It’s the kind of call you relish – do you fancy going to the Chantilly Arts & Elegance this weekend? As I stared out of the window into the grey gloom of provincial England, a few days basking in September sun at France’s premiere concours didn’t need too much consideration. After an emphatic yes came the awkward reality of getting there. Train? Plane? No, how about an Alpine A110 GT…
The A110 GT might not be a first thought when it comes to grand touring. After all, it is a light, nimble and tiny sports car with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. However, with ‘GT’ proudly displayed on the car’s rump, not to mention my personal aversion to public transport, I thought I’d give it a try. Just how well did it stack up over a long distance?
Just how well does the Alpine A110 GT stack up over a long distance?
The A110 actually follows in a more recent line of GT cars. While obviously styled after the tiny revvy coupés that share its name, the GTA and A610 were arguably more grand tourers than out-and-out sports machines. Since this car’s launch in 2017, the Alpine brand is now being opened to more model ranges – the A390 all-EV ‘sport fastback’ has recently been spied testing ahead of a concept launch later this year, while the A290 electric hot hatch was revealed earlier this year.
It’s all a bit of a far cry from the lightweight ethos of the A110 – 96 percent of it is aluminium. Indeed, we have to wonder how long the little A110 has left on sale.
The Alpine A110 GT has been with us since 2022 – so-equipped, it offers 300bhp and 251lb ft from its 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, matched to a seven-speed DCT gearbox. The GT is blessed with a sports exhaust, Brembo brakes, 18in wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport4 tyres and a price tag of £65,490 before options. This particular car came with aluminium pedals, a Focal Premium audio system, Alpine telematics, storage pack, aluminium passenger footrest, floor mats and the stunning Alpine Blue paint, which nudged the price up to £68,450.
Inside, there are Sabelt comfort bucket seats trimmed in brown leather, an adjustable steering wheel for reach and rake, and Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. So far so good, and although I’m north of 6ft4in, getting in and out was simple, and it was easy to get comfortable (apparently the boss of Alpine is an even loftier 6ft7in, and he can fit in very well). Less could be said for my luggage, however.
One of the major reasons for me choosing a car rather than public transport was the need to carry luggage, and in my case, making sure my suit arrived at its destination without looking like it had been used as a tablecloth by a toddler’s tea party. Unfortunately, neither the 96-litre boot nor the 100-litre ‘frunk’ could swallow my fairly modest luggage, which meant the suitcase made the journey in the passenger footwell. Now, I guess if you’re as lithe, light and vertically optimised as the Alpine, this will possibly be less of a problem, but it does diminish the car’s grand-touring abilities a tad, especially if there are two of you.
However, it is a comfortable place to be. The necessary ergonomics are well sighted and, unless you’re treating the throttle pedal like a binary implement, the engine doesn’t growl and boom through the car’s architecture. It’s a tractable engine, too – it might ‘only’ be a four-cylinder, but there’s enough easily accessible mid-range for smooth motorway progress. Yes, there’s a slight delay for the gearbox and turbo to discuss the plans going forward, but you’re not chasing a peaky torque high just to keep the Alpine on the boil.
The gearing is fairly short, so you’ll find yourself zipping through the ratios quite quickly if left in fully automatic mode – but there are seven of them. It’s all fairly seamless, however, so you don’t feel uncomfortably jolted, although the engine’s delivery is not quite as smooth as a big-capacity, naturally aspirated six. Then again, the turbo firing you out into an overtaking space like a freshly thwacked golf ball is endlessly entertaining…
The Alpine A110 GT rides beautifully, too – I often think the French leave the motorways around Calais as lumpy and pockmarked as possible to give us Brits a taste of home before treating us to their wonderfully smooth autoroutes. The Alpine shrugged these off with ease, although its 1119kg (plus human ballast) did end up being buffeted when passing traffic in speed. The steering is light, perhaps a little too light for some tastes, but not too sharp around the dead ahead – perfect for long-legged motorway journeys.
It’s not a hugely long blast to Chantilly – it’s just two-and-a-half hours from Calais – but I took the time to investigate the audio; the integration with my iPhone worked well, although locating the EQ settings were not the work of a moment, and something best done when parked rather than on the move. Mildly irritating if you’re looking for some blues while blasting past Berck on the A16 and switching to ambient past Amiens. While you can select tracks via the CarPlay interface, the track selection and volume toggles behind and to the right of the steering wheel soon become intuitive.
Arriving refreshed and alert after being on the road for around six hours, the Alpine had proved comfortable – and with some time to spare before Chantilly’s opening dinner for guests, I dumped my luggage and went in search of some interesting roads. It’s on the smaller, more pockmarked Tarmac where the Alpine A110 GT’s more relaxed nature starts to make more sense in the real world, compared with the S. The S has hollow anti-roll bars that are 100 percent stiffer than the GT’s, and 50 percent-stiffer spring rates. The rear suspension geometry is slightly tweaked and the car rides 4mm lower, too. You can also add sports seats, a harness, Cup 2 Connect tyres and an aero pack if you wish. While obviously more track focused, nonetheless it might be tempting to go for the sportier option in a sports car by default. But you shouldn’t…
The Alpine A110 GT won’t disappoint with its handling prowess. True, the electric power steering robs the car of the talkative feedback I personally crave from a sports car, but in Sport mode the steering firms up well. It’s still doesn’t provide the fingertip-fizzing frisson of excitement that you’d get from a good hydraulic set up, but it’s well weighted; neither too slow nor too sharp, the car is easy to place with precision and confidence-inspiring as you start to nibble away at corners with more enthusiasm. The GT’s slightly more easy-going damping means that on more rural roads you’re less likely to be bounced off line – if you’re unlikely to track your Alpine, the GT makes rather more sense for real-world enthusiastic driving.
Sport mode extends the gear ratios slightly and stiffens the steering feel, while Track switches off the traction control and allows a full manual-control gearbox, without automatically shifting up or down. The display behind the dashboard changes to a massive rev readout in digits, which is mildly pointless at best and somewhat distracting at worst – because do you need to see any number other than the first two digits?
In Sport mode the Alpine comes alive – while the steering still doesn’t become overly chatty, it’s noticeably firmer than the very light normal set-up. In Track mode, the engine rips through the ratios spectacularly quickly. The gearbox, while slick, isn’t quite as dramatic, which is a small shame. However, you’ll soon find yourself forgetting about this as the corners come at you with increasing speed – and the Alpine A110 GT is more than a match for them. There’s magnificent front-end grip, allowing you to use the absence of mass to slice through tight and twisty roads with aplomb.
This car is a little ball of automotive joy, frankly; with 300bhp in such a lightweight body, it girds its loins with the rampant enthusiasm of a much more expensive, exotic machine. The engine note is not for everyone, mind you – the four-pot crackles and rasps like a Tarmac rally car, with some entertaining woofles on overrun. Great fun if you’re down with that, but if you’re more one for a high-revving screamer then the Alpine might leave you a little cold.
You may also have somewhat chilly views towards the Alpine A110 GT’s range – 300 miles per tank isn’t great for long trips. The lightweight construction means it is possible to extract 35mpg, but thanks to some energetic driving I was in the mid-20s.
These are only minor criticisms, however. The Alpine A110 GT has plenty of grunt for today’s roads, is comfortable for almost everyone and is well equipped – and it’s magnificent fun. The purchase price might be slightly more than for an equivalent Porsche, but the German car will be absolutely bare bones compared with the feature-packed Alpine. There’s also a certain joie de vivre to the Alpine that’s a little absent from the clinical Porsche, and to my eyes the Alpine seems so much more exotic, inside and out.
The fact that the Alpine A110 exists at all is a reason to be cheerful, and although calling this particular example a GT is pushing the boundaries of the nomenclature somewhat, it is nonetheless the pick of the range in terms of real-world use. Just remember to pack as light as the Alpine A110 GT itself – it’s most definitely worth it.
For more information on Alpine, head here.
