The Alpine A110R doesn’t try to outgun the big names. It doesn’t need Nürburgring bragging rights or headline horsepower. Instead, it doubles down on the essence of driving: lightness, simplicity, and purity. And that makes it all the better.
A Different Kind of Sports Car
You feel the difference within the first few meters. The A110R reacts instantly, almost playfully, to steering, throttle, and gear inputs. There’s no delay, no filter. The steering is light but full of feedback, throttle response is sharp, and there’s no torque-vectoring trickery or artificial exhaust noise to distract from the real thing. The A110R is different, and it drives differently. A reminder that cars like this may not be around for long.
The Power of Less
The formula is delightfully old-school: lose weight. The R version takes the A110’s ethos and pushes it further with a carbon-fiber binge: wheels, seats, hood, even the rear window. Curb weight slips just under 1,100 kilograms, nearly 300 kg lighter than a far more powerful Porsche 718 GT4 RS.
Output from the 1.8-liter turbocharged four remains unchanged at 221 kW / 300 PS, but shedding kilos transforms the experience. The A110R feels alive at any speed, not just when deep into triple digits. Top speed is 285 km/h, while the sprint to 100 km/h takes just 3.9 seconds.
A Car That Talks Back
What you get is a sports car that communicates in high definition. The front end is eager, the rear stays alert but predictable, and the chassis feels welded to the tarmac. You don’t need a racetrack, even a grocery run feels like a special stage. It’s a rare modern car where less really does feel like more.
It’s not flawless, and that’s part of the charm. Seating position is quirky, visibility is tricky, and the infotainment feels a generation behind (though Apple CarPlay helps). The cabin is drenched in exposed carbon fiber. Some will love it, others won’t. But once rolling, none of that matters. The dialogue between driver and machine drowns out everything else.
Not a Porsche Rival, and That’s the Point
Alpine never tried to turn the A110R into a Porsche beater. It’s not about lap records or muscle-flexing horsepower. It’s about weight, balance, and clarity. Values nearly lost in an era of configurable dampers and ever-fatter tires. Expecting GT polish misses the point. What you get instead is individuality, a car that makes even modest speeds engaging and meaningful.
A Swan Song for a Philosophy
That matters, because cars like this are vanishing. Alpine is heading toward an all-electric future, and hyper-focused, featherweight specials won’t make the cut. The sharpened A110R feels like a swan song for restraint and feedback, for the joy of feeling part of the machine rather than just its passenger.
It may not dominate spec sheets, but it nails the one thing that counts: reminding you why you fell in love with driving in the first place. The A110R is Alpine’s purest statement yet, trading excess for elegance and proving that lightness still wins hearts.
Especially tempting is the limited A110R 70 special edition, starting at a hefty €120,000.
