What one thing do you wish you knew before you got an A110?
Discussion
Murphys said:
Oh and this is one I forgot.........On my second outing -still all very nervous and excited-I "discovered" the parking brake button is in similar position to the window ones.
Not happened since!!!
The parking brake does act as an emergency brake - not sure whether it operates on all four wheels as the Porsche equivalent does.Not happened since!!!
Rather irritatingly if you are my size (short) you will wonder why cruise/limit is apparently randomly and autonomously selected. It's because you have pressed the button - which is ideally situated for operation by your left elbow. Doesn't do any harm since the function only becomes live when you set it via the switch on the wheel.
Meonstoke said:
Top 10 Things I'd wished I'd known beforehand include:
1) the tip Alex just gave on how on auto-mute the radio on start-up. It's real pain that the infotainment reverts / defaults to out of tune AM Frequency on start-up, irrespective of what channel / source you last used. And if you had the volume up loud previously then you get a lot of radio frequency noise as soon as you start the car. A PITA.
2) Too frequent bluetooth connection loss is usually solved by re-installing the infotainment software (which can be requested during a service). Solved the problem for me; other than if you are travelling in areas with poor GSM strength of course
3) the Bosch Sat-NAV is nowhere near as bad as people suggest it is. Works very well and the software can be upgraded by sticking an upgraded card via the port next to the USB options - so no need to dismantle the dashboard to swap the card over internally
4) the luggage space can be easily optimised by choosing the right luggage solutions - see separate thread on that. Plenty of space for a 3 week road tour for two. Forces you to make choices and to leave behind the items you wouldn't or hardly use anyway if you had a larger car. The upside is it's really nice to travel lite when checking into/out of hotels, B&Bs etc.
5) 2021 cars onwards have improved interior carpets - but the downside is that standard velcro will not stick, so DIY storage solutions not really an option; at least not nice-looking ones as far as I'm aware
6) 17" wheels give a better ride and are the way to go if you live in countries where speed bumps are a daily hazard i.e. The Netherlands, or for countries with poor road surfaces i.e. UK.
7) The Alpine 17" wheels DO fit over the larger Brembo brakes if you have spec'd the larger 18" wheels. (Only downside is I have not come across many 17" wheel styles which I like (retro) and which will fit. All of the discussions on aftermarket wheel alternatives seem to be focused on 18" wheels only)
8) If you have the 18" wheel set-up, you will inevitably scuff the underside of the front spoiler at some point; no matter how careful you are
9) the horror stories of the battery quickly running down after 2/3 weeks of car non-use are completely unfounded (in my experience). This really bothered me after I'd made my order and was then reading about all of the battery issues on this forum; as I don't have a personal / dedicated garage with the possibility for a trickle charger. The reality is the car is often not used for 6 to 8 weeks at a time; and there is never any hint of a problem - always starts first time, no problem
10) You can't drive the car with the window(s) open due to the high wind buffeting, which is a shame if you like to have the windows open a bit on nice sunny days. I find this particularly annoying - and there doesn't appear to be a solution for it unfortunately. (Unlike for the GR Supra for example which suffers the same problem - fortunately a working solution has been found for the Supra, just google.)
Point 10 - god yes I forgot that one, and possibly the most annoying element of the whole car tbh !!!! 1) the tip Alex just gave on how on auto-mute the radio on start-up. It's real pain that the infotainment reverts / defaults to out of tune AM Frequency on start-up, irrespective of what channel / source you last used. And if you had the volume up loud previously then you get a lot of radio frequency noise as soon as you start the car. A PITA.
2) Too frequent bluetooth connection loss is usually solved by re-installing the infotainment software (which can be requested during a service). Solved the problem for me; other than if you are travelling in areas with poor GSM strength of course
3) the Bosch Sat-NAV is nowhere near as bad as people suggest it is. Works very well and the software can be upgraded by sticking an upgraded card via the port next to the USB options - so no need to dismantle the dashboard to swap the card over internally
4) the luggage space can be easily optimised by choosing the right luggage solutions - see separate thread on that. Plenty of space for a 3 week road tour for two. Forces you to make choices and to leave behind the items you wouldn't or hardly use anyway if you had a larger car. The upside is it's really nice to travel lite when checking into/out of hotels, B&Bs etc.
5) 2021 cars onwards have improved interior carpets - but the downside is that standard velcro will not stick, so DIY storage solutions not really an option; at least not nice-looking ones as far as I'm aware
6) 17" wheels give a better ride and are the way to go if you live in countries where speed bumps are a daily hazard i.e. The Netherlands, or for countries with poor road surfaces i.e. UK.
7) The Alpine 17" wheels DO fit over the larger Brembo brakes if you have spec'd the larger 18" wheels. (Only downside is I have not come across many 17" wheel styles which I like (retro) and which will fit. All of the discussions on aftermarket wheel alternatives seem to be focused on 18" wheels only)
8) If you have the 18" wheel set-up, you will inevitably scuff the underside of the front spoiler at some point; no matter how careful you are
9) the horror stories of the battery quickly running down after 2/3 weeks of car non-use are completely unfounded (in my experience). This really bothered me after I'd made my order and was then reading about all of the battery issues on this forum; as I don't have a personal / dedicated garage with the possibility for a trickle charger. The reality is the car is often not used for 6 to 8 weeks at a time; and there is never any hint of a problem - always starts first time, no problem
10) You can't drive the car with the window(s) open due to the high wind buffeting, which is a shame if you like to have the windows open a bit on nice sunny days. I find this particularly annoying - and there doesn't appear to be a solution for it unfortunately. (Unlike for the GR Supra for example which suffers the same problem - fortunately a working solution has been found for the Supra, just google.)
Whaleblue said:
Has anyone regretted getting, or not getting, the sports exhaust? I’ve not specced it. I’m not a fan of artifice, and think the car sounds great anyway!
As I am not a person that easily regrets things, I do not regret having the sports exhaust either. If I had not bought a dealer-specced car though, I had not chosen the sports exhaust. I always feel a bit embarrassed when I reduce speed as I drive past pedestrians or cyclists and the car starts making those loud farting noises. Because of that I keep switching between normal and sports modes all the time when I enter and leave a town.One other option that still leaves me with mixed feelings is the Focal Premium speaker set. Had I specced the car myself, I would have chosen this option too, as I love playing music in the car and I hate it when I'm in someone else's car that has cheap sounding audio. The speakers are great, I am sure about that, but I am not a fan of that equalizer only offers four options, three of which are way too heavy on the treble (almost like the loudness button on your cheap old stereo), and a fourth one 'Lounge' that is a bit too bland in general. The combination makes me constantly think I am wasting those nice speakers on an underperforming entertainment system.
Those two items aside, I am really happy with the car. There are four minor things that do annoy me though:
1. The position of the cruise control/speed limiter switch. Looking at interior photos from other Renaults from the same era, they seem to have the same weird button position, so I can only imagine that some French designer really thinks that placing half of the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel and the other half next to the parking brake is a good idea. Other brands, such as Mazda, even show that those four buttons on the steering wheel are sufficient to include a cruise control/speed limiter switch.
2. This also seems very French to me: the clock in the entertainment system is updated online (and automatically switches between regular and summer time), while the clock in the speedometer display does not (and it runs a bit too fast too). Why even decide to put two different clocks in one car as a person only needs one?
3. The warning beeps are way too loud: the first time the car warned me that I ran out of petrol, I almost drove it off the road because I feared a major engine failure.
4. The switch for the turning indicators could have a more solid feel. It is very hard to move it just enough to have the indicators blink three times. They just feel cheap and they probably are, because they are the same switches as have been used since the 2012 Renault Twingo.
Edited by bram070 on Thursday 2nd February 18:03
s111dpc said:
No regrets buying the car at all BUT, don’t be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident resulting in body damage - off the road for 8 months and counting now waiting for replacement parts 
Blimey, what parts are they waiting for?It's nearly a year since mine was hit and grateful it was a total loss or I'd likely be in the same queue.
Venisonpie said:
s111dpc said:
No regrets buying the car at all BUT, don’t be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident resulting in body damage - off the road for 8 months and counting now waiting for replacement parts
Blimey, what parts are they waiting for?It's nearly a year since mine was hit and grateful it was a total loss or I'd likely be in the same queue.
One problem you will notice if you use the paddles to manually override the selected gear (in Normal or Sport) is the duration of the override is fixed ( 6 or 7 seconds?). So (say) you change down to third for a roundabout or an overtake you may find you are stuck in the gear for a bit longer than you would like. So shift up manually to fourth - but then you are stuck in fourth for 6 or 7 seconds - unless you override again,,, and so on. BUT if, when you shift up you hold the upshift paddle a second or so longer than needed, not only do you get the upshift, but you are back in auto.
Meonstoke said:
Top 10 Things I'd wished I'd known beforehand include:
You can't drive the car with the window(s) open due to the high wind buffeting, which is a shame if you like to have the windows open a bit on nice sunny days. I find this particularly annoying - and there doesn't appear to be a solution for it unfortunately.
By buffeting, do you mean breezy, or that the air 'judders' within the car? Mine (a late Legende) has a vent in the carpet behind the driver's seat which presumably prevents the latter problem. You can't drive the car with the window(s) open due to the high wind buffeting, which is a shame if you like to have the windows open a bit on nice sunny days. I find this particularly annoying - and there doesn't appear to be a solution for it unfortunately.
LE62NDE said:
By buffeting, do you mean breezy, or that the air 'judders' within the car? Mine (a late Legende) has a vent in the carpet behind the driver's seat which presumably prevents the latter problem.
Please will you post a photo of this.On my PE I have to have both windows open otherwise I get the air ‘juddering’ as you’ve put it.
Many thanks
Miserablegit said:
Please will you post a photo of this.
On my PE I have to have both windows open otherwise I get the air ‘juddering’ as you’ve put it.
Many thanks
I have the same small gap (horizontal opening) in the carpet behind the passenger seat (LHD model) on the vertical bulkhead separating the interior from the engine behind. I was never quite sure what it was for - and my Alpine dealer (Service Mgr) didn't have a clue either. I assumed it was some kind of vent. On my PE I have to have both windows open otherwise I get the air ‘juddering’ as you’ve put it.
Many thanks
However, it has no impact of reducing the wind buffeting when you open the driver's window. It's so noisy and disturbing, you have to close the window. Opening up the passenger window at the same time (to release the pressure) makes no noticeable difference to the wind buffeting.
Here's a link to one of many video's made on how to solve the same problem with the GR Supra. It captures the essence of the challenge and how the fix resolves the problem for the Supra. Note: there are also similar and cheap products with no name tag, so the end result can look fairly stock.
It would be too much to hope for if a similar solution would have the same effect for the A110...
https://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+supra+wind+...
I had similar issues in my 991. It was resolved in part by fitting these little diffusers https://awe-tuning.co.uk/awe-tuning-foiler-wind-di...
The noise was still there with them fitted but probably only started from 50-60mph, rather than 20-30mph
The noise was still there with them fitted but probably only started from 50-60mph, rather than 20-30mph
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_resonanc...
It won't help cure it, but at least you can tell the Pub Megabore "Oh, that? Helmholtz Resistance, old boy; a characteristic of the model", or some such...
It won't help cure it, but at least you can tell the Pub Megabore "Oh, that? Helmholtz Resistance, old boy; a characteristic of the model", or some such...
worldwidewebs said:
I had similar issues in my 991. It was resolved in part by fitting these little diffusers https://awe-tuning.co.uk/awe-tuning-foiler-wind-di...
The noise was still there with them fitted but probably only started from 50-60mph, rather than 20-30mph
Nice! Looks neat, thanks for sharing. I'll check them out, but I agree a 3D print to perfectly fit the A110 would be ideal. Although first we need a pilot to see if it can really make a difference.The noise was still there with them fitted but probably only started from 50-60mph, rather than 20-30mph
Murphys said:
Oh and this is one I forgot.........On my second outing -still all very nervous and excited-I "discovered" the parking brake button is in similar position to the window ones.
Not happened since!!!
Glad its not just me! I did this on my test drive last week. Very embarrassing!Not happened since!!!
Woody.GT said:
Murphys said:
Oh and this is one I forgot.........On my second outing -still all very nervous and excited-I "discovered" the parking brake button is in similar position to the window ones.
Not happened since!!!
Glad its not just me! I did this on my test drive last week. Very embarrassing!Not happened since!!!
Whaleblue said:
Has anyone regretted getting, or not getting, the sports exhaust? I’ve not specced it. I’m not a fan of artifice, and think the car sounds great anyway!
I test drove two cars - one had the sports exhaust. The other didn't. I much preferred without - too much farty 4-cylinder exhaust noise with the SE, even in standard mode. Gassing Station | Alpine | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff