10 Things To Know Before Buying An Alpine A110

The market for reasonably priced sports cars isn't what it once was, as demand for the segment overall has dropped and emissions regulations continue to kill off performance-focused cars every year. However, the Alpine A110 is the opposite of the trend, launching in 2017 to critical acclaim and posting solid sales every year since. So what is it that makes the Alpine special, and why do so many buyers continue to fork out the equivalent of $60,000 to own one?

Well, to answer that question, it's worth taking a closer look at the car and breaking down exactly what it offers to the discerning driver. It has certainly impressed the experts, with McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray calling it one of the best-handling cars of its era and using the car as the handling benchmark for his most recent car, the T.50. It might not be the most powerful car in the segment, but its light curb weight and superior chassis make it one of the best purebred sports cars out there right now. Let's run down ten things that you'll need to know if you're considering buying one.

10 Three Trims Are Available

Alpine A110 orange blue and silver — Via Alpine

There are three trims currently available for Alpine's signature sports car, and they each come with different setups and price tags. The base level trim is simply called the A110, and then the mid-spec A110 GT adds bigger wheels and a slightly more lux interior.

The top-spec A110 S is only a fraction more expensive, but it comes with a lot of optional extras like a carbon fiber track pack which increases downforce at the front and rear of the car. Which pack buyers should choose will depend on exactly what they're looking to get out of their car.

9 Up To 300 Horsepower Is On Tap

Alpine A110 on mountain road — Via Alpine

The base-spec car comes with 252 hp, which might seem modest but is more than enough to make the Alpine feel properly fast, especially when making use of the upper limits of the car's rev range.

The GT and the S both come with 300 hp, although in some markets a 292 hp version of the S is also available. Acceleration times are rapid across all trims: for the base car, 0-60 mph takes 4.5 seconds, and in the top-spec car, it takes just 4.2 seconds.

8 The Engine Is Shared With The Renaultsport Megane

Renaultsport Megane and Alpine A110 — Via Alpine

Alpine is a subsidiary of Renault Group, and the A110 uses several components that are shared with its parent company's Renaultsport division. The two divisions recently merged, so it's possible that in the future, Alpine branding might be seen on hotter versions of Renault's cars.

The A110 uses a modified version of the 1.8L four-cylinder engine that's also in the Renaultsport Megane. However, it's far from identical, as Alpine's version uses its own air intake, exhaust system, turbo and tuning setup.

7 It Rivals The Porsche Cayman And Lotus Emira

While it's true that there aren't as many purebred sports cars out there are there used to be, the A110 does have some close competiiton. Its biggest rival is the Porsche Cayman, which starts at around the same asking price and also offers a four-cylinder engine in base-spec form.

But, there's also more competition on the way, in the form of the recently announced Lotus Emira. Lotus haven't delivered any cars to customers yet but early reviews suggest that the Emira will directly challenge the A110 in terms of its weight, performance and overall demeanor. What remains to be seen, however, is if the Emira will beat the Alpine on its pricing.

6 It's Incredibly Lightweight

Via Alpine

One area where the A110 has no real competition is its weight, as it's the lightest in its segment, making even a Porsche Cayman look relatively porky. It weighs just 1,100 kg (2,425 lb), with Alpine's engineers working tirelessly to shave every last gram of weight off the car.

Alpine A110 on a gloomy road — Via Alpine

The attention to detail is immaculate: there is no secondary brake caliper for the parking brake, for example, with it instead being integrated into the primary brake. This saves 2.5 kg (5.5 lb). Even the brackets holding the cables and hoses around the car are made from aluminum, to shave off those last few grams.

5 Interior Design Is Excellent

Alpine A110 interior daytime — Via Alpine

It may be featherweight, but Alpine have still done an excellent job of making the interior look worthy of its $60,000+ price tag. The quilt-pattern leather accents compliment the otherwise rather minimalist design well, and flashes of blue stop the cabin from looking dull.

Alpine A110 interior nighttime — Via Alpine

In their review of the car, Top Gear pointed out that some of the buttons and switches on the car are taken directly from Renault, and so don't feel as premium as they could do. They're not deal-breakers, but TG say the new Lotus Emira feels slightly more premium in this respect.

4 There Are A Lot Of Color Options

Alpine A110 Felipe Pantone front — Via Alpine

Perhaps in response to the upcoming competition, Alpine has added a plethora of upgrades and features in recent years, and one of those has been to increase the range of color options available. Early cars launched only in blue, black or silver, but recent cars can be optioned in green, orange, yellow and purple.

Alpine A110 Felipe Pantone rear — Via Alpine

There have also been several collaborations with artists that focus on unique paintwork, with one such collab being the Felipe Pantone edition pictured here. Only three of these special edition cars were available and each sold for over $150,000, making them the most expensive versions of the A110 to date.

3 It's Surprisingly Efficient

Alpine A110 factory testing — Via Alpine

It might be a performance-focused sports car, but thanks to its 1.8L four-pot engine, the A110 is surprisingly efficient when driven at road-legal speeds. In Top Gear's review, they note that the car achieved 37 to 40 British mpg on the road, which is roughly equivalent to 33 American mpg.

Even when driven at speed, the car still achieved 27 British mpg (22.5 American mpg), no mean feat for a sports car. With gas prices on the rise, buying an Alpine might be an unlikely way to save money at the fuel pump.

2 It's Not For Everyone

Alpine A110 parked on the road — Via Alpine

So, the A110 is a lightweight sports car with excellent handling that's cheap to run and comes with lots of personalization options. What's the catch? The catch, of course, is that it's not available in the US or Canada.

Alpine A110 by grand building — Via Alpine

It might not stay that way forever, though, as Alpine's CEO in an interview didn't rule out an eventual US launch, only saying that the company wanted to expand its presence in Europe before heading for any other markets. So, fingers crossed it makes its way across the pond eventually.

1 It Starts Under £50,000

Buyers in the UK and Europe who already have access to Alpine have a big choice to make, as the car varies in price dramatically depending on trim. The base-spec car costs £49,295 ($60,656 at current exchange rates), and the A110 S costs £59,345 ($73,022).

Add in all of the optional extras that are available on the car though, and the asking price increases sharply. A fully-optioned car with extras like the carbon fiber pack and sports exhaust can cost over £71,000 ($87,349), making the car as expensive as a Cayman GTS 4.0. The best option is probably to stick with the base car, as it retains the same excellent handling and purebred pedigree, the key elements that make the A110 such a great car.