All three variants of the A110 come with a 300-hp four-cylinder 1.8-liter turbo engine.
Alpine is a name you would be forgiven for not knowing about. It is of course currently the sport and racing division of Renault, and has always had close ties with the French manufacturer. These ties increased in 1973 when Renault bought the company outright. In recent years, Alpine has shot to the forefront of the Renault brand. The Renault F1 team was renamed as Alpine to promote the brand better, and Alpine also competes in the Hypercar category of the World Endurance Championship.
But one of the staples of Alpine is its A110 production car. This car was first built back in 1963 when Alpine was independent, and was styled as a berlinette. It's become a hugely popular classic car, and is so popular that it spawned a modern sports car remake by Alpine. The current A110 was first put into production in 2017, and towards the end of 2021 Alpine unveiled its new 2022 A110 and the versions that will be in this latest lineup. This mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car is entering yet another model year, and this is everything you need to know about it.
There are three editions in the A110 lineup. There is the baseline A110, what Alpine calls the “gateway into the Alpine universe”. Above that, we have the new Alpine A110 GT. This is the range’s Grand Tourisme sport coupe, and then we have the Alpine A110 S. This sits at the top of the range and is the sportiest of the trio, being the more performance focussed version of the car. This one comes with optional semi-click tires, a custom aerodynamic kit and more tuned handling on the Sport chassis.
All three variants of the A110 come with a 300 hp four-cylinder 1.8-liter turbo engine, and that is paired up with a Getrag seven-speed automatic transmission with a dual wet clutch. When it comes to the A110S, we find chromium black Alpine lettering on the outside and bright black 18-inch GT Race rims. Orange brake calipers also help the car to pop out. The aero kit adds further performance, which includes a carbon spoiler and a carbon front blade. Inside there is plenty of orange with orange overstitching if you opt to have the car with the Microfibre Pack. The car has a 0-62 mph time of 4.2 seconds.
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The new A110 is what you could call the originelle variant of the car. Alpine say that the mass of the car is spread out optimally, with 44% at the front of the car and 56% at the rear of the car. It is also lighter than previous models, weighing just 1,102 kg. When it comes to speed, the base model has a 0-62 mph time of just 4.5 seconds, and it has a top speed of 170 mph, so it can certainly challenge the very best of the sports car world. The base model has a 252 hp engine, while the S and the GT have a 300 hp engine.
The GT, or Grand Tourisme, model is the grand tourer of the trio. This has what Alpine call, well, the “Alpine” chassis, and of course the 300 hp engine of the A110 S. Alpine say that this particular version of the Alpine has an unparalleled blend of both performance and elegance thanks to the chassis and has a sleek, silhouette and sophisticated interior. Some of the amenities include park assist and adjustable leather comfort seats. The 0-62 time of this Alpine is 4.2 seconds, the same as the A110 S.
There are plenty of other details on the new Alpine too. Each of the cars comes with three driving modes. These are normal, sport, and track. Normal and sport are optimized respectively for more comfort and for more vigorous gear shifting. Track of course is for the ultimate, raw performance when throwing the car around a racetrack. Another new feature is what happens during the launch control procedure. Alpine say that the new A110 will disable a cylinder temporarily to release more racing-style sounds, which is certainly an interesting feature.
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There are plenty of other features too on the new A110. The comfort pack comes with the standard A110, with adjustable Sabelt comfort seats and a Focal audio system. The Microfibre pack is available on the A110 GT and A110 S. Other amenities for the cars include Brembo high-performance brakes, a 100% gloss carbon roof finish to save weight on the S and GT models and Serac 18-inch rims. The A110 has forged a strong reputation since 2017 as an affordable, yet fast and super handling sports car. James May even says it is the most underrated car that he owns. And it looks like the 2022 range will only add to that reputation.
Covering anything from JDM cars to classic jets. Contributed to HotCars since the Autumn of 2018. Writes features, news and list articles.