lacks control over larger inputs (and certainly on track), but as a fan of old French cars, I kinda like it. For daily use, although not Rolls Royce smooth or silent, it's pretty well balanced and not crashy.

Steering - depends what you like really (as an example, to me no BMW I've ever driven has 'good' steering feel), but it's manoeuvrable, responsive, linear, easy to place and doesn't have any glaring deadband issues. Some prefer the extra weight in Sport mode. It's not 911-talkative when loaded up, but still sufficiently confidence inspiring in road use.

Edited by Hoofty on Tuesday 5th March 08:02

[Rob_RCF]

rix said:

Bit of a bump to this thread...

After a year in a GR Yaris which I felt wasn't special enough inside and some basic convenience features missing (decent stereo, parking sensors, rear wiper!) I went back to a BMW and currently in a m340i which is a fab daily but a little anonymous. Remember the first time I saw a a110 on the road and have always been a fan. Originally put off by the DCT but actually now that is a plus point! Feels (looks) like a special car to me and love the idea of something small/light but easy to live with. Would you call the alpine 'fun' or more 'impressive'?

I don't need the practicality but my daily drive is 20 miles of motorway and a bit of local stuff either end. Appreciate the a110 would be wasted on this, but will it be annoying? How is the ride/comfort? How is the steering feel? Given the keen PCPs about I'm tempted with GT as a daily...

I think the A110 is probably more "fun" than "impressive", but really it's both. It has the fun handling, the engine has character with the sounds it makes, but also the 4 odd second 0-62 time and amazing grip in the corners. It might not impress someone who's used to a modern Porsche 911 or something, at least in terms of straight line speed.

For what it's worth I find the A110 GT perfectly fine on the motorway. More than enough pulling power at motorway speeds, still pretty quiet around 70mph, seating position is good and feels comfortable even for long drives. You can certainly "feel" the lightness at higher speed and it likely won't feel as stable as your m340i. If this bothers you get the alignment changed (look into Life110 geo) or at the very least get it checked as many of them seem to arrive with alignment off from factory.

Steering feel is good, it's quite light and quick, but really weights up once you start throwing it into some tighter corners. The ride comfort is absolutely fine in the GT, it can feel a touch firm at slower speeds, but once you're rolling above say 40mph it smooths out.

[7en]

rix said:

Bit of a bump to this thread...

After a year in a GR Yaris which I felt wasn't special enough inside and some basic convenience features missing (decent stereo, parking sensors, rear wiper!) I went back to a BMW and currently in a m340i which is a fab daily but a little anonymous. Remember the first time I saw a a110 on the road and have always been a fan. Originally put off by the DCT but actually now that is a plus point! Feels (looks) like a special car to me and love the idea of something small/light but easy to live with. Would you call the alpine 'fun' or more 'impressive'?

I don't need the practicality but my daily drive is 20 miles of motorway and a bit of local stuff either end. Appreciate the a110 would be wasted on this, but will it be annoying? How is the ride/comfort? How is the steering feel? Given the keen PCPs about I'm tempted with GT as a daily...

I don't drive the Alpine everyday but am tempted to do so. It's easy to drive at normal speeds and easy to manouver as it's small and the visibility is fine. It's been said that Alpine wanted to make a sports car you could drive every day and an employee actually said their intention was to have it 'not be a pain the ass'.

The ride can be exceptional, however if you come to expect the magic carpet to be rolled out all the time then it can be surprisingly firm. When considering the performance on tap the ride is fantastic.

The steering in normal mode is light, which is great for city, parking and stability on motorways. In sport and track modes the steering noticeably firms up and when really pressing on it weights up quite a lot. The feedback is best felt through the car as a whole itself, through your hips as much as your hands.

It's impressive to look at and gets a lot of attention on the road, it's certainly not anonymous. To sit in anyone that's been in a lot of performance cars won't be blown away by the straight line speed. It's impressive but it's the fun itself - the agility, grip and sense of effortlessness and lightness which impresses the most.

Edited by 7en on Thursday 7th March 19:10