Life after Cayman - My 2021 Alpine A110 Legende GT.

[Pete Ansbro]

You have a mirror-polished garage floor? Crikey!

Seriously I am enjoying this thread reading every word from the start.

Next photo please.....

 

[robertbaird]

Great read and early comparisons. A110's rare indeed,recently saw one leaving a car park in Staithes that looked great in white.

RB

 

[AlistairF]

A friend has one and with a light foot achieved 44 mpg on run up the motorway this week...not the usual conversation we have. Good luck...perfect for your local roads.

 

[Brian_Innes]

Looking good Brian. Surprisingly little storage space front and rear - as well as interior - compared with the Cayman, but I think that it’s quite a bit shorter? Very impressive rear diffuser … and good luck cleaning those wheels!

They’re rare beasts; in fact, I don’t recall having seen one on my travels locally.

Keep the updates coming.

Jeff

Jeff,

The Cayman R and the A110 both have identical wheelbase measurements, at 2.42 metres.

Regarding length, the A110 is indeed shorter at 4.18 metres compared to 4.35 metres for the CR. The front overhang on the CR is responsible.

The A110 is wider at 1.98 metres compared to the CR at 1.80 metres. The track width of the A110 also has a correspondingly wider stance despite the narrower rim widths and tyre sections.

The A110 is also lower than the CR, at 1.26 metres, compared to 1.29 metres for the CR.

As for weights, my CR was regularly weighed by the scrutineers following the Super Lap Scotland sprint championship with me aboard in race suit kit. The scales showed 1425.5 kgs. Subtract 78 kgs for me, leaving the CR at 1347 kgs.

I intend to take my A110 to the local weigh bridge to get a true figure. According to the DVLA V5C form, the A110 Legende GT is quoted at 1182 kgs. Substantially lighter than the CR even when in competition trim.

Regarding storage space, the A110 is in the same vogue as the Lotus Elise and Exige, where lightness is paramount rather than practicality. I carry a rucksack with me on the passenger seat, belted-in of course, to carry all the bits and pieces needed on a journey.

The photo below of my CR in side profile shows the extra length due to the front overhang. The A110 is of the "wheel at each corner" design, same as Lotus deploy.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

To avoid readers having to scroll back a page, here is the side view of my A110 by way of comparison.

Brian

 

[SpyderDavid]

Classy looking car Brian - congratulations. Saw one in the metal for the first time last week, so perhaps you are part of a trend!

 

[Motorhead]

Some interesting comparisons there Brian, in particular the Cayman’s greater front overhang in the comparative photos. Clearly a significant difference in frontal impact philosophy there - just make sure you stay well clear of sheep and deer on those Highland roads! - and also it illustrates why the Cayman has more front boot space. The Cayman’s boxer engine and space-saving strut suspension layout will also be advantageous for luggage space compared with the Alpine’s I-4 engine layout and more sophisticated double wishbone set-up which takes up a fair amount of room front and rear.

Weight-saving was very much the focus of the Alpine design and although yours has the more cosseting seat design, at 14.1kg the Sabelt lightweight sports seat puts Porsche’s lardy offering to shame.

Jeff

 

[Brian_Innes]

Had my first proper drive yesterday in the A110.

I headed southwards on the A82 travelling alongside Loch Ness to Invergarry. The weather turned very wet with torrential rain accompanied by strong gusty winds. As expected, the light weight of the A110 is affected by crosswinds to a greater extent than the Cayman. On exposed areas you need to take care as the car is buffeted about quite strongly. Unlike the heavy Macan Turbo which sailed on regardless of crosswinds like a tall ship three sheets to the wind.

The wet road grip on the Michelin PS4 tyres was exceptionally reassuring. The comparatively narrow section widths being resistant to aquaplaning on standing water. No bow wave deluge on the windscreen either when encountering puddles at the side of the road. The steering is an absolute delight. For an electro-mechanical steering rack the feedback is extraordinarily good. Certainly on a par with the Cayman R hydraulic rack system. I could feel exactly what the tyres were doing on the wet road surface. It was all very confidence inspiring in atrocious conditions. The rain sensing wipers coped well with the onset of the rain, with just the right amount of intervention as the rain became more persistent.

I'm still not nearly up to speed with all the various buttons and switches featuring on the A110. There is a bewildering selection of switches on the steering column stalks. It's going to take me some time to familiarise myself with all of them. The central display screen is also an area that needs further acquaintance. Being so used to the Porsche PCM system this is proving a steep learning curve for my older brain. I'll need to read up on the two handbooks. Best done in stages a section at a time. Retaining all the information afterwards and remembering all the switch functions when driving the car next day is a challenge I shall have to conquer.

Having washed the car again today following yesterday's 130 mile trip, it's a pure joy to wash with smooth sculpted lines. A complete lack of nook and crannies so annoying when washing the Macan and also to a lesser extent the Caymans. No exposed front condenser apertures or side intake ducts to worry about. It takes a quarter of the time to wash compared to the big bus Macan. There is some very nice styling touches on the A110, and also a few that grate. I'll post photos with comments later. The matt finish paint is a treat to wash and dry off. Fortunately there are no trees in the immediate vicinity where I live. I would be concerned about the sap droplets from trees at certain seasonal times marking the matt finish paint. I'm still awaiting advice regarding the appropriate protective paint treatment to apply. Until then, I am avoiding parking anywhere that is beneath overhanging trees.

The manufacturers recommended running-in period is split into two parts. For the first 680 miles, (1000KM), do not exceed 3500rpm. For the subsequent 1000 miles, keep the revs below 4500rpm. I always run-in my new cars carefully, waiting until around 1800 miles before letting rip with the revs. I've never experienced any oil consumption issues as a result of diligent running-in.

While on the subject of oil consumption, I was delighted to read in the driver's handbook that the A110 has an engine oil dipstick to compliment the electronic low oil level warning on the instrument display. An oil level dipstick! Hooray! The bad news is, the electronic display only tells you when the oil is low and requires topping up. Unlike the Porsche system, the oil level is not shown as correct on a graphic display. The A110 oil warning is restricted to a message appearing on the dash display to top up the engine oil immediately. Thanks! Gaining access to the engine on the A110 for checking and adding oil is a bit of a faff to say the least. I'll not go into the full details now, I'll leave that until a later post when I've read the handbook instructions. On first glance it resembles a similar procedure to gaining engine compartment access as applied to the 987 Cayman. Thankfully, nothing as scary and risky of damage to plastic trim as on the 981 and 982 Caymans. More will follow on this topic later.

A few photos follow.

Brian.

Steering wheel stalks have many concealed buttons. The fixed steering column gear shifts paddles are a delight to use. An improvement to the Porsche gear shift paddles in my opinion.

 

[Brian_Innes]

The side indicator repeaters are a mistake. They look cheap and horrible and do not look appropriate on a £60k car.

After paying so much attention to nice detail touches elsewhere, eg the fuel filler cap and alloy wheel hubs, Alpine designers should have re-thought this one.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

All four wheel hubs are alloy with Alpine insignia. A nice touch.

 

[Brian_Innes]

The rear engine cover. Yet to be tested.

 

[Brian_Innes]

Another view of the extended underbody rear diffuser. The rectangular slot cutout in the honeycomb aluminium is for cooling the exhaust.

Brian

 

[Motorhead]

Agreed that the side indicator repeaters look a bit low rent Brian. I’m surprised that the designers didn’t follow the trend to place them in the mirrors … a much neater solution more in keeping with their simple design philosophy.

I suspect that some of the switchgear will be Renault based to save cost.

Jeff

 

[Brian_Innes]

Another day another drive. Getting to grips with my new steed day by day. The A110 switchgear knowledge is slowly sinking in. Changing car brand after 13 years of Porsche systems was never going to be easy, particularly at my advanced age. Old dogs and new tricks spring to mind.

Today I had a drive to Aberdeenshire to visit family who were keen to give my new car the once over. The drive was on A and B roads and included the type of roads that sports cars revel in, whether Porsche or otherwise. A few things discovered. The rear three quarter view on the A110 is more restricted than on the Cayman. The rear quarter lights are much smaller on the A110 having the air intake ducts incorporated. The door mirrors give the best view rearwards, but I always look over my right shoulder as a final check before pulling out. While on the topic of rearwards visibility, the rear view from the central mirror is of the letter box variety. Only a tiny slot view of the road behind is given in the rear view mirror. It's like looking out of a WW2 pill box defence post. You get used to it, making use of the two door mirrors is required to obtain a wider angle view of traffic behind. By comparison, the Cayman has very good rearwards visibility.

Interesting comments on first viewing of my A110 from my car minded family today. The overriding opinion was how small the A110 looked compared to photos. In the flesh it looks tiny. It stands only 1.51 metres tall, and the short wheelbase, wide track, combined with the lack of overhangs front and rear give the car a very purposeful, and sporty impression. The matt paint finish was another point of comment. All thought it suited the car admirably. The James Bond theme was mentioned again. The consensus on the paint finish so far is very positive. Although concerns were raised about parking beneath trees where sap residue may permanently mark the matt finish. I have made a note to progress the protective paint treatment as a matter of urgency.

I'm still running-in the car and using only the normal mode at present, both in auto and manual paddle-shift. I haven't tested the Sport or Track modes yet in consideration of the 3500rpm limit. If current engine responsiveness is anything to go by, this car is going to be an exciting performer once the rev limit is raised to the red line. Speaking of which, I liked the digital rev counter display moving the redline sector back to 5500 when the engine is cold. When the normal operating temperatures are reached, the redline resumes its normal threshold. A nice touch.

Next on the agenda is revealing the engine compartment to check and add oil if necessary. This operation is a palaver having grills and trims removed before accessing the engine cover area. More will follow on this topic later.

Brian.

 

[Brian_Innes]

For the avoidance of doubt, and also a deep sense of curiosity, I took my A110 to a public weigh bridge today.

The car was weighed with me in the car and with a quarter tank of fuel onboard. Had I known beforehand that the weigh bridge provided two weight readings, I would have stepped out of the car for the second weight reading. Instead I weighed myself on return home, giving a reading of 78.2 kgs in the same clothing and shoes as worn at the weigh bridge. My body weight has remained stable at 78kgs.

The weight readings were as follows.

Alpine A110 Legende GT

Car and driver: 1200.0kgs

Car Less Driver: 1121.8 Kgs.

Cayman R 6 speed Manual

Car and driver: 1424kgs

Car Less driver: 1347kgs.

This proves a substantial weight difference compared to my Cayman R taken in 2014. The resulting power to weight ratio advantage lies strongly with the A110.

Brian

 

[Gazoak]

Good to read your initial report Brian. Looks great and I like the way they have hidden the intakes in the rear pillar. I've never noticed that before. I'm surprised how small the fuel tank is, only a couple of litres more than my UP GTI.

 

[Motorhead]

The A110’s quite a lightweight compared with the CR Brian, itself a relatively lightweight car. You can see that Alpine have taken the Lotus philosophy for inspiration.

The 40L fuel tank certainly is very small, especially when compared with the base 718’s capacity of 54L; 64L for the 718 CS. You’ll have to keep and eye on the fuel gauge during your trips! []

Good luck attacking the engine cover removal! Having said that, accessing the engine on Caymans is also a bit of a faff, so no change there, although it’s a pity that Alpine didn’t incorporate a proper digital fuel gauge in the display like that on the Cayman. A significant cost saving no doubt.

Jeff

 

[Brian_Innes]

In response to Gary and Jeff's comments on the fuel tank capacity and instrument panel fuel gauge, I can confirm the following;

The A110 fuel tank is indeed small at 45 litres capacity. The Cayman R fuel tank capacity in standard spec is 54 litres. A 64 litre fuel tank was an option on the CR but my car had the smaller tank. I never had an issue with this. As mentioned previously I carried a 10 litre petrol can with me on trips where I thought the limited fuel range may be a problem. I shall continue with this practice on selected trips.

In the case of the A110, fuel consumption is lower than the CR due to the light weight and 4 cylinder turbo engine. I chose to fill up at the quarter mark after 303 miles. There was sufficient fuel left for at least another 50 miles had I chosen to do so.

The fuel gauge display on the instrument panel is digital, although the graphics are shown in analogue form. You will see from my photo below that with a full tank the range is shown as 405 miles. More than enough for current running-in driving trips. I shall be interested to see how the real world fuel range works out when I start to use the revs and full performance of the engine on subsequent trips. Jury is still out on that one.

You will also notice the redline sector on the rev counter scaling back the rev limit when the engine is cold. Current practice now on digital instrument panels.

Brian

 

[Motorhead]

Oops! A correction to the last paragraph in my previous post Brian. It should of course have read “a proper digital oil level gauge in the display” since I was discussing engine access and I recall you mentioning that - unusually- there’s a proper oil level dipstick on the A110.

Jeff

 

[Motorhead]

Hot off the press …

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/2021-alpine-a110-legende-gt-ph-review/44771

Jeff