Lemon Juice and Paper Cuts: The 2020 Alpine A110S

Every automotive journalist has a mental list of new models they’d like to see migrate to their home country. For many residing in North America, the Alpine A110 is at the top of the page. We didn’t get the resurrected A110, which is a faithful throwback to the original model that ended production in 1977, and this has left a subset of our staff feeling a little raw.

Alpine has since unveiled a spicier build of the car, throwing some additional salt on our collective butthurt — though we’ll happily acknowledge that probably wasn’t the automaker’s intent. It seems content building a two-seat sports car France can be proud of.

Whereas the current A110 uses a 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that produces 247 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque, the new A110S steps things up to 288 hp. While the manufacturer leaves foot-pounds untouched, it did say that peak tug will be available higher in the car’s rev range at 2,000-6,400 rpm. At face value, the improvement doesn’t sound as though it would result in much of an increase in overall performance. But the mid-engined Alpine only weighs in at 2,456 pounds — slightly more than the substantially less powerful Mazda MX-5, which is still loads of fun.

The model will remain rear-wheel drive and persist with the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission used by the standard A110. However, it will receive a retuned suspension with new dampers, 50-percent stiffer coils and 100-percent stiffer anti-roll bars (which are hollow to save weight). It’s also been lowered 0.2-inches vs its standard sibling.

Tires and wheels are also new, with the Renault subsidiary offering darkened 18-inch GT rounds wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber. Also fitted as standard is the 320mm bi-material discs and Brembo brake calipers and that are optionally available on other versions of the A110.

Beyond that, Alpine said it took some lessons from the A110 GT4 race car to tweak stability control — especially for track mode. But the manufacturer will still allow customers to deactivate ESC entirely.

After throwing all of these improvements onto a pile, the company claimed the A110S will blast to 62 mph from a standstill in 4.4 seconds and provide much-improved handling characteristics over the standard variant without ruining the car’s ability to serve as a daily driver.

Prices start at €66,500, or about $74,500 in the market we would have most liked to see it in.

[Images: Société des Automobiles Alpine SAS]