Alpine ups the ante with new A110S

ALPINE has expanded its A110 sportscar line-up with a new flagship S grade, upping the ante to 215kW from its 1.8-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine, which could arrive Down Under depending on buyer interest.

Speaking to GoAuto, Renault Australia corporate communications manager Alison Van Den Dungen said local examples of the Alpine A110S will “depend on customer enquiry or customer order at this stage”.

“It’s not going to be something we will bring into the country just in case a customer might be interested in buying it, but if we have a serious enquiry and/or order then it would be something we would be looking at investigating on their behalf,” she said.

“Its not a complete yes, but it’s not a no either.”

While the S version is up 30kW over the standard A110’s 185kW power output, it also weighs 20kg more at 1114kg, however Alpine says its new flagship variant is still faithful to the brand’s “underlying principles of lightweight engineering, compact dimensions and performance through agility”.

Torque remains static at 320Nm, while drive is still sent to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which enables a 0.1 seconds-faster zero-to-100km/h sprint in the A110S at just 4.4 seconds.

The A110S will wear a €66,500 ($A108,602) pricetag in France, meaning the local cost could top the $106,500 before on-roads of the limited-run Australian Premiere Edition variant.

Ms Van Den Dungen said, at last count, 14 examples of the top-spec Australian Premiere Edition are still available out of the total of 60, while stock remains of the base $97,00 Pure and mid-spec $103,500 Legende grades.

“A limited number of the Premiere editions and Pure and Legende are also now available for customer purchase as well, there are some of them on the ground in Australia,” she said.

Differentiating itself from the rest of the A110 range, the S version wears carbon-fibre flag touches on the C-pillars, orange brake callipers and dark-finish GT Race wheels.

Inside, the new top-tier A110 swaps out the blue-stitching highlights for an eye-catching orange, while a black Dinamica upholstery is applied to the roof lining, sun visors, lightweight seats and door panels.

Options available to buyers include a carbon-fibre roof that shaves 1.9kg from the overall weight, Fuchs forged alloy wheels and a carbon-fibre finish for the Sabelt seats.

Mechanically, the A110S is 4mm lower than its siblings, features 50 per cent stiffer coil springs, tweaked dampers and 100 per cent firmer anti-roll bars.

Front and rear rubber (bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres) have also been widened by 10mm apiece to 215mm and 245mm respectively, while brakes remain the same Brembo units as the rest of the A110 range.

The A110S will be available in international markets in October, which likely pushes Australian cars to late 2019 or early 2020.