What might appear to be quite a straightforward vehicle is actually far from it. The Renault Alpine A110 is a complex creation that sets itself apart from many of its contemporaries, for a variety of reasons. It is, without a doubt, the most exciting sports car of the year.
Car aficionados have varying tastes when it comes to what they like to drive. However, Top Gear’s experts came to a unanimous decision that the Alpine A110 is the sports car to look out for. To unite so many people with differing opinions is no small feat.
It seems that some of the features that everyone can agree on are the car’s innate balance, its slick design, and Renault’s attention to detail. Unlike other cars, where it is obvious how the manufacturer made the car so light, we’re not quite sure how Renault pulled this one off.
This compact, two-seat coupe is more in line with competitors such as the Audi TT or the Porsche Cayman. However, that is a very basic comparison and in reality, it is even lighter than both of those cars – 25% lighter, to be precise.
In spite of this, the Alpine still manages to boast the features you’d come to expect, such as satnav, electric windows, and air-conditioning. As for the mechanics, we’re looking at a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine with 249bhp.
“We have tried to follow Colin Chapman’s principle, which is still valid, so if we have low mass, we can have moderate power, so we don’t need super wide tires or big, heavy brakes and so on,” Alpine technical leader Thierry Annequin said.
“We have chased all grams everywhere on each component and each system to achieve this weight.” Then, when you take a look at the car’s interior, the attention to detail is still consistently in-depth.
“With a seven-gear system and minimal buttons, the aluminum motif is a sight for sore eyes. This is unusual,” claims Annequin said. “But it saves seven grams here, 12 grams there and it adds up.”