Home » Business » The dragon comes at the end of the gas station. We drove across the Giant Mountains Alpina A110

The dragon comes at the end of the gas station. We drove across the Giant Mountains Alpina A110

Electric cars are rolling in from all sides and Renault is reshaping a sports brand that smells of petrol. Alpine was a legend of the sixties and seventies, and the A110 coupe returns to these roots. The importer celebrated his arrival on the Czech market with demonstration rides where the mechanically clean and playful temperament of the car stands out best: on the steep and winding roads of the Giant Mountains.

Why is propane Renault introducing a vainly fast sports coupe to this day, which balances every gram of carbon dioxide with gold? Because he’s French and he didn’t make it before. The idea is fifteen years old, but it had to survive the past economic crisis and fumble in its implementation. This included, among other things, the establishment and re-dissolution of a joint venture with the British brand Caterham. In the end, the car reaches us five years after the start of sales in richer western markets.

That was in the autumn of 2017. At that time, no one had any idea what a downturn the European regulation of fossil fuels would take and how old-fashioned the A110 would look today. But after the incredible billions that Renault has poured into this blue delicacy, it makes sense to keep and sell the car for as long as possible. By the way, Audi also wanted to resurrect the Quattro coupe fifteen years ago, but strictly rational managers gave it up. So God forbid for the late and bohemian French.

And why the Giant Mountains? Because the Alpine brand has a weakness for mountains right in the name. The founder Jean Rédelé was a racer, he loved the mountains with all her challenges, and the mountains separating France from Italy were the scene of many motorsport races of the time. However, Alpine sports cars dominated the tracks of the whole of Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. Including Czech rallies, where the A110 coupe driven by the legendary Vladimír Hubáček caused a sensation.

The reborn A110 uses basically the same recipe. A low two-seater coupe, behind its seats growling and the rear wheels are powered by an eighteen-liter petrol engine from a family Renault. Today, however, it is overcrowded and after training Alpina, it serves two hundred and fifty horses instead of the then one hundred and forty. On the contrary, the body is made entirely of aluminum, so the car with all the equipment weighs only 1040 kilos.

Not that there was too much gear. The interior is furnished purely sports, you will not find the usual height adjustment of the seat. The shells in the basic equipment offer only longitudinal displacement, the additional racing seats are adjusted with a screw. In addition to the steering wheel and pedals, there are three knobs for controlling the automatic transmission, a tablet with navigation and an end. Everything is uncompromisingly focused on driving.

The engine idling mutely but sinisterly. After the addition of the throttle, it starts agilely with a tachometer to increase the volume in the high band and to hum the core when the exhaust flap opens under full throttle. The light car also sets off on a steep hill with the sharpness of a hunting dog. There is no reason to distrust the stated hundreds in four and a half seconds, as well as the maximum of 250 km / h.

The logical compromise is the interplay between an “inflated” engine with a large turbocharger and a certain bite of a two-clutch automat. Both have innate reaction delays, so the addition of gas should be metered in advance. Today, however, no one escapes this when it comes to efficiency requirements.

While the full power of the engine can train with the car unevenly, the setting of the chassis will please with peace and flexibility. With the basic version, it would be easy to drive around the city every day, and it maintains its view even on bumpy side roads.

Alpine A110

Engine: petrol 4-cylinder, 1798 cm3
Power: 185 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 320 Nm at 2000 rpm
Top speed: 250 km / h
Acceleration 0-100 km / h: 4.5 s
Combined consumption: 7.0 l / 100 km
Price: from 1 490 000 CZK

Renault’s tuners managed to hit the ideal center between the freedom for natural and legible body movements and tilts in curves. The brakes are also harmonized with the rest of the car. They do not start too sharply and the pedal has a clear, firm response.

In cornering under gas, the car confirms the joy and worry of placing the engine behind the seats and the center of gravity near the center. On the one hand, unrivaled agility and willingness to change direction, on the other, the necessary vigilance over traction.

The rear wheels do not have to withstand the onslaught of driving force and the stabilization allows a significantly greater slip and skid angle than in family cars. In this respect, the Alpinka looks more playful and restless than the similarly designed, but twenty centimeters longer Porsche Cayman.

Depending on your taste, you can choose between engines tuned to 185, 221 and 225 kilowatts, pay extra for sharper and reduced chassis tuning, add aerodynamic accessories that increase the maximum from 250 to 260 km / h. The most pleasant finding of yesterday afternoon in the Giant Mountains, however, is how much fun and skills the basic version will offer.

Not to mention the joy that a car with a purely mechanical soul can be bought for a million and a half at all. The mentioned Porsche is three hundred thousand more expensive and with a steel structure two hundred and fifty kilos heavier. We drink to such an act and wish you a long life.

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