Test Drive tips?

[samoht]

Got a test drive arranged at John Banks (Cambridge) for Saturday. They've indicated I can take the car out for an hour unaccompanied. Which should be enough to form an opinion.

I've got a rough route sketched out going down to Carlton and West Wickham and back.

So
- what driving mode is recommended? I understand I'm best getting the gearbox into manual and using the paddles?
- any other settings tips?
- any tips of stuff to try out?
- anything to beware of / not do?

I'm not looking to be Troy Queef, just want to find out how enjoyable I find an A110 on mostly rural roads.

[Hoofty]

Just my 2c, but I think worth trying:

- Pootling around built up areas in standard mode/full auto (to see how relaxed and easy it is to use in boring situations)
- Switching to sport mode (steering wheel button) when the roads get more interesting (to see how different the throttle pedal and gearbox calibration is, and if you like sports exhaust, if fitted)
- Grabbing a few manual changes in either mode (and seeing how long before it switches back to auto)
- Pressing 'D' again to enter full manual mode (ring around 'D' turns blue) - as some have expressed surprise at the above
- Connecting your phone to try the stereo with music you know (also establishing which stereo spec is fitted)
- Leaning on the car a little through some well sighted bends (to see how the chassis cashes the cheques written by the steering wheel)
- Leaning on the brakes a little (they're fantastic but the pedal effort surprises some)

I would not bother with track mode (hold sport) during a road test drive - to drive it's Sport mode throttle cal with manual shift only plus a different display and reduced ESC. Certainly has its place but perhaps not first acquaintance?

Really hope you enjoy it!

[bcr5784]

Hoofty said:

Just my 2c, but I think worth trying:

- Pootling around built up areas in standard mode/full auto (to see how relaxed and easy it is to use in boring situations)
- Switching to sport mode (steering wheel button) when the roads get more interesting (to see how different the throttle pedal and gearbox calibration is, and if you like sports exhaust, if fitted)
- Grabbing a few manual changes in either mode (and seeing how long before it switches back to auto)
- Pressing 'D' again to enter full manual mode (ring around 'D' turns blue) - as some have expressed surprise at the above
- Connecting your phone to try the stereo with music you know (also establishing which stereo spec is fitted)
- Leaning on the car a little through some well sighted bends (to see how the chassis cashes the cheques written by the steering wheel)
- Leaning on the brakes a little (they're fantastic but the pedal effort surprises some)

I would not bother with track mode (hold sport) during a road test drive - to drive it's Sport mode throttle cal with manual shift only plus a different display and reduced ESC. Certainly has its place but perhaps not first acquaintance?

Really hope you enjoy it!

Wouldn't disagree with Hoofty. Regarding switching back into auto - it takes quite a few seconds -it's therefore temping to pre-empt the wait and change up manually sometimes BUT you will then have to wait the same number of seconds before it goes back into auto. HOWEVER if you hold the up paddle just a bit longer on the upchange it goes back into auto immediately. So to clarify (say) you manually override down into 3rd for a roundabout, but you feel it holds that gear for too long coming out, just HOLD the up paddle when you want to go back into 4th and you are back in 4th and in auto.

I'd also try a bit of a cruise on a dual carrageway or motorway if you can - will probably surprize you how relaxed, effortless and refined it is.

[samoht]

Thanks a lot, that's exactly the sort of info & advice I was hoping for. What I want to avoid is feeling underwhelmed by the test drive, and then afterwards someone says "of course, you won't have experienced the real A110 unless you put it into mode X by pressing button Y".

From the sound of it, I'll focus on Sport and Manual modes. I'm mainly interested in how good of a sports car it is, as I'd intend to keep my daily around anyway. Although as a secondary benefit, if the A110 is a good daily driver it does open up the chance to use a bit less petrol.

[LGC-Adams]

Switch OFF the Stop/Start button!
Does not help smooth getaways ( like most cars!!).

I would add that unless you can get to 'open' roads you will not even start to see the limits. Perhaps obvious, but don't expect a racing car. It's not like that. It just does a great deal of things well (for me).

Love mine - just the job.

Edited by LGC-Adams on Friday 27th May 12:46

[Miserablegit]

All the above is good advice

When in sport mode the stop start is automatically turned off. I drive everywhere in sport mode as I find normal a bit sluggish. I’m not racing at lights in case that’s what you think!

Route I’d take, (as I’ve said before to someone else) , is out past missing sock, to six mile bottom then Brinkley, Newmarket and back to cambs on the A road. Westley etc has some really narrow roads - you want some nice flowing roads with good vis for bends.

[matt3001]

Agree with all of the above - but your time driving is precious so you can do all of that connectivity / stereo stuff without wasting your hour in the car.

[neil-g8km6]

samoht said:

Got a test drive arranged at John Banks (Cambridge) for Saturday. They've indicated I can take the car out for an hour unaccompanied. Which should be enough to form an opinion.

I've got a rough route sketched out going down to Carlton and West Wickham and back.

So
- what driving mode is recommended? I understand I'm best getting the gearbox into manual and using the paddles?
- any other settings tips?
- any tips of stuff to try out?
- anything to beware of / not do?

I'm not looking to be Troy Queef, just want to find out how enjoyable I find an A110 on mostly rural roads.

How did the test drive go then?
The more I drive mine, the longer it takes to wipe the smile off my face.

[samoht]

Thanks to everyone who posted above. I was able to pick out a good route roughly as advised, down to West Wratting and from there up to Dullingham and back picking up the road out of Newmarket. It was a bit busy, but I found some chances to push the car. I tried it in Normal and Sport, and used Manual briefly. I even used the cruise control briefly on the A14 on the return leg.

First impressions, it’s a very cool thing. In the dealer carpark among ordinary Renault SUVs, the compactness is immediately attractive. To me it looks and feels elegant, special and premium, inside and out. It definitely feels like it’s “worth” £50k+. Both Alpine Blue and Abyss Blue looked great in the sunshine.

Driving away, the immediacy of the steering response is tangible. It comes together with the size to make it a very intuitive car to drive around, it immediately feels second nature. It’s comfortable, easy to drive, the Android Auto is great to have on the screen, even the base model sports buckets are comfortable.

Accelerating out onto an NSL road, the engine lacks the mid-range I’d expected. My other cars, the RX-7 with its flaky sequential turbos and the AMG with its 5.4L of displacement, have that weightless, effortless feeling of acceleration in the midrange. The Alpine’s 1.8 needs working; the car I drove was the 250hp base model, however AIUI the midrange is barely different on the 300hp variant. I don’t really mind this though, since it’s a sports car so it’s ok to rev it out, and the gearbox gives pretty easy access to the top end when you want to get a move on. The gearbox overall is great, making life easy in auto mode yet being fun to blat up and down the gears manually on a B-road. The engine doesn’t sound great, but it’s fine.

Driving at speed down an uneven B-road, the suspension is great, you feel in touch with the surface without being disturbed by it. The standard ‘soft’ suspension feels really well judged to me. However, as I tried to carry speed through some bumpy corners I found it really difficult to carve a smooth line - the lateral G felt like it was uneven, like I was making a 50p piece of the turn instead of a consistent curve. This was at speeds of probably 40-60mph, pushing moderately hard but nowhere near the limits. Now this might be that I was inadvertently putting steering inputs into the wheel as the car bumped up and down, due to the light, quickish steering. Or it might be an alignment issue with the demonstrator, or it might be fundamental to the car. But I’ve never experienced this sort of thing in my other cars, including over one of the same bends that I felt it in the Alpine. The only time I’ve felt this before it was definitely my steering inputs, in my mum’s old Nissan Micra, which was narrow, rolly, and had pretty light PAS, and I had to be careful to keep the steering smooth. But even trying to avoid the issue in the Alpine, it was still happening. Any feedback on this phenomenon is very welcome.

The other question mark for me is more predictable, the EPAS, which feels ‘dead’ or numb compared to the HPAS I’m used to. It actually makes the car feel less light, less alive, than I feel it should be given the actual lightness and weight balance. The upshot is that I’m left with mixed feelings about the car on a good B-road. The solidity of the structure is noticeable, the suspension floats very nicely and composedly, the steering response is very immediate, and it has plenty of grip on the Michelins. It feels nicely natural to drive. However, try to use all those positive attributes to attack a corner and I end up feeling a bit at sea, unable to feel the car and build a rhythm.

My RX-7 is coming back from servicing this week, so I’ll take it for a run around the same test route to confirm my feelings. And I’ve got a couple of days hire of a McLaren 570S next month, to investigate that as a possibility. I’m intending to return to the Alpine dealership in a few weeks when they have a GT in, just to sit in the Comfort seats and check out the interior, and hopefully see their Fire Orange car in the metal.

So unsatisfyingly, it’s not an immediate ‘yes’, nor is it an immediate ‘no’. On the upside I’m really glad to have had the chance to check out the A110 properly, and I can understand why they’re holding their value well secondhand, definitely a special thing.

[tony993]

samoht said:

the lateral G felt like it was uneven, like I was making a 50p piece of the turn instead of a consistent curve.

... the EPAS, which feels ‘dead’ or numb compared to the HPAS I’m used to.

Like you, the total extent of my A110 driving experience is a one hour test drive. I ordered one (in November). I didn't experience the cornering problems you describe. It could be that the geo, or even the pressure in one tyre was off. Most discerning drivers (such as yourself) will change the geometry to the settings recommended on the Life110 website. One of the forum members really wasn't getting along with his car at all - he was having terrible trouble in the corners, until he had the geo done, after which he reported the car was transformed.

EPAS - couldn't agree more. It's not nearly as bad as some of the EPAS hire cars I've had, but it's a long way behind the best of my own HPAS cars + I still drive cars with no power steering, which really shows you what you're missing.

& it wasn't just the EPAS that bothered me. The A110 steering wheel is really ugly, it's got buttons on it, it's the wrong shape (flat bottom & thumb rests) & it's canted over at an angle like in a van, rather than upright as you'd find in Lotus, Porsche, McLaren, etc. I'd love to change it, for a non-airbag wheel (with four point harness), but I think the cost to move the buttons to the dashboard & get everything working means this idea is a non-starter.

You should try the 570 if you haven't done so already. I had around 6 months with a 12C recently. I clocked up plenty of miles in it. McLaren really know how to design a steering wheel (although the market demands they have to have a stupid flat bottom) & the driving position & view from the driver's seat, with the deep windscreen is superb, but I preferred my Evora, & I'm expecting my Alpine, when it eventually arrives, to give me a good deal more pleasure than the Evora.

I think if I were in your position (ie not really sure), I'd buy a second hand A110 privately. You could get the geo done & run around in it for a couple of months. If you decide it's not for you you could probably sell it for what you paid for it. If you like it you could order a new one, with all the options you want* & you wouldn't be Alpineless during the long wait for your new car.

• that's all the options you want, so far as Alpine allows within their annoying policy of bundling options you will want with options you won't want.

[samoht]

Cheers for the thoughts. It's possible that the steering wheel rake contributed to the issue; with the fixed buckets, the backrest was more reclined than I'd like, so I may have ended up a bit too far from the wheel. Since with the rake, the bottom of the steering wheel is closer to the driver, I may have ended up holding it a bit further down than ideal, which transfers any lateral movement of one's arms into steering inputs.


Good idea on buying one privately, could get a PE without the particulate filters and have a few months trying to get to grips with it, and have a reasonably low-cost exit route if I don't. Indeed I would get the Life110 alignment settings done.

[Miserablegit]

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t like it!
It felt right to me very quickly on a shorter test drive but I accept we all have different requirements.

These things are meant to be fun so if they aren’t there are plenty of other options out there (as you have identified)

Hope the second test drive goes better

[neil-g8km6]

The change to "Life" Geo settings and springs really made a difference to to the handling and turn-in on my 110.
I only drive in "normal" mode when bimbling along in traffic; way too much steering assist for me. If pressing on, I drive in "Sport" mode, it reduces the level of assisted steering and gives me better feel and control.
A remap, for me was a must: unleashed the true potential of an already, amazing car. Its a B road missile and has a tendency to embarrass many a German sports car driver

[neil-g8km6]

PS; I adjusted the recline angle on the Sabelt bucket seats (I have posted the method I used) too near the horizontal plane for myself. I can now honestly say that they are one of the most comfortable, supportive seats I have had in any car, even on a long journey.