Hi there
Did Curborough a couple weeks ago and Donington this week in the A110S, some photos:
This car is a total shock just by how good it is, I make an effort to track all my cars to see how they compare and the A110S quite frankly has blown me away. The only modification is XP8 Road/Track pads with uprated brake fluid. Other than that the car is factory stock.
The car performed flawless it was a very busy track day and it was a toasty 26c, the car had no issues and use little to no oil, brakes performed very well.
To compare against some of my other cars:
Lotus Exige 410: The A110S had superior handling, both cars on Cup 2 tyres but the A110S felt more stable and composed particular in high speed corners like Craner curves where the car can go down there around 120mph, the car also felt more agile and direct in the lower speed corners as well with a quicker front-end and more grip. Also on the back straight where the Exige would see 125-128mph the Alpine was seeing 124-127mph indicated though the Alpine is GPS accurate whereas Exige over-read a little, so both about same speed so not bad as both weight about 1100kg wet and the Alpine has 110HP less, I put it down to better corner speed as in the Alpine I am literally flat through both apex's before back straight as the car just digs in and fires out, the DCT box also helps along with shorter gearing. The only place I'd say the Exige had a very slight edge is brakes as it was running Alcon/AP all round so a proper track setup compared to the Alpines basic Renault disc and smaller Brembo calipers. Overall the Alpine I found slightly superior on track, now of course on the road the Alpine is in another league compared to the Exige as the car is a perfect daily.
BMW M2 N55 Manual: Not going to write much here as the Alpine was just in a different league, the M2 felt heavy, brakes no so good even though running uprated DS2500 pads but was on PS4S but still the M2 was just not even remotely close on track in how it felt or ability, only bonus points to the M2 are it has back seats and a boot so a little more sensible as a daily.
GR Yaris: Never found the GR particular much fun on track, in fact I normally get bored just never enjoyed driving it on track, it is reasonably fast but boring but again not even remotely close in ability to the Alpine, again it wins points on the road for having back seats.
Ferrari 360: The 360 has great feel, noise but I drove it relatively gentle been a 25yr old Ferrari, still the Alpine again has the upper hand on track in ability and just the way you can thrash it none stop and just know the Alpine will take it over and over, on the road the Alpine is also the nicer drive.
Caterham 420R: Alpine is faster, the Caterham more fun, nothing beats a Caterham for fun on a race track, it is the best. On the road forget the Caterham it is useless and is absolutely a weekend only special occasion car making its use very limited, like the Alpine you know you can drive the wheels of it and it will just take it.
911 991 GT3: The GT3 is faster on track but there is not much in it, a good drive in an A110S will keep up with an average driver in the GT3, the GT3 also works well on the road, two well matched cars at very different price points and different running cost which really does show how good the Alpine is.
458: More fun all the time, but it gets expensive very fast.
600 LT: Lap time wise its in a different league, it made my GT3 look slow, the ability is uncanny and it is fun to drive, but again it gets mega expensive very fast, your talking an average of £2000 per track day with inspections, fuel, consumables etc, maybe as high as £3000 as such I don't track it as much simply due to associated cost of doing so, inspections, brakes, insurance etc.
Boxster Spyder: Amazing handling like the Alpine, but felt underpowered compared to the Alpine which I can only put down to the long gearing it had (74mph in 2nd) whereas the Alpine is like 55mph in 2nd, it makes a huge difference and as such the Alpine with its lesser power actually felt the more powerful car on a power circuit even like Donington simply due to gearing and weight. As such the Alpine again was much quicker, it is also an easier car to live with, though the Boxster both front and rear boots are bigger.
R8: Surprisingly capable but there is no defying its weight penalty, great road car though and a bargain.
I am somewhat blown away by the little Alpine, on this day it was never passed once as there was some big horsepower machinery going round, it is cheap to track as been a lightweight car on regular steel brakes nothing wears out, I recorded 6.8mpg going around and achieve 48mpg on the drive home. It is cheap to run and own with immense capability whilst been fun to drive and an incredible easy car to daily.
The Alpine is a superb choice for anyone who needs no more than two seats who wants a car they can do track days in and be very quick, drive as a daily or drive anywhere that is not expensive to run.
In short the Alpine A110 is a car many people either forget about or would never look at due to badge snobbery, well all I can say is their loss, it is a bloody brilliant little car that is great fun on the road and track but also very capable. It has my Lotus Exige beat on track and slam dunks it on the road, vastly superior to my M2 and GR Yaris. What a car!
Did Curborough a couple weeks ago and Donington this week in the A110S, some photos:
This car is a total shock just by how good it is, I make an effort to track all my cars to see how they compare and the A110S quite frankly has blown me away. The only modification is XP8 Road/Track pads with uprated brake fluid. Other than that the car is factory stock.
The car performed flawless it was a very busy track day and it was a toasty 26c, the car had no issues and use little to no oil, brakes performed very well.
To compare against some of my other cars:
Lotus Exige 410: The A110S had superior handling, both cars on Cup 2 tyres but the A110S felt more stable and composed particular in high speed corners like Craner curves where the car can go down there around 120mph, the car also felt more agile and direct in the lower speed corners as well with a quicker front-end and more grip. Also on the back straight where the Exige would see 125-128mph the Alpine was seeing 124-127mph indicated though the Alpine is GPS accurate whereas Exige over-read a little, so both about same speed so not bad as both weight about 1100kg wet and the Alpine has 110HP less, I put it down to better corner speed as in the Alpine I am literally flat through both apex's before back straight as the car just digs in and fires out, the DCT box also helps along with shorter gearing. The only place I'd say the Exige had a very slight edge is brakes as it was running Alcon/AP all round so a proper track setup compared to the Alpines basic Renault disc and smaller Brembo calipers. Overall the Alpine I found slightly superior on track, now of course on the road the Alpine is in another league compared to the Exige as the car is a perfect daily.
BMW M2 N55 Manual: Not going to write much here as the Alpine was just in a different league, the M2 felt heavy, brakes no so good even though running uprated DS2500 pads but was on PS4S but still the M2 was just not even remotely close on track in how it felt or ability, only bonus points to the M2 are it has back seats and a boot so a little more sensible as a daily.
GR Yaris: Never found the GR particular much fun on track, in fact I normally get bored just never enjoyed driving it on track, it is reasonably fast but boring but again not even remotely close in ability to the Alpine, again it wins points on the road for having back seats.
Ferrari 360: The 360 has great feel, noise but I drove it relatively gentle been a 25yr old Ferrari, still the Alpine again has the upper hand on track in ability and just the way you can thrash it none stop and just know the Alpine will take it over and over, on the road the Alpine is also the nicer drive.
Caterham 420R: Alpine is faster, the Caterham more fun, nothing beats a Caterham for fun on a race track, it is the best. On the road forget the Caterham it is useless and is absolutely a weekend only special occasion car making its use very limited, like the Alpine you know you can drive the wheels of it and it will just take it.
911 991 GT3: The GT3 is faster on track but there is not much in it, a good drive in an A110S will keep up with an average driver in the GT3, the GT3 also works well on the road, two well matched cars at very different price points and different running cost which really does show how good the Alpine is.
458: More fun all the time, but it gets expensive very fast.
600 LT: Lap time wise its in a different league, it made my GT3 look slow, the ability is uncanny and it is fun to drive, but again it gets mega expensive very fast, your talking an average of £2000 per track day with inspections, fuel, consumables etc, maybe as high as £3000 as such I don't track it as much simply due to associated cost of doing so, inspections, brakes, insurance etc.
Boxster Spyder: Amazing handling like the Alpine, but felt underpowered compared to the Alpine which I can only put down to the long gearing it had (74mph in 2nd) whereas the Alpine is like 55mph in 2nd, it makes a huge difference and as such the Alpine with its lesser power actually felt the more powerful car on a power circuit even like Donington simply due to gearing and weight. As such the Alpine again was much quicker, it is also an easier car to live with, though the Boxster both front and rear boots are bigger.
R8: Surprisingly capable but there is no defying its weight penalty, great road car though and a bargain.
I am somewhat blown away by the little Alpine, on this day it was never passed once as there was some big horsepower machinery going round, it is cheap to track as been a lightweight car on regular steel brakes nothing wears out, I recorded 6.8mpg going around and achieve 48mpg on the drive home. It is cheap to run and own with immense capability whilst been fun to drive and an incredible easy car to daily.
The Alpine is a superb choice for anyone who needs no more than two seats who wants a car they can do track days in and be very quick, drive as a daily or drive anywhere that is not expensive to run.
In short the Alpine A110 is a car many people either forget about or would never look at due to badge snobbery, well all I can say is their loss, it is a bloody brilliant little car that is great fun on the road and track but also very capable. It has my Lotus Exige beat on track and slam dunks it on the road, vastly superior to my M2 and GR Yaris. What a car!
