Cars

Alpine A110 R debuts with radical carbon fibre goodness

By Sagar

Posted on October 5, 2022

I know, at this point it may seem like the Alpine A110 is being milked way too much, but out of all the variants and so-called special editions that came out since 2017, a hardcore track-focused version was missing. It has now arrived with an ‘R’ suffix where the R apparently stands for “radical”.

Indeed, the Alpine A110 R is quite a radical thing when compared with all other variations. It gets an aggressive bodykit with a generous application of carbon fibre. The hood, the roof, the side skirts, the wheels, the rear wing, the rear diffuser, and even the rear windscreen, are all made of carbon fibre. Which means you don’t actually have a transparent windscreen, but I guess you need to compensate for it with a camera. Alpine claims that the A110 R boasts an extra 29 kg (64 lbs) downforce at the rear at top speed compared with the A110 S, while the drag is down by 5%.

The 18-inch full carbon wheels are wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 semi-slick tyres as standard, which are said to offer more stability and cornering control. The 320 mm composite discs are gripped by Brembo calipers. As for suspension, the springs are more than 10% stiffer front & rear. Specially designed shock absorbers feature hydraulic adjustment for a personalised driving experience. A 20-click ring comes in handy to adjust the compression/expansion ratio. The A110 R rides 10 mm lower than the A110 S.

Inside, you got full-carbon Sabelt seats with a 6-point safety harness; onboard telemetry, and of course, a special plaque on the centre console. Thanks to all the weight-saving measures, the A110 R weighs 34 kg (75 lbs) less than the A110 S. Kerb weight is 1,082 kg (2,385 lbs).

The 1.8-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine pumps out 221 kW (300 metric hp) at 6,300 rpm and 340 Nm (251 lb-ft) of torque from 2,400 rpm to 6,000 rpm. There’s 18 metric hp and 20 Nm more than in the A110 S. There’s also a sports exhaust system with 3D-printed double wall to isolate exhaust gases and protect other nearby parts. The official 0-100 km/h (62 mph) sprint time is 3.9 seconds and the top speed is 285 km/h (177 mph).