The Alpine A 110 on display at the 2017 Geneva show. — Reuters
GENEVA: A week ago, Alpine finally showed the world what the new A110 is going to look like when it officially goes on sale later this year and now, following its full reveal at the Geneva motor show, we know if the car is all show and no go.
Thankfully, it appears that the performance figures, like the exterior design, have been worth the wait.
The low-slung car - it stands just 1.25 metres high and is just 4.17 metres long - has a four-cylinder turbocharged engine sitting smack in its centre. So as well as a relatively even weight distribution (44% over the front and 56% over the rear axles), it should be able to kiss the apex and hold the racing line going in and out of every racing circuit corner or country road bend.
From the start, Alpine's owner, Renault has been suggesting that the new car - the first full Alpine of any description to hit the road for over two decades - has been built with the Porsche Cayman rather than the Ford Focus RS in its sights, so the presence of a little 1.8-litre engine calling the shots might at first sound like the company is being overly optimistic.
However that little unit has a maximum output of 252hp and 320Nm of torque. And, once the car's weight - just 1080kg - has been factored in, that optimism starts to sound like realism.
As well as a power-to-weight ratio of 233hp per tonne, the car is capable of going from 0-100kph in 4.5 seconds. So, faster than a Cayman and thanks to a specially developed Getrag seven-speed DCT gearbox, it has an extra gear, too.
But best of all is that the first new Alpine has managed to offer all of this performance without diluting its aesthetic. Taking the original 1960s A110 as its starting point, the new car is a modern interpretation - think current generation Mustang - with unbroken lines thanks to clever underfloor aerodynamics rather than recourse to front splitters and huge rear fins to generate downforce.
The company hasn't scrimped on the interior either, going for aluminum, leather and carbon fiber to dress the cockpit rather than textured plastics and rubber. And when the price is factored in - the car will retail for a suggested €58,500 (RM275,000) once the dealer network is established - the new Alpine is shaping up to be a bit of a steal.
