Alpine A110S
The A110 has been around for quite a while now, and if you don‘t live under a rock you‘ll probably know that everyone who had a go in it thinks that it’s rather brilliant. But do I? Spoiler: Absolutely!
I’ve always been fascinated by the original A110. Small, fast, a lot of heritage and huge amounts of character. When I heard that Renault was going to do a modern reinterpretation of the A110, I couldn’t await to see what they’d come up with. The journey was long and several years passed until the first production cars started to hit the roads. Reviews rolled in and literally everyone praised it as being absolutely fantastic. I obviously was determined to find out by myself and thanks to Renault Switzerland I had the chance to spend a full week with the new A110S.
The Looks
From the outside it is safe to say that the designers have done a remarkable job at implementing design cues of the original A110. The front has lots of charisma and those front lights make it look different from anything else on the market. It’s got the right lines at the right places and overall looks very pretty.
But, and here’s the big but, it’s not perfect. I sort of still can’t fall in love with the rear half of the car. I know, I know. I can be very fussy when it comes to the design, but I just can’t get over the rear end of it. The roofline sort of is too steep and it looks like it has a bit of a hump. It’s not the end of the world but it still annoys me quite a bit.
The car I was given came in Glacier White, which in the right light has a lovely blue shimmer. It’s beautiful to look at but a pain to take some decent pictures of. The car also came with black wheels and a rather lovely contrasting carbon roof. A bit of orange details here and there let you know that the car in front of you is the S variant and not a standard A110.
When getting into the car, you already start noticing the lightness of the doors and instantly get reminded that the car you’re gettin in weighs a bit more than 1.1 tons. Once on the inside, you get hugged by the beautiful seats which in my eyes are a highlight of the whole car. Plus they’re very comfortable. However, with me being rather tall, I ended up taking in a seating position which made me look like the back of the car. That was mainly due to the seat being set to medium height. I could have changed the seat‘s position to be more backwards-sloping and lower, but that would have meant undoing some screws and putting everything back together. On a car that isn’t mine. I don’t think so.
The inside of the cabin is very cleaned up and minimal without feeling cheap. Moreover, you get the sensation of being in a special car because everything is at a place is usually isn‘t. The ignition and the window controls can be found on the center console, plus selecting gears is done via buttons instead of a lever. What I didn‘t like, was the infotainment system which feels like it was programmed by someone who doesn’t know anything about an infotainment system. Due to everything having to be light, unnecessary buttons had to go. Meaning that everything is controlled via touchscreen and a few buttons on a stalk behind the steering wheel. One of those buttons activates voice control which just shouts at you and doesn‘t do anything you say, plus trying to turn it off will just make it worse. At least you now know which button never to press again. But by far the most annoying thing was that even though my phone was automatically connected to the car, it somehow thought that I wanted to listen to some white noise on the radio. Everytime. But then again, you’d be better off turning of the radio and enjoying the variation of noises the Alpine produces.
The Drive
But let‘s focus on what matters most. The driving. To find out how good of a car the Alpine is, I decided to take it for a two day trip around some beautiful Swiss mountain passes. On the way there everything was perfectly fine. It easily cruised along the motorway without turning my spine into dust and the infotainment system, when set up correctly, let me listen to my favourite songs. But as motorway driving isn’t really interesting, I grew bored of it quite quickly and couldn’t await to finally chase some alpine roads.
When I finally arrived at my overnight stay, I decided to wait until the sun started to set and the cyclists and tourists started to go home, because there’s nothing better than having an alpine pass all on your own. Once the road cleared, I started my sunset ascend to the Sustenpass and boy… What a road! The first part is filled with beautiful curvy and technical sections where the car really starts to come alive. Everything started coming together and I blasted up the road in disbelief of the capabilities of the car.
First off, the steering has a beautiful weight to it and perfectly connects you to the front wheels. It provides huge amounts of feedback and lets you place the front end precisely where you want it. The amount of confidence and fun it generates around bends is remarkable and quite frankly ridiculous. The way it changes direction and connects to the road is uncanny. Plus the car feels a lot faster than it actually is due to sitting so low on the ground. This beautiful false sense of speed makes you enjoy the car even more without having to risk spending the rest of your days in prison. The four cylinder 1.8l engine has enough torque and power for any situation and the lightness of the car makes everything feel even better. As I started getting to the higher sections of the Sustenpass I was soon greeted by some tunnels. To my surprise this little thing sound phenomenal beyond four thousand RPM and instantly put a massive smile on my face. Whilst we’re talking about the noise. The fact that the engine is placed literally behind you, leads to various interesting noises in the cabin. The low end burbling of the exhaust and the sucking and swooshing of the turbos elevates the whole experience even further.
I ended my day with blasting down the Sustenpass again before heading back to my overnight stay, eagerly awaiting the next day of enjoying alpine roads in the perfect car. The following morning, I got up very early to enjoy the Grimselpass all by myself and to catch the sunrise on top of the pass. After blasting up and down the Grimsel, I continued my journey to the Furka and then the Tremola Pass which obviously isn’t made for experiencing a fast car. But it definitely delivered stunning views and after what I would call a perfect day of driving, I headed home taking the scenic route.
The Flaws
As already mentioned, the infotainment system is pretty useless and the rear end’s lines don’t match the perfection of the front. Another major thing I didn’t like while driving was the feel of the brake pedal. This is completely subjective as some people prefer it if the brakes have a hard feel, but I really don’t. It sort of feels like you’re stepping on the blue bit of an eraser. You know. The one that’s supposed to erase ink but actually puts a hole through the paper. Apart from that there was nothing wrong with it, which is very surprising as I can be very picky with things not being perfect.
Final Verdict
To be brutally honest, my first few days with the car were pretty underwhelming and I wasn’t really looking forward to the rest of the week. I don’t know if it had to do with me having had very high expectations or me just being tired from my previous holiday. Thankfully, I gradually got to know the car better, learned how to use it properly and the trip to the mountains ultimately made me fall in love with it head over heels. In that week, it grew on me up to a point where I seriously considered buying one in the future. It’s checks so many boxes and drives unlike anything else. Moreover it’s surprisingly economical and you could use it as a daily without any problems if you really wanted to. At least if you don’t have any friends… But the main thing why I would consider buying it is because it has something other cars in that segment lack. Character. Everyone loved seeing it and every time I see it, it fills my heart with joy and makes me want to head for the mountains.
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For more information about the A110S visit Alpine.