Alpine A110 R Ultime review – Ferrari money for a four-cylinder, but it might be worth it
The A110 is going out with a 340bhp bang in the shape of the highly tuned, hardcore R Ultime. Unsurprisingly, the ultimate A110 looks right at home on the track, but how does it perform on the road? We find out
It’s not often that a car becomes an icon within its own lifetime, but that’s exactly what’s happened with the Alpine A110. From the moment it appeared in 2017 we knew it was a sports car made of the right stuff, being all about low mass, simplicity and doing more with less. To drive, it was a breath of fresh air. It was also a genuine rival to Porsche’s now departed Cayman, and as more powerful and extreme versions appeared over the years, the A110 became a sports car to cover all bases, from the B660 to Spa. It bows out of production next year to make way for an electric replacement, but before that there’s the A110 R Ultime – a 340bhp, ultra-focused send off.
As the name suggests, this version of the A110 is both the final iteration and the most extreme development of the core concept. Compared to the A110 R, the story is as follows: 340bhp and 310lb ft of torque, meaning useful hikes of 44bhp and 59lb ft respectively. The 0-62mph time has dropped by just a tenth to 3.8 seconds and the top speed has remained the same at 177mph. But here comes the shocking bit: the Ultime costs from €265,000 (c£230k), about €150,000 more than an R. Yes, really.
However, as the price suggests, there is rather more to this car than an ECU tweak and a fancier wing. A lot more. You feel it the moment you get behind the wheel. (Incidentally, while the photos here were taken on track, we’re driving the Ultime on the road, to emphasise that this is no mere track toy.) The angular bucket seats might be the same as in the R, but when you press the starter button the whole car fizzes to a busy idle. That would be the internals taken from the GT4 race car, with new forged pistons and new con-rods, as well as a new turbo, a titanium Akrapovic exhaust and Powerflex motorsport-spec bushings.
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To achieve the maximum 340bhp, the engine, developed with Oreca, is also designed to run on 102-octane fuel (it’s limited to 321bhp if you run it on 98 RON) and it feels like you or I might if we doubled our caffeine intake, the jitteriness and noise giving a sense of something highly strung and alert even while it’s sitting still. Oh, and to cope with the extra torque, the gearbox had to be swapped for a stronger six-speed dual-clutch, which in turn required a new rear subframe and fresh homologation, including crash testing.
Set off and, although the vibrations settle with more revs, it’s still an angry little engine. For all its new internals, the gruff, 1.8 four-cylinder isn’t something to make your heart sing, but it is aggressive in both sound and performance. The gearshifts are much more aggressive, too, and the paddles behind the wheel have been elongated significantly, which makes a nice tactile difference.
The wired character continues with the alertness present in the steering, the whole car immediately feeling tighter, more tenacious and edgier when you turn into the first bends. It still rides well but it’s noticeably firmer and clings where the R merely held. As with the drivetrain, the chassis has come in for a thorough reworking. The bespoke forged wheels from Fondmetal are 10mm wider at the front and the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres are bespoke. Ohlins TTX dampers with 20 clicks of compression and rebound adjustment have replaced the standard ZF items and there are also new, stiffer anti-roll bars.
Initially it feels like the Ultime is chastising you every time you enter a corner with anything less than full commitment. You’re building significant lateral g, squeezing your hip into the side of the seat, yet you know there is still more potential in the Cup 2 rubber. The nose feels absolutely locked down through quicker curves and you can actually steer with the throttle on the exit of tighter ones. Find a good, well-sighted sequence and you’ll find yourself holding your breath as you carry huge speed into the first bend and then simply maintain momentum as you slalom left and right. It’s intoxicating.
The aerodynamics undoubtedly help as the speed increases. Thanks to additions such as the enormous ducts where the front boot used to be and the bi-plane rear wing, the Ultime not only generates 160kg more downforce, but is the first A110 to have perfect front/rear aero balance.
And if the cornering is mesmerising, the braking is almost head-scrambling. The Brembos of the R have been replaced with larger, 330mm AP Racing items complete with high-performance pads and, when combined with the A110’s famously svelte kerb weight (this weighs the same as the R at 1082kg), the results are phenomenal. The Ultime glues itself to the road and sheds speed like a ripcord pulled in a hurricane.
It’s the sort of car where you’re glad of the full six-point harness. You might initially think it an affectation or just a nuisance, but soon you find yourself tightening the wide Sabelt straps as much as you can, so that you feel welded to the car and you move as one rather than being a fraction behind as you shift in the seat.
To that extent, it makes you yearn for a track or, even better, a tarmac rally stage, as it feels like a car that wants to go searching for tenths. An R will let you back off and still have a good time, whereas the Ultime never relaxes and always seems to be asking for more commitment. It is unashamedly extreme, and we could understand if plenty of people drove both the R (or even the standard A110) and the Ultime and preferred the former. However, it is also absolutely wonderful that it exists.
Given how much has changed, it’s no wonder that the engineers kept having to go back to Philippe Krief (CEO at Alpine) to ask for more budget, and you can sense the passion that has been poured into the project. As such, it really is a fitting send-off for the wonderful A110, a car that was born out of such engineering enthusiasm and expertise. The Ultime lives up to both meanings of its name.
Price and rivals
It seems impossible to understand the Ultime in rational terms. £230k is an absurd amount of money for an A110 and puts it in the firing line of Porsche’s top-flight GT models, but at the same time, it’s one of the most immersive and unashamedly raw sports cars on sale. You won’t find this particular flavour of road-going track car anywhere else.
Porsche hasn’t unveiled its 992.2-generation GT3 RS yet, but for similar money to the Ultime you can bag a pre-facelift example with just a handful of miles on the clock. More conventional and less track-focused supercars such as the McLaren Artura and Maserati MC20 are also available at this level, as well as lightly used Ferrari 296 GTBs.
The Dallara Stradale is even lighter and more powerful than the Alpine and also fit for circuit work, and for something exclusively for trackdays, purpose-built machinery from the likes of Revolution or Radical are within budget too.
