Life after Cayman - My 2021 Alpine A110 Legende GT.

[Brian_Innes]

JMaddox,

No offence taken, and thanks for your reply.

I now have a full driver's licence for another 3 years until April 2025, which at my time of life and personal health circumstances may as well be next century for all the difference it will make to my driving plans. Meantime I intend to make the most of my next three years of driving.

Now the DVLA trauma is behind me, I have recently been giving thought to my ideal car owning strategy for the next three years. I am very pleased with the 2021 Alpine Legende GT as a touring and leisure car and intend keeping it for at least another year. This car is ideally suited to me having the benefit of wonderful driving roads on my local doorstep. As the petrol engined Alpine A110 production is ceasing at the end of 2024 in favour of an all-electric replacement, I do not intend buying another A110 as the car I have is absolutely ideal and could not be bettered in my opinion.

So long as my general health, fitness, and physical capabilities holds to current levels, I have two possible contenders in mind for my next two-seater sports coupe.

Firstly, I have alerted the sales staff at OPC Aberdeen to keep me posted on the availability of special edition run-out models of the current 718 4-pot turbo Caymans. It is an open secret that the current 718 petrol-engined Caymans are due to be replaced on or around 2024. I am a fan of Porsche's 4-pot turbos and PDK gearbox, which together make for very rapid performance ideally suited to the wide torque band of these engines. Should a suitably specced-up 718 2.0 or 2.5 Cayman come on the market I could be persuaded to return to the Porsche brand.

Secondly, the Lotus Emira 2.0 Mercedes AMG with the 8-speed DSG gearbox is also a strong contender as a replacement to my current A110. This model of the Emira is not due for launch until early 2023, which is pretty much bang-on timescale-wise. I shall be very interested to read the press reports of this so-called base model Emira, and also the standard technical specification, vehicle weight, and specification options available. According to the current information provided on the official Lotus Emira website, the 2.0 turbo/8-speed DSG powertrain provides performance figures almost identical to the 3.5 V6 supercharged 6-speed manual car despite being over £15,000 cheaper. It remains to be seen whether the build quality and refinement of the new Emira is to the expectations and high standards demanded by customers of this car's premium competitors.

I am hopeful that my current A110 will hold its value well over the next 12 months or so, come the time when I am likely to be considering a change of car. One thing I have already established as a result of my change of brand to Alpine after 12 years of Caymans, is that it's a refreshing change to experience a different car that is so capable dynamically compared to the exactingly high standards of the Porsche Cayman. The biggest difference in favour of the A110 being the lightness of weight and the short, close-ratio sprint DSG gearbox. The Cup 2 tyres also marry well with the double-wishbone suspension. This car will be a hard act to follow.

Brian

 

[Scrounger]

Interesting to hear you'd be coming back to the fold should a final run Cayman be released. My Sales Manager told me some time ago that 'usually' Porsche release a run out edition close to the end of model lifecycle which have lots of goodies on them as standard. A final hoorah shall we say.

 

[Brian_Innes]

Today I enjoyed a short day trip to Ballindalloch Castle on Speyside. This delightful privately owned castle, garden and grounds are open to the public on weekdays, and are located on the A95 around 25 minutes from Grantown on Spey. This A95 Whisky Trail scenic route has recently been resurfaced, and at this time of the year is relatively traffic-free. I had pre-arranged to meet up with Porsche Club member and forum contributor Brian J and his wife who were on a tour to Scotland. I chose Ballindalloch Castle for the meeting venue as it is one of the foremost privately owned small castles in Scotland. The grounds and gardens are immaculately kept with a choice of short walks and a nice cafeteria on site.

The A110 shod with Cup 2's continues to impress. This is a car that has been under-valued by many, and experienced by only a few. I consider myself both privileged and fortunate to have been able to acquire this particular limited edition model. The 2021 Legende GT has the 292bhp engine, big Brembo brakes, and exclusive paint finish providing even more exclusiveness. My current opinion is, Porsche have to come up with something extra special on a run-out model Cayman before tempting me back to the brand. Porsche will also have the Lotus Emira as a competitor in the very near future. Interesting times ahead.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

Rendezvous with Porsche Club friends at Ballindalloch Castle.

Brian

 

[Nigel Trundle]

Brian, you may want to get hold of a copy of May’s Evo magazine and subsequent issues as they have just acquired a new long termer, namely a Matt silver A110 Legende GT!

 

[AndrewCS]

Brian, you may want to get hold of a copy of May’s Evo magazine and subsequent issues as they have just acquired a new long termer, namely a Matt silver A110 Legende GT!

No doubt prompted by this thread [] []

 

[Brian_Innes]

Thanks, I'll look out for that article in EVO magazine.

The A110 could best be described as a "sleeper" within the sports coupe market since its launch in 2017. As a committed Cayman owner, I remained curious and somewhat sceptical about the A110 in those early years.

Curious, due to its Lotus designed double wishbone suspension and retro-classic all-aluminium body. Sceptical, regarding the Renault origins and build quality standards. It was only after having the opportunity to inspect and sit inside an A110 at a Porsche Club track day, that I came to the conclusion that this was a car that deserved a closer look. The main obstacle regarding evaluation was due to the rarity of the brand and lack of Alpine dealerships in my part of Scotland. When you can drop in at a car dealership and see a line-up of cars on the forecourt and showroom it makes a huge difference to making your mind up about a car or brand.

What turned my head towards the A110 was the introduction of the limited edition 2021 Legend GT model. It had all the "essential" options already included, 7-speed DSG close-ratio paddle-shift gearbox, an infotainment system of sorts, heated 6-way adjustable sports seats, folding door mirrors, rain sensing wipers, dual climate control, park assist front and rear with camera, extra storage pack, Normal, Sport, and Track modes, big Brembo brakes, and the uprated A110S engine with sports exhaust. The Matt Silver paint finish also complimented the all-aluminium bodywork perfectly. For my requirements this model ticked all the boxes.

I'll be interested to read what EVO make of the car. It's good that they are running a Legende GT for a longer term, rather than the usual one day appraisal. I find the car very easy to live with, and the surprisingly economical mpg is a pleasant surprise in these days of soaring fuel prices. I have gotten used to the windscreen reflections which were disconcerting in the early days of ownership, but now after 3500 miles I am hardly aware of them at all.

I have no regrets whatsoever about my choice of touring coupe. As a driving machine it is up there with the best of the Caymans I have owned. The wider EVO Corse alloys and Cup 2 tyres have enhanced the car immeasurably.

I'll await EVO's opinion with great interest.

Brian

PS.

I've just read EVO's group test of a Porsche Cayman 4.0 GTS, Lotus Exige 410, and Life110 Alpine A110. Guess which came out on top, the Life110 Alpine. The extra 300kgs carried by the Cayman meant it couldn't match the Alpine for driver enjoyment. The Lotus came third.

 

[Brian_Innes]

Brian, you may want to get hold of a copy of May’s Evo magazine and subsequent issues as they have just acquired a new long termer, namely a Matt silver A110 Legende GT!

As the above quote by Nigel Trundle already mentioned, EVO magazine's Ian Eveleigh has a 2021 model Alpine A110 Legende GT commencing a long term test. Having a vested interest in how this long term test pans out, I purchased a copy of the May issue of EVO and I can conform that this article features exactly the same limited edition model of A110 Legende GT as I currently own. In the same Matt Mercury Silver paint finish also.

The only quibble I have so far is the engine power is quoted as 288bhp, whereas on the literature I received with my car, the engine power is shown as 292bhp. A copy of the verified engine power statements are shown below. It is a minor point, as 4 bhp either way is neither here nor there, but I thought it worth mentioning all the same.

I shall be following this particular long term test with great interest, if only to see if the EVO journalist is in agreement with my findings, that this agile little coupe is as surprisingly capable and easy to live with as I have experienced it to be over the past 8 months and 3500 miles of my ownership.

The key findings following the various tweaks I have added to my car are;

Good:

Super accurate steering with good feedback.

Superb handling agility and change of direction capabilities.

Powerful fade-free brakes.

Firm damping, with compliant spring rates.

Superbly comfortable seats.

Wonderful short, close-ratio, 7-speed Getrag Double-Clutch gearbox.

Eager, powerful, rev-happy engine.

Easy engine bay access.

Not so Good:

Infotainment Pack.

Reflections on Windscreen.

Added Tweaks:

Life 110 Fast Road geometry settings.

EVO Corse 18" 8J and 9J Lightweight alloys.

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Tyres Front 215 x 40 x18 and Rear 245 x 40 x 18.

ITG High Flow Air Filter.

I'll await to see how many of the above key findings are in agreement with my observations.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

As a further statement confirming the 292 bhp engine, the following is from the official Alpine Brochure.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

In the same May edition of EVO magazine is a road and track test (Anglesey) of the 718 GT4 RS. With shorter gear and diff ratios fitted to the PDK transaxle, this car has been transformed, making the best of the fabulous 493 bhp GT3 engine and its 9000 rpm rev limit. This is the GT4 that should have been marketed years ago. It took a long time for Porsche to give the Cayman platform the power it has long deserved. It's such a shame that availability of this ultimate GT4 will be so limited for us normal mortals who are not in the ranks of the favoured few at OPC's. Were I 20 years younger I would have been lobbying my favourite OPC for a place in the queue while hoping a Euromillions lotto win would fund the dream.

Brian

 

[ralphmusic]

On Rennlist a chap on a Porsche driving event commented how relatively unstable it was on the Nordschliefe compared with the 992 GT3 he was also driving. The extra power will test even the RS‘ version of the rear strut suspension. The MR version should be better as all Manthey kits are for the Nordschliefe. The Porsche video showed how harder the GT4 RS driver was working versus the equivalent GT3 video.

Would I take one if offered? Of course I would even though I could not drive it anywhere near its limit, but it would go on track, why else would one buy it?

 

[Motorhead]

Brian,

Re the hp anomaly, 215 kW is indeed 292 PS (metric hp) which equates to 288 bhp.

I echo your sentiments on the GT4 RS, but unfortunately I’m not convinced that even a lotto win would secure a slot for a new car.

Jeff

 

[Brian_Innes]

Ralph and Jeff,

Interesting comments. I could imagine the GT4RS being a bit of a handful on the Nordschliefe compared to the 992 GT3, which has the benefit of more rubber, aero, and double wishbone front suspension. Like you I wouldn't refuse one either if the occasional lottery ticket came up a big winner.

Thank you for clarifying the A110 Legende GT bhp anomaly Jeff. I have never gotten my head around these PS or Kw power definitions. I'm an old-school bhp guy and can remember when 100 bhp was the minimum benchmark for tuning companies. My 1966 Lotus Elan S/E Coupe came with 115 bhp. A pair of Cosworth cams, Janspeed exhaust manifold, and a Weber carb re-jet brought that up to 135bhp. Life was much simpler back then. Less restrictive also.

Reading in the paper today that noise cameras are being installed on certain locations in England and Wales. I was surprised to read that the legal limit for vehicle noise is 74 decibels. I was unaware that this noise limit is set so low. That would mean trouble for many of us sports car drivers, especially when sports exhausts are deployed. It's another example of the increasingly restrictive driving related regulations being foisted upon us by the legislative authorities. Us car enthusiasts momentarily exceeding the rural road speed limits by 10 mph are snapped by roadside cameras, convicted with fines and points on our driving licences, while the inattentive, distracted, and uninterested drivers sail on unnoticed by these roadside vultures. I've heard such drivers saying they were driving "on automatic", that is, not paying attention. In my local area recently there have been a high number of road collisions on the A9 and A96 resulting in lengthy road closures. You will note I use the term "collisions" not "accidents". There are very few true accidents. Most RT incidents are due to driver error or inattention. The trouble is this is not always explained when reported. A few reckless and inconsiderate drivers give us sports car enthusiasts bad press. The same criteria goes for motorcyclists. With the tourist season picking up here in the Highlands, sadly many more such incidents are likely.

Brian

 

[ralphmusic]

At Donnington Classic today in the club area

 

[Brian_Innes]

Thanks Ralph.

An original Alpine A110 in the same nostalgic era as the early Porsche models.

As with the 956 and 911, the heritage is palpable.

Today's cars are the evolution of these classic models.

Brian.

 

[Brian_Innes]

I met up with PCGB Cayman forum contributor AndrewT on the Moray Coast on his epic tour of Scotland. AndrewT has visited parts of the Highlands I haven't yet been to. This year the weather has not been typical for the month of May with cool temperatures and squally rain showers. It was pleasure to meet up with AndrewT and his wife on my local patch.

We stopped at the historic fishing village and Pictish Fort site at Burghead for a walk to the visitor centre and the enigmatic Burghead Well. It's not known whether this strange water-filled grotto was used for religious or more sinister purposes.

The photo below shows the A110 Legende GT and 987.2 Cayman S in profile. The Cayman the more graceful and easy on the eye. The A110 is a purposeful little car but perhaps not best viewed in side elevation profile. It is however, 240kgs lighter than the 987.2 Cayman S PDK which is immediately apparent when on the move.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

Another meeting with PCGB Cayman forum contributors Andrew T, and Andrew CS, at Fordyce village in north Aberdeenshire. Good to meet forum friends in my part of Scotland.

Fordyce historic village is located 2 miles off the A98 Elgin - Banff road near Portsoy. This part of Aberdeenshire and Moray is rich in historic villages and townships. Cullen and Portsoy are also worth a visit and a walk around. The old 16th century Portsoy harbour recently featured in the final episode of BBC drama Peaky Blinders, where it represented location shots supposedly from Newfoundland.

This part of the east Moray coast is often left out of many touring itineraries as it deviates from the more popular destinations. In my opinion it is all the better for that. It's quieter with a beautiful coastline including some amazing sandy beaches and rock formations. The spooky ruins of Findlater castle also worth a visit.

Brian

 

[AndrewCS]

Hi Brian,

Great to meet up again - thank you for the hospitality, the advice on geometry set up and most of all ... the `pax lap` in the Alpine []

The Alpine is most certainly all that you have described, a really impressive package

The one hundred mile trip home saw the Highlands at their best, cool and bright with a few `snow tops` and quiet roads. The GT4`s geometry reset coupled with the recently `returned` Cup 2`s provided an outstanding experience ... WOW Maybe I can persuade `our` new Alpine dealer to let me run it in their demo A110 S

 

[Brian_Innes]

Andrew,

Glad your wheel geometry alignment settings worked out well. Interestingly, both my Alpine A110 Legende GT, and your 981 GT4, now have almost identical camber and toe settings front and rear. Both cars on Cup 2's also. As with your GT4, my A110 handles and feels absolutely "on the button" with these revised settings.

I'm currently prepping for a car tour to north Norfolk via north Yorkshire and Derbyshire. I'm hoping the weather improves from the recent cool, squally, rain showers that have been sweeping across north Scotland this past week. Very unseasonal weather for the month of May.

I'll present a brief report on my tour upon my return.

Brian

 

[Brian_Innes]

Car Tour 2022 Part 1

I have now returned from my 11 - day car tour to North Yorkshire, North Norfolk, and the Derbyshire Dales. This was the first real test of how my 2021 Alpine A110 Legende GT compared to my experiences of long distance touring in my previous Cayman 987.2 and 718 varieties.

Readers who are familiar with the press reports on the A110 will already be aware of the luggage storage limitations of this compact sports coupe. Being 96% aluminium construction, the front luggage hold is much shallower than the comparable Cayman. Likewise the rear luggage hold is shallow with a narrow opening aperture. Nevertheless, with a bit of inventive ingenuity and carefully chosen luggage units, the storage capacity of the A110 is perfectly capable of storing an aircraft cabin-sized wheelie-case in the front compartment, and a medium sized holdall in the rear hold. Jackets, footwear, and other such items can be packed around the luggage units. There is ample room in the corners of the rear hold for 1 litre packs of top-up engine oil and coolant, together with the essential windscreen spray bottle and assorted cloths. There are also spaces behind both the seats, and on my car I have the optional centre storage bin between the seats. Being a single traveller I place a rucksack, duly belted-in, on the passenger seat for essential bits and bobs that I need to hand during my journey.

My tour kicked-off from a hotel near Edinburgh and followed the notorious A720 Edinburgh by-pass to join the A68 south towards Jedburgh. I turned right on the A68 two miles north of Jedburgh to join the A698 towards Hawick, then the A7 via Langholm and Carlisle. This latter route was a joy to drive. The A698 and A7 had much lighter traffic than the tourist route A68, so the free-flowing capabilities of the A110 on Cup 2 tyres made for enjoyable progress on the many twists and turns along this route. Following a short stint on the busy M6, I branched off at J36 onto the A65 towards Skipton and ultimately my hotel destination at Burnsall in Wharfedale.

The next two days were spent enjoying walking in the stunningly beautiful Wharfedale Dales. My room at the hotel overlooked the river and small village of Burnsall. Living in the north Highlands I am no stranger to beautiful landscape panoramas, and this view compared with the best of them. Armed with a map of a walking route I embarked upon a challenging 4.5 mile trek across the fields and dales to Appletreewick, where a welcome refreshment at the local pub was much appreciated.

Next stop on my tour was the Village of Congham in North Norfolk, around 8 miles north-east of King's Lynn. My chosen route took me through the Lincolnshire Wolds, recommended by Andrew T, which proved a most enjoyable drive, passing through lovely villages with quaint sounding names. As I was in the locality of the RAF base at Coningsby, I decided to take the opportunity to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Although I had not pre-booked a place, I was able to join a small party of about 12 persons for a guided tour of the BBMF hangar, where the various specimens of the WW2 aircraft were stored for maintenance. I'm not a fan of guided tours but on this occasion as I was passing by, I considered it worth a visit. On reflection, this was a mistake. The guide on this occasion ushered the group to the hangar where the aircraft were undergoing various stages of repairs and maintenance. We were told not to touch any of the exhibits or speak to the maintenance crew. we were also warned not to wander off on our own and stay within the control group. This was like serving in the RAF. Although some of the narrative was interesting, the guide was very long-winded with his descriptions of the personnel who flew the aircraft on display during WW2. After 45 minutes it all became a bit tedious I'm sorry to say. The guide's narrative spiel was also frequently interrupted by noisy hammering from the maintenance crew, and the screaming banshee of multiple Typhoon fighter jets taking-off on training sorties. If I'm being honest, the sight of a trio of Typhoons powering into the damp sky with shimmering vapour halos surrounding their delta wings, was more of a highlight than the guided tour. I don't mean to be cruel, but at an hour and three-quarters long, I found standing around in a noisy and draughty shed, with the guide droning on about flight crews from 1942 all a bit much. In my opinion, the tour could have been done in half the time. By the look on the faces of the other members of my group, I was not the only one wilting at the end. I quickly made my escape to the car park and set off towards King's Lynn.

Now regretting my sojourn to RAF Coningsby, I made haste along the A17 via Long Sutton only to be brought to a halt at Sutton Swing Bridge road works. I came up behind a queue of traffic on the A17. I thought nothing of it at first as I had encountered the inevitable road works single-file traffic controls previously on my journey. This one however, proved very different. With no diversions signposted, or alternative routes available according to my road map, I had to endure a whole hour of shunting forward a few car lengths every 10 minutes for a distance of 4 miles. The time of day didn't help, it was now approaching 5.00pm. Many HGV's also clogged up progress. Thanks to the Coningsby side show, I was now running late for my check-in at the hotel. My dining time had to be pre-booked in advance and it was looking very marginal if I should be able to meet the deadline. After phoning the hotel about my unplanned delay, I was reassured that all would be well. When I eventually reached the scene of the swing bridge road works, a very busy roundabout connecting the A47 with the A17 caused major delays as traffic became gridlocked even before reaching the traffic control lights. I wasted more than an hour here. The stationary periods between shunting forward were so long that I resorted to switching off the engine between shunts. The sat nav voice eventually informed me that serious traffic congestion had occurred, and there were no alternative routes available. Tell me something I don't know! Eventually I arrived at my hotel and was told by the receptionist that the A17 Sutton swing bridge road works will continue until September at least. So be warned.

Part 2 of my tour report will follow later. Meantime a few photos follow illustrating the story so far.

Brian

A room with a view.

The beautiful North Yorkshire dales at Burnsall.