A110 - how practical is it for continental journeys?
Discussion
Hello people,
I'm hoping to get my first proper sports car soon and the A110 is a very strong contender.
I like everything about the car but a little concerned about how practical or convenient it is for long journeys? I love making long drives in the continent - often alone or with another person.
Specifically I'm worried about lack of storage space (can I survive 10 days with two small trollies? Can a lady?).
Also the seats are fixed and to change the angle you need a screwdriver??
While I know that for 'proper driving' on a mountain road the A110 is terrific I wonder how it manages the 100km to the mountains on highways etc.
I'm probably spoiled but my current main car is an EV6 GTLS with excellent Adaptive cruise and Lane follow assist, it eats high ways for breakfast and doing 800km a day is easy. (I won't be replacing it with the Alpine, it will come additionally).
Still I'd love to hear your experiences with long drives. Thank you.
I'm hoping to get my first proper sports car soon and the A110 is a very strong contender.
I like everything about the car but a little concerned about how practical or convenient it is for long journeys? I love making long drives in the continent - often alone or with another person.
Specifically I'm worried about lack of storage space (can I survive 10 days with two small trollies? Can a lady?).
Also the seats are fixed and to change the angle you need a screwdriver??
While I know that for 'proper driving' on a mountain road the A110 is terrific I wonder how it manages the 100km to the mountains on highways etc.
I'm probably spoiled but my current main car is an EV6 GTLS with excellent Adaptive cruise and Lane follow assist, it eats high ways for breakfast and doing 800km a day is easy. (I won't be replacing it with the Alpine, it will come additionally).
Still I'd love to hear your experiences with long drives. Thank you.
There's lots of threads here with folk who've done overseas trips - many with their partners - there's at least one thread dedicated to storage solutions - read some !
You'll also find fuller answers to your seat query - essentially one type are easily adjustable normal seats and the other which some find more comfortable ideally need a dealer to adjust between the 3 tilt positions
You'll also find fuller answers to your seat query - essentially one type are easily adjustable normal seats and the other which some find more comfortable ideally need a dealer to adjust between the 3 tilt positions
Edited by johnnyreggae on Saturday 11th March 11:48
TB404 said:
Hello people,
I'm hoping to get my first proper sports car soon and the A110 is a very strong contender.
I like everything about the car but a little concerned about how practical or convenient it is for long journeys? I love making long drives in the continent - often alone or with another person.
Specifically I'm worried about lack of storage space (can I survive 10 days with two small trollies? Can a lady?).
Also the seats are fixed and to change the angle you need a screwdriver??
While I know that for 'proper driving' on a mountain road the A110 is terrific I wonder how it manages the 100km to the mountains on highways etc.
I'm probably spoiled but my current main car is an EV6 GTLS with excellent Adaptive cruise and Lane follow assist, it eats high ways for breakfast and doing 800km a day is easy. (I won't be replacing it with the Alpine, it will come additionally).
Still I'd love to hear your experiences with long drives. Thank you.
Well we’ve done multiple two up 350m+ days back to back in ours on all roads and it works admirably well in our opinion, there is no right or wrong answer to the storage point, it is what it is and is completely depends on how much stuff you take. We pack very easily without issue but we have friends where I just know it wouldn’t work !!I'm hoping to get my first proper sports car soon and the A110 is a very strong contender.
I like everything about the car but a little concerned about how practical or convenient it is for long journeys? I love making long drives in the continent - often alone or with another person.
Specifically I'm worried about lack of storage space (can I survive 10 days with two small trollies? Can a lady?).
Also the seats are fixed and to change the angle you need a screwdriver??
While I know that for 'proper driving' on a mountain road the A110 is terrific I wonder how it manages the 100km to the mountains on highways etc.
I'm probably spoiled but my current main car is an EV6 GTLS with excellent Adaptive cruise and Lane follow assist, it eats high ways for breakfast and doing 800km a day is easy. (I won't be replacing it with the Alpine, it will come additionally).
Still I'd love to hear your experiences with long drives. Thank you.
The easier bit and one that is less subjective is the cars ability to do the boring stuff in between the fun bits, the A110 excels at this and is a quiet, refined and easy to drive car in full auto ‘switch off’ mode.
Seats - again subjective, I spent hrs in the showroom jumping between seats, the buckets are awesome but have less adjustment, the comfort seats are good (not awesome) but have more adjustment. I liked the adjustment of the comfort seats so went for those, knowing that the seat hugging wasn’t so good as the buckets. Fully adjustable buckets aren’t an option so you just have to decide which you prefer. I really like being able to adjust the back such that I can ‘lock’ my shoulders into position nicely when holding the wheel.
With Simon on this. We did 2500 miles into Europe last summer (from Scotland) over 3 weeks and it wasn't any problem. Buy the right bags (see another thread for this) and pack thoughtfully. Our only issue was with hard bulk stuff like hairdryers and diffusers... not mine I should add. But coped fine.
There's actually a fair bit of space in the boot if you use all the sides that go quite deep into the read quarters.
I've standard buckets and there's a decent amount of space behind them for stuffing coats, towels, bottles, shoes and other stuff if you don't have the seats right back. I'm nearly 6ft and was fine with space behind.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
As for cruising, totally brilliant. Mine doesn't have the sports exhaust and at cruise it's fairly hushed. Not rep mobile quiet but it'll never be that, but not drone-y or loud. The suspension is supple so the ride is great, and the seats very comfortable. Depends on your shape though. I did 400+ miles in a day the other week and got home with no aches or pains at all.
Feature wise, the cruise is pretty normal, but I've found the speed limiter more useful. Set it at *cough* 70mph and keep your foot in and it'll just hold there. I think it provides better mpg doing that than setting the cruise and you don't have the annoying thing of having to cancel the cruise or reset it as you come up to traffic and want to pick up again.
Economy is great for long trips. I bought mine deliberately to use as a 'mini GT' (hence no sports exhaust and 17 inch wheels) rather than a track thing. 450 miles to a tank is totally possible, 400 without thinking.
We are back off to Europe again in July, another 2-3 weeks and several thousand miles.
To your main point, the trick is definitely getting the right bags to maximise the space that you do have, and a partner that can travel without too much excess.
Do it and enjoy.
There's actually a fair bit of space in the boot if you use all the sides that go quite deep into the read quarters.
I've standard buckets and there's a decent amount of space behind them for stuffing coats, towels, bottles, shoes and other stuff if you don't have the seats right back. I'm nearly 6ft and was fine with space behind.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
As for cruising, totally brilliant. Mine doesn't have the sports exhaust and at cruise it's fairly hushed. Not rep mobile quiet but it'll never be that, but not drone-y or loud. The suspension is supple so the ride is great, and the seats very comfortable. Depends on your shape though. I did 400+ miles in a day the other week and got home with no aches or pains at all.
Feature wise, the cruise is pretty normal, but I've found the speed limiter more useful. Set it at *cough* 70mph and keep your foot in and it'll just hold there. I think it provides better mpg doing that than setting the cruise and you don't have the annoying thing of having to cancel the cruise or reset it as you come up to traffic and want to pick up again.
Economy is great for long trips. I bought mine deliberately to use as a 'mini GT' (hence no sports exhaust and 17 inch wheels) rather than a track thing. 450 miles to a tank is totally possible, 400 without thinking.
We are back off to Europe again in July, another 2-3 weeks and several thousand miles.
To your main point, the trick is definitely getting the right bags to maximise the space that you do have, and a partner that can travel without too much excess.
Do it and enjoy.
Fits 2 carry-on suitcases in the front, and a couple large squishy bags in the back. Then you have behind the seats if you really need the space!
I did ~2300mi last summer around Germany, handled it perfectly well. Of course you won't fit skiis in, but just buy the right luggage and you're good.
I averaged over 32mpg ('21 S), and that's with a lot of Autobahn fun. I've heard people manage 40+ in Pures.
Set the seats up before the trip if you've got the buckets. I find them really comfortable (multiple 10hr+ days in a row), however they are quite slim so wider hips might struggle.
Noise isn't really a concern imo. It's really quiet compared to a 911 for example.
+1 to what biggles said - speed limiter is much easier than cruise control, but that's personal preference.
I did ~2300mi last summer around Germany, handled it perfectly well. Of course you won't fit skiis in, but just buy the right luggage and you're good.
I averaged over 32mpg ('21 S), and that's with a lot of Autobahn fun. I've heard people manage 40+ in Pures.
Set the seats up before the trip if you've got the buckets. I find them really comfortable (multiple 10hr+ days in a row), however they are quite slim so wider hips might struggle.
Noise isn't really a concern imo. It's really quiet compared to a 911 for example.
+1 to what biggles said - speed limiter is much easier than cruise control, but that's personal preference.
Fine! Can agree with most of the above.
Did nearly 2k miles, over 12 days, from Santander around Spain and Portugal (wonderful driving, if you've not visited).
Pack neatly and there's enough room. Amazon 'packing cube' bags are cheap and very handy.
We find it more comfortable than Mk7 Golf for cruising, and Sabelt buckets are excellent on twisty bits. We're 1.8 and 1.65M tall and average build!
Mines a Pure, 18" and sports exhaust (but with piece of high density foam in bulkhead, resonator, which I prefer - search for 'pops and bangs' thread on here).
Did nearly 2k miles, over 12 days, from Santander around Spain and Portugal (wonderful driving, if you've not visited).
Pack neatly and there's enough room. Amazon 'packing cube' bags are cheap and very handy.
We find it more comfortable than Mk7 Golf for cruising, and Sabelt buckets are excellent on twisty bits. We're 1.8 and 1.65M tall and average build!
Mines a Pure, 18" and sports exhaust (but with piece of high density foam in bulkhead, resonator, which I prefer - search for 'pops and bangs' thread on here).
Edited by LGC-Adams on Saturday 11th March 14:49
Edited by LGC-Adams on Saturday 11th March 15:00
Edited by LGC-Adams on Saturday 11th March 15:05
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