The Car that Got it Right: A Review of the Alpine A110 S and its Customized Version

As I sat behind the wheel of the Alpine A110, I couldn't help but feel that this car was missing something. While it's certainly a beautiful and capable machine, I found myself wishing for just a bit more focus and precision on the road. It's not that the A110 isn't enjoyable to drive - far from it - but there's a sense of vagueness, a slight softness in the steering and suspension that prevents it from truly feeling like a high-performance car.

But then I had the chance to experience something special: an Alpine A110 S with modifications designed by David Book, under the banner of Life 110. This version of the car takes the best elements of the original - its clever chassis design, its accurate and responsive steering - and refines them into a truly exceptional driving machine.

The first thing that struck me about this car was how much lower it sits to the ground than the standard A110. The springs have been adjusted to sit just 16 millimeters lower, giving the car a slightly more aggressive stance. But while this does make the car look more imposing, it's also worth noting that the roll bars and dampers remain the same - no radical changes here, just a subtle tweak to the suspension.

So what really sets this car apart? For one thing, there are significant changes to the geometry of the front wheels. In the standard A110, there's a slight toe-out at the front, with some toe-in at the rear. This new version has some toe-in at the front, and more camber overall - which generates more lateral grip, thanks to wider tires that can be fitted as an option on the A110. The result is a car that feels more precise and responsive, especially when it comes to steering.

I was eager to put this car through its paces, so I headed out onto the track to see how it handled. And what a revelation! The A110 S with Life 110 modifications truly does feel like a high-performance machine - agile, responsive, and capable of carving up even the most challenging corners with ease. It's not as if the original A110 has been replaced by something fundamentally different - just that it's been refined and perfected.

Of course, there are still some compromises to be made in this car. I missed the slightly floaty, magic carpet ride of the standard A110 when driving on smooth roads or in normal driving conditions. But overall, I think you'd have to say that this is a car that brings out the best in its driver - and makes them feel like they're getting a bit more back than usual.

One thing that's worth noting is that Life 110 has developed a range of modifications that can be fitted to the A110 on their own, or as part of a package. So if you want to add some extra body control to your car, for example, you can just opt for the springs and forget about everything else. Or, if you're really keen on the handling, you could go all out and take the full package - which includes geometry changes, wider wheels, and even a fancy rear spoiler.

Ultimately, what I think is most impressive about this car is that it offers a solution to two seemingly contradictory problems at once: how to make a car feel both precise and responsive, while still retaining its smooth ride and comfortable handling. And by refining the original A110's design rather than radicaly changing it, Life 110 has created something truly special - a machine that feels like a conventional car when you want it to be, but becomes a genuine track star when you push it hard.

In my ideal situation, I think I'd love to see more of the original A110's magic carpet ride returned, while retaining some of the extra body control and steering precision offered by this customized version. But as things stand, I'm happy to say that Life 110 has done a fantastic job of broadening the appeal of what is undoubtedly one of the finest sports cars in a generation - so whether you're a track enthusiast or just someone who wants a reliable but exciting machine for daily driving, it's definitely worth taking a closer look at.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe Alpine a110 is one of our favorite sports cars from the past decade but this small aluminium lightweight mid-engine two-seater comes with a fairly limited range if you are seeking for the right alpide for you exactly what are your options out beings bass hey 110 it is my favorite sports car of the moment it is my magazines favorite sports car at the moment I think and car enthusiasts have taken it to their heart with such vigor that last year in the UK album sold 170 of them yeah it's not very many is it but they are selling by the thousand in France so more tour and Treveon well done if that is you in France what is worth doing I think is just spending a couple of minutes reminding ourselves why this car is so special it's compact it's got on all aluminium nearly all aluminium body shell unique to this car the engines in the middle it's a 1.8 liter turbo charged for driving the rear wheels through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and all in with just two seats and compact body work around us the whole thing weighs less than eleven hundred kilos which is just remarkable and that is the gift that keeps on giving what it means is that helping can relax all of the spring and damp rates it doesn't have to have massive wheels and tires it doesn't have to have massive break it doesn't have to have big anything to be fun and involving so it's quite softly set up really softly set up so on a challenging gnarly back road like this where the surface is terrible is doing different things either side the road is small the weather is grim it's still a really engaging rewarding car that gives you back loads of feel and feedback and it just glides along without being deflected off by bumps and cambers and potholes and good night I just got this sort of really weird but lovely magic carpet floaty ride quality some people think that that ride quality may be slightly too floaty and helping wouldn't pass itself as among them but what it has realized is that there are some people out there and this was in the plan from the very beginning who might want a car that is a little bit more focused if you do a lot of track driving if you don't do a lot of smooth Road fast driving you want perhaps a card it is a bit more focused and a bit more tied down than the standard a110 option one then and the official option if you want a more keyed in a 110 is this the a 110 s visually you won't see much difference between the two cars it has bigger wheels but you can get those as an option on the standard a 110 anyway so really the changes happened under the skin so the headline change is that the car gets 40 more horsepower than it did so it's up to 290 metric horsepower 392 metric horsepower was at 288 break but torque is still limited to the same house foot as it was before because that's the most that this twin-clutch seven-speed gearbox can take and then there are these suspension changes so this car rides four millimeters lower it's hardly anything at all is it but the spring rates are up by 50% and the anti-roll bar stiffness is up by 100% so this is a carbon doesn't breathe as it flows down the road with quite the same ease as the standard a 110 is that good or a bad thing well it kind of depends on your outlet coming if you want in a car that was more heated and more focused to the road this is it it rides in a nice sophisticated manner it it feels more like a conventional car I feel like it feels more like something like a Porsche Cayman or a Toyota gt86 match and it just goes down the road like most other cars there's a little bit more fidgets it doesn't it's not deflected or bumps it's not harsh it's not it's not grim at all but it is certainly a bit more focused well I do like though hey the extra body control is is nice in the right in the right place but what's nice all the time is that as a result the steering feels more accurate particularly just off straight ahead it feels more responsive like you're getting a bit more back than all the time and actually I really like that very much do you notice the extra power well in conditions like this or most like this not so much responsiveness feels the same - I think you probably have to be on a track and really towards the top end of the revelation to notice the extra urge this is still a not unpleasant brassy 4-cylinder sound with a crisp gearbox but now just a bit more of a tied down he didn't driving experience that I liked very much still but I wonder if some of the original album magic has just been a little bit lost and in my ideal situation you would add some of the steering keenness and some of the body control while retaining the original a one tends magic carpet floaty right fortunately I know a man who thinks he might have done exactly that and this if you like is option three now it is not an official album product there's a guy called David book and he is a brilliant dynamics engineer and under the life 110 banner he has put together a series of modifications to the 110 which make it a little more focused without losing any of the chassis deafness well the power stays the same as the Saturday 110 so that's it about 240 horsepower there are no changes to that what dave has changed is the springs which now sits 16 millimeters lower to the ground than the standard car but there are only 30 percent stiffer and the standard roll bars remain and the standard dampers relate to so it's a little bit lower and it's a little bit cleaner but it is not as stiff as the a1 10s there are other changes to this big change to the geometry which in the standard a 110 has little bit of toe out at the front and toe in at the rear which apparently is unusual this now has some toe in at the front and there's also some more camphor applied so it generates a little bit more lateral grip that's increased again by the fact that the tires on this car are the optional wider versions that you could get on the a 110 and are standard on the S but the wheels are half an inch wider than even the option standard a 110 helping wheels does that make sense basically slightly wider wheel means that there's more stiffness in the tire sidewall which increases handling precision particularly steering precision so where the standard a 110 has that slight sore a bit of vagueness is the wrong word because it's a precise steering rack but it just doesn't have a hugely incisive initial turn well this has some of that in and the body is really well controlled it has the incisiveness and the extra feeling of willingness to turn that the a 110 s has and yeah it retains most bone by no means all of that slightly floaty magic carpet ride of the standard Oh Monty there's no right or wrong there is no winner or loser I really love the way the standard a 110 goes down the road and for my kind of driving I would have that over an a 110 s if you did a lot of smooth Road or track driving fast keyed in driving you would probably want a 1 10 s this car brings a really beautiful lovely compromise between the two I would be intrigued because you can buy the things separately they would do a full price list you can have just the geometry changes if you like you can just have the wheels if you like you can just have the Springs if you like or you can have is natty rear spoiler if you like - which comes off the cup cup i'd be intrigued to try this car on the standard suspension settings but just with the geometry changes and then if that didn't make enough of a difference for me I might go the full thing and have the springs but the wonderful thing is from just going from one standard a110 car like it or leave it and I like you a lot there are now three or more options to really broaden the appeal of what is being no doubt in my mind the finest sports car in a generationthe Alpine a110 is one of our favorite sports cars from the past decade but this small aluminium lightweight mid-engine two-seater comes with a fairly limited range if you are seeking for the right alpide for you exactly what are your options out beings bass hey 110 it is my favorite sports car of the moment it is my magazines favorite sports car at the moment I think and car enthusiasts have taken it to their heart with such vigor that last year in the UK album sold 170 of them yeah it's not very many is it but they are selling by the thousand in France so more tour and Treveon well done if that is you in France what is worth doing I think is just spending a couple of minutes reminding ourselves why this car is so special it's compact it's got on all aluminium nearly all aluminium body shell unique to this car the engines in the middle it's a 1.8 liter turbo charged for driving the rear wheels through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and all in with just two seats and compact body work around us the whole thing weighs less than eleven hundred kilos which is just remarkable and that is the gift that keeps on giving what it means is that helping can relax all of the spring and damp rates it doesn't have to have massive wheels and tires it doesn't have to have massive break it doesn't have to have big anything to be fun and involving so it's quite softly set up really softly set up so on a challenging gnarly back road like this where the surface is terrible is doing different things either side the road is small the weather is grim it's still a really engaging rewarding car that gives you back loads of feel and feedback and it just glides along without being deflected off by bumps and cambers and potholes and good night I just got this sort of really weird but lovely magic carpet floaty ride quality some people think that that ride quality may be slightly too floaty and helping wouldn't pass itself as among them but what it has realized is that there are some people out there and this was in the plan from the very beginning who might want a car that is a little bit more focused if you do a lot of track driving if you don't do a lot of smooth Road fast driving you want perhaps a card it is a bit more focused and a bit more tied down than the standard a110 option one then and the official option if you want a more keyed in a 110 is this the a 110 s visually you won't see much difference between the two cars it has bigger wheels but you can get those as an option on the standard a 110 anyway so really the changes happened under the skin so the headline change is that the car gets 40 more horsepower than it did so it's up to 290 metric horsepower 392 metric horsepower was at 288 break but torque is still limited to the same house foot as it was before because that's the most that this twin-clutch seven-speed gearbox can take and then there are these suspension changes so this car rides four millimeters lower it's hardly anything at all is it but the spring rates are up by 50% and the anti-roll bar stiffness is up by 100% so this is a carbon doesn't breathe as it flows down the road with quite the same ease as the standard a 110 is that good or a bad thing well it kind of depends on your outlet coming if you want in a car that was more heated and more focused to the road this is it it rides in a nice sophisticated manner it it feels more like a conventional car I feel like it feels more like something like a Porsche Cayman or a Toyota gt86 match and it just goes down the road like most other cars there's a little bit more fidgets it doesn't it's not deflected or bumps it's not harsh it's not it's not grim at all but it is certainly a bit more focused well I do like though hey the extra body control is is nice in the right in the right place but what's nice all the time is that as a result the steering feels more accurate particularly just off straight ahead it feels more responsive like you're getting a bit more back than all the time and actually I really like that very much do you notice the extra power well in conditions like this or most like this not so much responsiveness feels the same - I think you probably have to be on a track and really towards the top end of the revelation to notice the extra urge this is still a not unpleasant brassy 4-cylinder sound with a crisp gearbox but now just a bit more of a tied down he didn't driving experience that I liked very much still but I wonder if some of the original album magic has just been a little bit lost and in my ideal situation you would add some of the steering keenness and some of the body control while retaining the original a one tends magic carpet floaty right fortunately I know a man who thinks he might have done exactly that and this if you like is option three now it is not an official album product there's a guy called David book and he is a brilliant dynamics engineer and under the life 110 banner he has put together a series of modifications to the 110 which make it a little more focused without losing any of the chassis deafness well the power stays the same as the Saturday 110 so that's it about 240 horsepower there are no changes to that what dave has changed is the springs which now sits 16 millimeters lower to the ground than the standard car but there are only 30 percent stiffer and the standard roll bars remain and the standard dampers relate to so it's a little bit lower and it's a little bit cleaner but it is not as stiff as the a1 10s there are other changes to this big change to the geometry which in the standard a 110 has little bit of toe out at the front and toe in at the rear which apparently is unusual this now has some toe in at the front and there's also some more camphor applied so it generates a little bit more lateral grip that's increased again by the fact that the tires on this car are the optional wider versions that you could get on the a 110 and are standard on the S but the wheels are half an inch wider than even the option standard a 110 helping wheels does that make sense basically slightly wider wheel means that there's more stiffness in the tire sidewall which increases handling precision particularly steering precision so where the standard a 110 has that slight sore a bit of vagueness is the wrong word because it's a precise steering rack but it just doesn't have a hugely incisive initial turn well this has some of that in and the body is really well controlled it has the incisiveness and the extra feeling of willingness to turn that the a 110 s has and yeah it retains most bone by no means all of that slightly floaty magic carpet ride of the standard Oh Monty there's no right or wrong there is no winner or loser I really love the way the standard a 110 goes down the road and for my kind of driving I would have that over an a 110 s if you did a lot of smooth Road or track driving fast keyed in driving you would probably want a 1 10 s this car brings a really beautiful lovely compromise between the two I would be intrigued because you can buy the things separately they would do a full price list you can have just the geometry changes if you like you can just have the wheels if you like you can just have the Springs if you like or you can have is natty rear spoiler if you like - which comes off the cup cup i'd be intrigued to try this car on the standard suspension settings but just with the geometry changes and then if that didn't make enough of a difference for me I might go the full thing and have the springs but the wonderful thing is from just going from one standard a110 car like it or leave it and I like you a lot there are now three or more options to really broaden the appeal of what is being no doubt in my mind the finest sports car in a generation\n"