Just bought a 2022 A110S - fluctuating temp question
Just bought a 2022 A110S - fluctuating temp question
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jamesjc_uk

Original Poster:

33 posts

282 months

Yesterday (20:25)
quotequote all
So we’ve just purchased a 2022 ‘S’ - lovely car, black with full ppf, wortec exhaust - really enjoying it!

Got a query though. When driving around gently or on a constant low throttle, the coolant temp runs around 94degC (which is middle of the gauge in sport mode) - when I give it a good dose of full throttle, the coolant temp suddenly drops to around 75degC on the gauge - when I ease off it then slow climbs back up to ~95.

Is this normal behaviour for the car as never had a car react like this before?




worldwidewebs

2,833 posts

269 months

Yesterday (21:18)
quotequote all
Yes, that's normal.

I did a test a while back as someone else asked the same question. In sport mode got it to temp and then floored it. For each test it dropped the temp 15-20 degrees depending on the starting temperature. Didn’t test in other modes at the time but I'd expect similar results

Edited by worldwidewebs on Monday 17th November 21:23

PHusername

97 posts

15 months

Yesterday (21:39)
quotequote all
It's to meet emissions & fuel consumption targets (higher temp) v's thermal management when you're pushing on.

Oh, & that's different. I've not seen a fully blacked out A110 before.

jamesjc_uk

Original Poster:

33 posts

282 months

Thanks for the replies - reassuring to know it’s not an issue.

One more query. Car has the Life110 geo. Find that it is very nervous in a straight line on anything that isn’t perfectly flat (much more so than my S1 Elise with quite an aggressive geo), requiring constant correction. It’s not a problem but just wanted to find if that was normal with this geo set-up.

It is very black for sure!


bigglesA110

2,182 posts

169 months

Wild temperature fluctuations is totally normal. I asked the same a couple of years ago after getting concerned having noticed it while on a euro-trip and being stuck in traffic jams mid summer. I've got the telemetrics and got obsessed with monitoring the water temps. Mine would get up to 108c and then come down rapidly to mid 80's, especially if you accelerate a bit, which opens up the thermostat and floods in cooler water.

It all turned out to be perfectly normal and is something to do with the temp gauges not being damped like other cars so you see the quick variations rather than a slow move. Nothing bad has happened to mine, it uses no coolant and runs perfectly. Just a quirk of the car. I don't think about it now.
In normal running in the UK mines sits around the 98/102c on average, but still fluctuates a lot.

Don't see too many black A110's about.

apn

306 posts

303 months

jamesjc_uk said:
One more query. Car has the Life110 geo. Find that it is very nervous in a straight line on anything that isn t perfectly flat (much more so than my S1 Elise with quite an aggressive geo), requiring constant correction. It s not a problem but just wanted to find if that was normal with this geo set-up.
I've got Life110 geo and I don't have any nervousness.

But I do have the temp fluctuation.

Do I see a Wortec exhaust? Do you have any sound videos?

Safak

61 posts

8 months

jamesjc_uk enjoy your car. It is stunning!

When I looked at the second photo, my attention went first to the middle and then to the lower part. As I forgot what I had read about the exhaust, and the black color threw me off, it took me a while to realize that it was actually an Alpine smile

When my conditions allow I'm trying to gradually cool down the car until I park. It's like having a cool down lap after some hot laps. On my regular-ish weekend route I have sections for warming up and cooling down.

Do you think increased airflow has any impact on oil and coolant temperature going down at higher speeds?

jamesjc_uk

Original Poster:

33 posts

282 months

apn said:
I've got Life110 geo and I don't have any nervousness.

But I do have the temp fluctuation.

Do I see a Wortec exhaust? Do you have any sound videos?
May get the geo checked then in the new year then.

I don't have any sound videos as only just picked up the car at the weekend. I've been a passenger in a standard car with the factory sports exhaust and did find the sound a bit disappointing (rest of the car was great) - the Wortec exhaust certainly fixes that problem! So deep and bassy on tick-over, sounds epic in sports & track mode yet doesn't unduly drone in normal mode on the motorway. That plus the 8kg+ weight saving means it's an upgrade I can very much recommend (although my neighbours may disagree when I leave in the morning for work at 6.30am!).


Captainian

84 posts

183 months

jamesjc_uk said:
Thanks for the replies - reassuring to know it s not an issue.

One more query. Car has the Life110 geo. Find that it is very nervous in a straight line on anything that isn t perfectly flat (much more so than my S1 Elise with quite an aggressive geo), requiring constant correction. It s not a problem but just wanted to find if that was normal with this geo set-up.

It is very black for sure!

I would download the geo setup sheet from Life110 (It’s free) and get it redone as that doesn’t sound right at all. Wandering is one of the things that the Life110 geo irons out.

Yuri75

68 posts

16 months

When I was new to my 2018 A110 last year, I had the same reservations when seeing the temperature variations, to the point I wanted to plumb in some thermo couples to see what's what. However, it seems to be a case of 'TADTS' based on other drivers' experiences. I'm perfectly used to seeing similar variations (although not quite as sharp in nature) on the temperature gauge of my Alfa 75's but those things are well over 30 years old now. Modern cars typically iron this out with a deadband on the readout, where anything between (for instance) 84 and 96 degrees will read as 90 degrees. Alpine decided not to go this route and show you what actually goes on. It feels to me like the thermostat is aggressively opened, instantly dropping the coolant temperature. Not unlike what happens in K-series Elise, actually - except that the head gasket in the A110 is not a known failure point and in my Elise it is not contingent upon throttle application.

S600BSB

6,924 posts

125 months

They do look brilliant in black - I have a black GT! Temp fluctuations are completely normal. I have standard geo, so can’t comment on that one.

MaFue

19 posts

81 months

If it's got the microfibre pack then it's exactly the same spec as mine.. very rare in black but looks ace even if I say so myself! the exhaust upgrade sounds interesting..

jamesjc_uk

Original Poster:

33 posts

282 months

MaFue said:
If it's got the microfibre pack then it's exactly the same spec as mine.. very rare in black but looks ace even if I say so myself! the exhaust upgrade sounds interesting..
Yep microfibre plus all the usual packs & the cup 2 tyres.

I won't lie, it will be a challenge to keep clean!

worldwidewebs

2,833 posts

269 months

Get some ContiSport7 tyres on smile