Did you consider a Cayman?

[Rob_RCF]

italian job said:

Again, thank you very much for the replies, I love the enthusiasm that’s conveyed for the car, I do completely understand being totally on board with the light weight ethos after previously owning an Elise and an Exige, it’s one of the things that attracts me to the A110.

Have you driven a GT yet? I've had a go in most of the various A110 versions and I kept coming back to the GT. I think it's the most fun.

[Simon Owen]

My two-penneth, the A110 offers the most fun on the road if you value engagement and agility over speed, grip & performance etc. Not a criticism of the Cayman, the A110 (to me) just feels more engaging on a B road.

Everything is so fast and capable these days that as you approach 60/70mph they are just getting going and want to just keep on going don't they !! The A110 is guilty of this too but seems to offer a greater feeling of nimbleness and agility 'up to' that point than lot's of the competition. What I would say is suspension set up is very personal and changes the car dramatically, I drive the base car significantly slower than the Life110 set up I am currently trying. Precision and feel of the way the Life110 car changes direction is really satisfying but I just end up driving much quicker which is not necessarily a good thing or more fun ?

Best analogy is a Caterham, utterly hilarious fun to drive 'up to' the speed limit, you hit the speed limit and feel like your doing 100mph+ so no desire to go any quicker. My view is the A110 does this trick ever so slightly better than a Cayman ?

Edited by Simon Owen on Tuesday 6th June 15:16

[s111dpc]

Simon Owen said:

My two-penneth, the A110 offers the most fun on the road if you value engagement and agility over speed, grip & performance etc. Not a criticism of the Cayman, the A110 (to me) just feels more engaging on a B road.

Everything is so fast and capable these days that as you approach 60/70mph they are just getting going and want to just keep on going don't they !! The A110 is guilty of this too but seems to offer a greater feeling of nimbleness and agility 'up to' that point than lot's of the competition. What I would say is suspension set up is very personal and changes the car dramatically, I drive the base car significantly slower than the Life110 set up I am currently trying. Precision and feel of the way the Life110 car changes direction is really satisfying but I just end up driving much quicker which is not necessarily a good thing or more fun ?

Best analogy is a Caterham, utterly hilarious fun to drive 'up to' the speed limit, you hit the speed limit and feel like your doing 100mph+ so need to go any quicker. My view is the A110 does this trick ever so slightly better than a Cayman ?

^^ exactly this for me too. I came from 3 Lotus cars and the A110 felt the closest to a Lotus driving experience without all the comfort and ‘daily use’ compromises. The Cayman, whilst a great car, just felt too heavy and needed to be pushed beyond the speed limit to start feeling ‘fun’ whereas the A110 is fun at all speeds.

[Colin P]

s111dpc said:

^^ exactly this for me too. I came from 3 Lotus cars and the A110 felt the closest to a Lotus driving experience without all the comfort and ‘daily use’ compromises. The Cayman, whilst a great car, just felt too heavy and needed to be pushed beyond the speed limit to start feeling ‘fun’ whereas the A110 is fun at all speeds.

Completely agree with this, although I came from a bigger faster car and a big part of the change was to be able to enjoy the car at lower speeds. A Cayman for this reason was never a consideration, but wouldn’t have been on my list anyway, there are other cars I’d rather have if I went that way.

You really notice the size difference on the smaller roads, which is where I now have my fun, at a slower pace.

[italian job]

Rob_RCF said:

Have you driven a GT yet? I've had a go in most of the various A110 versions and I kept coming back to the GT. I think it's the most fun.

I Haven’t driven a GT, I’ve driven a pure and an S but both on track. I Guess I’m looking for some of the interaction of previous Lotus that I have owned but with a degree more practicality.
Really enjoying reading the replies, thanks everyone.

[italian job]

Rob_RCF said:

Have you driven a GT yet? I've had a go in most of the various A110 versions and I kept coming back to the GT. I think it's the most fun.

I Haven’t driven a GT, I’ve driven a pure and an S but both on track. I Guess I’m looking for some of the interaction of previous Lotus that I have owned but with a degree more practicality.
Really enjoying reading the replies, thanks everyone.

[essexstu]

I had had a 911 Carrera S (997) and a Cayman S and both cars very capable...and very boring! The Alpine is FUN and there is no way I would go back to Porsche....

[Sporky]

Years ago I had a 24 hour test drive in a 996 C4S. Not a Cayman, I know. The Alpine is enormously more fun than that was.

[xondat]

essexstu said:

I had had a 911 Carrera S (997) and a Cayman S and both cars very capable...and very boring! The Alpine is FUN and there is no way I would go back to Porsche....

I agree.

991.2 Carrera T (coming from a A110 S). Incredible car! It's pretty much perfect, just hugely lacks character. If I go back to a sports coupe then it's an A110 Pure for me.

[Colin P]

italian job said:

I Haven’t driven a GT, I’ve driven a pure and an S but both on track. I Guess I’m looking for some of the interaction of previous Lotus that I have owned but with a degree more practicality.
Really enjoying reading the replies, thanks everyone.

With 16 years in Lotus behind me, I suppose I would say that the A110 is the car that the last Europa should have been. The Eliges are too raw for me and the Europa too "snug".

It's small enough to remain nimble, but big enough that you don't feel cramped at all. With the Comfort Pack it brings the refinement and comfort comparable to an Evora.

I agree on the GT being the obvious option for me, although I really don't see the need for the power upgrade. My A110 consequently is a "pure" but specced up to match a GT plus a few other bits, only it has the lower power output.

[domrusty]

Colin P said:

I agree on the GT being the obvious option for me, although I really don't see the need for the power upgrade. My A110 consequently is a "pure" but specced up to match a GT plus a few other bits, only it has the lower power output.

I appreciate you don’t *need* the power upgrade, but for a mere £840 you could always get the Life110 300ps engine map installed…

https://life110.co.uk/collections/alpine-a110-tuni...

Worth every penny!

[worldwidewebs]

domrusty said:

I appreciate you don’t *need* the power upgrade, but for a mere £840 you could always get the Life110 300ps engine map installed…

https://life110.co.uk/collections/alpine-a110-tuni...

Worth every penny!

On the 2022+ models you don't get any increase in torque so I'm not sure it's really worth it on the later cars

[domrusty]

worldwidewebs said:

On the 2022+ models you don't get any increase in torque so I'm not sure it's really worth it on the later cars

Fair point! Mine’s a 2020 and it certainly benefits from the extra torque. The power delivery also seems smoother right across the board.

Edited by domrusty on Wednesday 7th June 19:12