A110 for track days

[jackg]

Evening all
Looking for some advice please.
I want to buy a car for track days. Driving to Spa and The Ring, plus usual UK ones. Think the A110 fits the bill but I’d like it to be as track focused as possible. My dilemma is; do I buy a new A110s with all the bits for £74k which then needs Life geo, plus ECU flash or do I pay £40k for a boggo, fit Life springs, map, decent wheels with cup 2’s and save myself £20k?
Thanks for your inputs.
Jx

[chuck_ster]

I have an Alpine Legende. Awesome road car. If I wanted a track weapon with some touring abilities though, I'd have an Exige.

[jackg]

I’m 6’4 and can’t get into an Exige. One of the great bits of the Alpine is that it’s chief designer was 6’ 5 so perfect for freaks!
Jx

[kand300]

I would look at buying a new showroom stock A110s as I was offered a great discount on one in December. In the end I bought an Ex demo.

[jackg]

Interesting, I was told absolutely no discounting.

[bcr5784]

jackg said:

Interesting, I was told absolutely no discounting.

Someone said that dealers have to discount ex demo cars because it is a Renault policy.

Edited by bcr5784 on Wednesday 23 February 13:07

[Life110]

Jack, send me an email at [e-mail] as you'll need a bespoke spec and an excel (full manmaths) spreadsheet will give the answer for costs...

[Simon Owen]

Suspension aside which is very different in the 'S' I never really thought the fully loaded A110 stacked up against a base spec car really, I just don't think they were that different enough given the extra chunk of cash involved with a fully loaded car.

For a highly track focussed car I'm pretty sure Life110 will confirm you'll end up changing all the same things with either option, the suspension on the 'S' for example is never going to be comparable with the damping quality Life110 are proposing with their aftermarket kit is it.

Base spec car + bespoke mods + the application of man maths would be my choice.

Edited by Simon Owen on Thursday 24th February 17:27

[worldwidewebs]

Simon Owen said:

Suspension aside which is very different in the 'S' I never really thought the fully loaded A110 stacked up against a base spec car really, I just don't think they were that different enough given the extra chunk of cash involved with a fully loaded car.

For a highly track focussed car I'm pretty sure Life110 will confirm you'll end up changing all the same things with either option, the suspension on the 'S' for example is never going to be comparable with the damping quality Life110 are proposing with their aftermarket kit is it.

Base spec car + bespoke mods + the application of man maths would be my choice.

Edited by Simon Owen on Thursday 24th February 17:27

I went through the same thought process recently. I don't remember the exact figures, but there was something like £6-7k between a base-A110 (pretty loaded up) and an S to essentially the same spec. If you end up changing the things you're paying extra for on the S, it's a lot of money for a set of black badges

[xondat]

I got an S because I started enjoying track days, but there is still a lot of body movement over the unsprung stuff. In retrospect, I would've bought the base car and modified it from there.

[BarryGibb]

jackg said:

Evening all
Looking for some advice please.
I want to buy a car for track days. Driving to Spa and The Ring, plus usual UK ones. Think the A110 fits the bill but I’d like it to be as track focused as possible. My dilemma is; do I buy a new A110s with all the bits for £74k which then needs Life geo, plus ECU flash or do I pay £40k for a boggo, fit Life springs, map, decent wheels with cup 2’s and save myself £20k?
Thanks for your inputs.
Jx

I'd go for a boggo Pure (maybe with the big brakes) and see how you get on before modifying

[AlexNJ89]

Simon Owen said:

Suspension aside which is very different in the 'S' I never really thought the fully loaded A110 stacked up against a base spec car really, I just don't think they were that different enough given the extra chunk of cash involved with a fully loaded car.

For a highly track focussed car I'm pretty sure Life110 will confirm you'll end up changing all the same things with either option, the suspension on the 'S' for example is never going to be comparable with the damping quality Life110 are proposing with their aftermarket kit is it.

Base spec car + bespoke mods + the application of man maths would be my choice.

Edited by Simon Owen on Thursday 24th February 17:27

Are the Life110 springs closer to the S model suspension or the Legende?

[bcr5784]

AlexNJ89 said:

Are the Life110 springs closer to the S model suspension or the Legende?

According to the Life110 site the springs are 30% stiffer than Pure/Legende. According to Alpine the S springs are 50% stiffer than Pure/Legende. The big difference is that S AR bars are 100% stiffer - whereas they are left standard in Life110.

[worldwidewebs]

What pads, front and rear, are you guys using on track?

[BarryGibb]

worldwidewebs said:

What pads, front and rear, are you guys using on track?

Standard, but I'm not particularly hard on brakes.

[Franzino]

jackg said:

Evening all
Looking for some advice please.
I want to buy a car for track days. Driving to Spa and The Ring, plus usual UK ones. Think the A110 fits the bill but I’d like it to be as track focused as possible. My dilemma is; do I buy a new A110s with all the bits for £74k which then needs Life geo, plus ECU flash or do I pay £40k for a boggo, fit Life springs, map, decent wheels with cup 2’s and save myself £20k?
Thanks for your inputs.
Jx

We have the A110 since + 2 years and did already a lot of trackdays and Nürburgring visits with it. Watch my You Tube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQNZeWSWppUa9hNg4DuTBfg) if you want to see some video’s of the A110 on Nürburgring.

I drove all the A110 models (standard and modified) on street and track and can compare (I have a lot of friends with A110(S). Our own personal Alpine needed to be the Légende because we needed the adjustable seats to fit two different drivers…it’s the daily driver of my girlfriend and she sits on the highest seat position (me on the lowest).

The current mods on the car are:
- Life110 Shift paddles
- Life110 Springs
- Life110 Sport/Road alignment (will be changed to street/track)
- Life110 Steel brake lines
- High temp brake oil
- Front discs: Two piece AP racing
- Front pads; Pagid RSL-29 (use them on street and track)
- Rear pads: when available from Life110
- Tyres: Michelin PS4 in A110S size



For me this set up is the best of both worlds for perfect comfortable daily driving and occasional track use. But this is not the question; what would I do when I would make my perfect A110 for mainly track. First; I would not get the S…ok it’s better on track that is certainly the case…but it’s not that is so great on track (the dampers are not that great and the front discs are also a weak point).

I would get a base Pure (with the bucket seats) and then do the following modifications to make it a track weapon:
- Life110 ECU tune
- Life110 Shift paddles
- Life110 Track suspension (the new coilover set)
- Life110 Track alignment
- Life110 Steel brake lines
- High temp brake oil
- Front discs: Two piece AP racing
- Front pads; Pagid RSL-29
- Rear pads: when available from Life110
- Tyres: Michelin Cup2 in A110S size

[worldwidewebs]

Hi Franzino
How do you find the RS-29 on track? Would you recommend them? What about on road - do the squeal much? I really want a track pad that isn't noisy on the road but I'm struggling to find something