Goodyear Tire Testing with Alpine A110
23The reborn A110 shares its predecessor's proportions as well as details such as quad headlights, but the big difference has been effectively hidden: The four-cylinder engine now sits mostly ahead of the rear axle rather than fully behind it. The all-aluminum turbocharged inline-four is closely related to the unit that powers the Renault Sport Mégane hatchback but is in a lower state of tune, making 249 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque, sent to the rear axle through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. An impressively svelte curb weight, roughly 2450 pounds for the Première Edition model we drove, keeps things interesting. Even though it is less powerful than the entry-level Porsche Cayman, the A110 boasts a slightly more favorable power-to-weight ratio.
It's smaller than its German rival, too. The Alpine's wheelbase is 2.1 inches shorter, and, at 164.6 inches in length, it's 7.8 inches shorter overall, but its 70.8-inch width is nearly identical to that of the Porsche. The A110's roofline sits 1.3 inches closer to the ground than does the Cayman's—but the first thing we noticed on entering the cabin, beyond some neat tricolore details, was more headroom than we would have found in the Porsche.
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