It was inevitable that Alpine was going to launch a track-honed version of the A110. Everything was there for an even more focused driving machine, not least the lightweight all-aluminium chassis and a rorty 1.8-litre turbo engine with plenty of headroom for high power outputs. And if were to compete against Porsche across the board it was always going to need a rival to the 718 Cayman S and GTS down the road.
That came two years into the sports car’s life cycle with the A110S. Visual changes were on the modest side (a good thing on such a pretty little car), with a new colour palette the only real point of difference Underneath, however, the upgrades were more substantial. Power leapt from 252hp to 292hp, the suspension was overhauled with firmer springs, dampers and anti-roll bars, and greater stopping power came from punchier brakes. All very enticing on paper, although reviewers couldn’t agree on whether sharper handling justified the firmer ride. We quite liked it, mind, and that’s all that matters.
Anyway, with a Cayman S rival now in the bag, we all suspected Alpine would go after the GTS buyer with a more senior A110. Instead, it skipped the GTS altogether and went straight for the GT4, with the A110 R, much like the one you see here, arriving in 2023. And what a manic-looking thing it was, to the point where the Cayman GT4 looks a little puny by comparison. The exterior was festooned with carbon, from the redesigned bonnet, intricate splitter and skirts, larger rear wing and engine cover. But the best bit had to be the carbon dinner place wheels. Yes, it must make parking next to tall kerbs absolutely terrifying, but they tied the R’s aggressive new look together perfectly.
They were a fair bit lighter, too. Combined, the carbon rims saved a whopping 12.5kg over the base car, while the engine cover, bonnet and dual-exit sports exhaust saved a further nine kilos. There can’t have been much to strip from the interior, because there wasn’t much in there to begin with, but carbon-backed Sabelt buckets, consisting of a few bits of padding glued to the seat shells, stripped five precious kilos. Now, the standard A110 was hardly a porker, but all the R’s weight-saving measures meant it tipped the scales at 1,082kg.
Power matched the 300hp from the facelifted S, which seemed spot on given how much mass had been ditched. That said, Alpine’s since introduced an extra 45hp for the A110 R Ultime, although that came at the hefty, hefty premium of €300,000 (or £250,000). Not that the standard R was cheap, and arguably it's still positioned a bit too close to its flat-six rival to make it a no-brainer for buyers.
That’s what makes this example all the more eye-catching. It’s a 2023 car with only 1,000 miles on the clock, and yet at £86,250 it actually represents a nice discount on the original list price. You can’t seem to buy an A110 R with carbon wheels any more, with the only option now being the slightly less insane Turini. But here, you’re getting the delicious wheels and, with it, that ultra-low kerb weight, all for £5k less than the Turini. Sounds like a sweet deal, just try to resist the urge to look up used Cayman GT4s like this. Or this.
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