Changes regarding Facelift (=MY22)

[RikkertBiemans]

I am a new Alpine owner since last week. I bought the demo car from our Alpine Center which is a basic Alpine (are they still called "PURE" after the facelift?) that was already equipped with all of the nice goodies.
After reading and watching all the reviews I was expecting a very soft suspension setup with lots of body roll, but in my opinion it feels quite firm. Not in a bad way, but also not in a way that I would especially mention any softness compared to other sport cars. My cayman 987 with KW V1 suspension felt quite similar. So in the end I was wondering whether they may have fiddled with the suspension for the facelift, but I could not read about that anywhere.
I know that they changed the telematics to a CarPlay capable model, but does anyone know what else was being changed? All the articles regarding the facelift seem to concentrate on the Legend and S version, but I guess there's been more changes under the hood. And since I could not find a thread here, I thought it may be helpful to start collecting the differences.

[Miserablegit]

I can’t speak about the facelift but I can say that all Alpines have a firm ride - not harsh but firm.
I was a little surprised when I first drove one as the reviews suggested it was “soft”.
It shows its ability over broken roads at speed where other cars would be shaking fillings loose.

[Portti]

RikkertBiemans:

I've got a 2022 base model A110 and as far as I understand the only change compared to previous years version is the updated multimedia system with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay. With that comes the updated optional telemetrics also.

To my knowledge Alpine hasn't communicated anything in relation to updated suspension on the 2022 base model.

I've written something about the different model variants and changes for 2022 here:

https://www.pertti.com/en/alpine/02b-alpine-a110.h...

[RikkertBiemans]

Thanks for the quick answers. I guess I had the wrong expectations then after all the reviews. I mean I really like the suspension setup, but for me it does not feel so soft that I would explicitly mention it. Actually my 987 Cayman had a softer suspension before I upgraded it with KW V1 coilovers.

Other than that I read that the facelift has a revised fuel pump and better airflow through the rear wheel arches. Correct?

[Olivera]

Not an A110 owner, but I recall Dan Prosser on one of his Intercooler podcasts beings adamant that Alpine changed the spring rate (or other suspension setup) at some point on the A110, and hence his car didn't ride as well as other examples that he tried. Could be nonsense though.

[tony993]

Rikkert,

I felt the same as you, when I first drove one. I put it down to all these journalists driving lots of modern German cars, whereas my daily drive was an Evora, so I was already used to compliant suspension that works well on our poor British B roads.

Perhaps you need to get some 17s. My MY22 runs on 17s & I'm happy with the way it feels. I definitely don't want 18s.

[Edmund Dorf]

interesting, I have a MY 22 GT and my impression also is the ride is not as smooth as the demonstrator I drove last summer. It feels a bit like too much air in the tyres, but I have the pressures down at the lowest setting.

Would be interesting to know if Alpine changed something. I guess this could be checked by comparing part numbers?

[MorganP4SS]

I have a 22 MY GT and had the same feeling about comfort. It's by no means bad but I don't feel it was as good as the demo car I drove on 17s and its one of the few very slight disappointements with an otherwise great car. GT spec was perfect for me as a daily driver (now on 5,500 miles) but if I'd known and thought more carefully I would have looked to see if I could have had 17s somehow.

Not a big drama as I say but this is my clear impression over some miles.

[bcr5784]

MorganP4SS said:

I have a 22 MY GT and had the same feeling about comfort. It's by no means bad but I don't feel it was as good as the demo car I drove on 17s and its one of the few very slight disappointements with an otherwise great car. GT spec was perfect for me as a daily driver (now on 5,500 miles) but if I'd known and thought more carefully I would have looked to see if I could have had 17s somehow.

Not a big drama as I say but this is my clear impression over some miles.

According to a post a while back there are some 17" wheels available that will fit over the big brakes.

[Edmund Dorf]

I am not sure it's about the 17 inch wheels. The demonstrator I drove had 18inch Serac and was super smooth...

[RikkertBiemans]

I dont think it’s an issue with the wheels. I‘ve had other cars before and upgraded rims to all kinds of sizes.
From my opinion its more the roll that is being mentioned in all reviews that is missing. In fast corners my alpine stays put to the ground and doesn’t lean to much. Maybe they changed the rollbars for the facelift?

[kitcat7]

I'm not sure it is only facelift cars that suffer a firm ride, my, new to me, '20 Legend has, to my mind a very disappointing low speed ride, quite harsh and without much compliance. It is on 18" wheels and I can only assume it is these that are causing the problem. I have had a Golf R on 19" Pretoria's for the last 6 years and would not say this is true of that car, nor the dozen or so Caterhams I have owned over the years, but it is most definitely true of my X5, originally on 22" rims, which I have subsequently changed to 20" for a much more comfortable ride.

[bcr5784]

kitcat7 said:

I'm not sure it is only facelift cars that suffer a firm ride, my, new to me, '20 Legend has, to my mind a very disappointing low speed ride, quite harsh and without much compliance. It is on 18" wheels and I can only assume it is these that are causing the problem. I have had a Golf R on 19" Pretoria's for the last 6 years and would not say this is true of that car, nor the dozen or so Caterhams I have owned over the years, but it is most definitely true of my X5, originally on 22" rims, which I have subsequently changed to 20" for a much more comfortable ride.

I think initial reports on the A110 went overboard on the ride. I was personally surprized how firm the ride was before I had got out of the dealer car park on my first drive. Actually the springs ARE pretty soft - but the dampers are (Pure/Legende) firm. Drive a pock-marked road at speed and the A110 is magic (to me) but my OH regards the car as uncomfortable.

[RikkertBiemans]

Yupp, after some weeks of ownership i think its not a my22 change but simply wrong expectations after reading all the reviews. Seems one brought this up and everybody repeated the same story. I mean yes, it has some roll, but it is not any softer than a cayman for example.

[Simon Owen]

bcr5784 said:

kitcat7 said:

I'm not sure it is only facelift cars that suffer a firm ride, my, new to me, '20 Legend has, to my mind a very disappointing low speed ride, quite harsh and without much compliance. It is on 18" wheels and I can only assume it is these that are causing the problem. I have had a Golf R on 19" Pretoria's for the last 6 years and would not say this is true of that car, nor the dozen or so Caterhams I have owned over the years, but it is most definitely true of my X5, originally on 22" rims, which I have subsequently changed to 20" for a much more comfortable ride.

I think initial reports on the A110 went overboard on the ride. I was personally surprized how firm the ride was before I had got out of the dealer car park on my first drive. Actually the springs ARE pretty soft - but the dampers are (Pure/Legende) firm. Drive a pock-marked road at speed and the A110 is magic (to me) but my OH regards the car as uncomfortable.

From my experience and what I’ve read from the likes of Pook and Twohig yes the springs and arb’s are pretty soft by modern standards, there is also quite a lot of travel which isn’t always the case with some lightweight little sports cars is it. A lot of reviewers comment on “amazing damping” but I think what they are really feeling is the soft springs and supple primary ride resulting from this, the actual damping feels pretty average to me and I think that’s what you can feel as not so good secondary ride ‘around town’. I’ve read that the dampers themselves are pretty cheap units very much built to a price, also a friend of mine put them on a dyno and thought they had excessive front rebound which would explain some of the negative comments, their solution was a slight c13% increase in spring rate and a replacement high quality damper with digressive damping. Thus maintaining a very supple road car still but with far more complex and controlled damping, it’s hard to describe that ‘buttery’ feel you get with damping of this quality and it’s what the stock A110 is crying out for in my view.

Lots on here with far more technical knowledge than me so feel free to correct me if I’ve got this all wrong !!

[tony993]

RikkertBiemans said:

... it is not any softer than a cayman for example.

I suppose there are many more different specifications of Cayman than A110. I used to drive a 917 Cayman, & this was significantly stiffer than an A110. On a cold or wet road, it would snap out really quickly. We had a 917 Boxster at the same time. This was softer than the Cayman & easy to control once it started going a bit sideways. The Boxster was by far the better car for year round motoring.

[RikkertBiemans]

tony993 said:

I suppose there are many more different specifications of Cayman than A110. I used to drive a 917 Cayman, & this was significantly stiffer than an A110. On a cold or wet road, it would snap out really quickly. We had a 917 Boxster at the same time. This was softer than the Cayman & easy to control once it started going a bit sideways. The Boxster was by far the better car for year round motoring.

Dont know which caymam/boxster you are referring to. There’s only 987, 981 and 982. But afaik all of theme come either in standard trim or with PASM (Active Suspension Managememt). I was referring to the standard suspension.
Caymen and Boxsters from the same generation behave exactly the same. Except you have PASM, but this can be turned off and then feels similar to the standard suspension again. So I am wondering what exactly you
experienced there?

[bcr5784]

RikkertBiemans said:

Dont know which caymam/boxster you are referring to. There’s only 987, 981 and 982. But afaik all of theme come either in standard trim or with PASM (Active Suspension Managememt). I was referring to the standard suspension.
Caymen and Boxsters from the same generation behave exactly the same. Except you have PASM, but this can be turned off and then feels similar to the standard suspension again. So I am wondering what exactly you
experienced there?

PASM makes a huge difference. At low speeds in Normal damping is very soft and the ride (on 18 or 19" wheels) is much more compliant than the A110. Up the speed and the damping stiffens up markedly. In PASM sport (note PASM is always active ) the damping has a narrower range and the lowest level is much stiffer - see


It's only at speeds of above about 50mph that the A110 has the advantage which I would attribute to a combination of softer springs and ARBs (Pure/Legende) and greater suspension travel.

[tony993]

RikkertBiemans said:

Dont know which caymam/boxster you are referring to. There’s only 987, 981 and 982.

Ha. I meant 987. Porsche 917 in my dreams.

[Edmund Dorf]

Back to the A110, I am quite sure it has nothing to do with the tyres.
I test drove an early 2021 Pure and it was very supply even at low speeds.
Placed on order for a GT without driving it. And I have to say, the low speed ride is actually a bit firm - to the extent, that trim is starting to rattle.
I think they changed something on the MY 22 cars. My GT is June 22 built. Someone with access to part number should be able to confirm...