The French now have a proper sports coupe of the variety that can rival the Porsche Cayman as the now revived Alpine brand has been given a new leaf by owners Renault, starting with the A110, a mid-engine two-seater that takes its name and design philosophy from the iconic 1960s sports car.
The design of the car doesn’t deviate in any major way from the Alpine Vision Concept that was brought to last year’s Geneva Motor Show. The new A110’s body had also been teased a number of times with only a light amount of camouflage in the lead up to this Swiss reveal.
The car marries lightness with balance and performance, just like the original A110. It’s quite a dainty thing, shapely though it is, measuring around 4.2 metres in length and 1.8 metres wide. And with a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, it could be viewed as something like this generation’s Lancia Stratos.
Slotted in the middle is a 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 186kW and 320Nm of torque, mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission from Getrag, similar to unit in the Clio RS that sends power rearward. Renault Sport clearly had involvement in the car’s development, and the both major drivetrain components are plucked from their hot hatches. It’s unclear though, where the engine’s lineage is stems from.
In terms of how the car stacks up against the Cayman, its power-to-weight ratio is more than that of a standard Cayman but a little shy of the Cayman S’. Alpine says that it will need just 4.5 seconds to dispatch the century sprint, which is quicker than Porsche, but only by a hair.
It’s also probably that Alpine is planning a future variant of the car with more power, at which point it should handily beat the Cayman for all out pace. Despite this, the A110 is designed to emphasise ultimate agility over speed, which is why much of the development was focused on lightness and decreasing aerodynamic drag.
The A110 uses a bespoke aluminium structure, a decision reached after researching the viability of a steel and carbon fibre option, and Alpine concluding that the lightweight material will fill every criteria for the car’s low weight, durability, and torsional stiffness.
As the the exterior of the original A110 uses a rather clean design, Alpine were took care to maintain this. Resultantly, the car uses underbody aerodynamics to keep the car planted, even negating the need for a rear spoiler.
Inside, they have managed to incorporate a good amount of creature comforts. Those seats do look comfortable in spite of them being fixed buckets, and we do spy trim made from leather, Alcantara and satin finished aluminium. There’s even a modern, centrally mounted infotainment screen and digital instrument cluster on board.
The Alfa Romeo 4C is another car with comparable performance to that of a Porsche Cayman. And while the Italian offering is also very compact, lightweight, mid-engined, as well as powered by a 1.8-litre turbo-pour and shifts using a dual-clutch transmission, the cabin in the A110 is much better equipped.
The A110 shouldn’t be too far from being rolled off a production line following this Geneva Motor Show debut, but an exact timeline to when buyers be able to buy them isn’t set in stone yet. Early bird ‘Premiere Editions’ will be rolled out to left-hand drive markets in Europe such as France first, likely before the year is out, and continue to right-hand drive markets in early 2018. An Australian release should duly follow suit.
For more on Alpine and Renault vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
