Disney also ruined our childhood. Our toys could never speak, the bad guys are much worse in real life (Vladimir…), the dumber ones are even dumber in real life (Donald…) and the princesses look much better than what we get to see on Tinder. Not to mention Lightning McQueen who was arrogant, didn’t appreciate his crew and didn’t have any friends.
Tas de merde*.We know for longer than today that many things in life are presented more attractive than they really are. And this is equally true of car manufacturers’ models. A great example of this is Alfa Romeo. In terms of design, their models often look eye-catching, and are a real delight for any photographer. But they are unfortunately also loyal customers in the after-service department. But more European cars are frequent customers in this department. For instance, roadside helpers mostly get French cars overhauled, and brands such as Citroen, Peugeot and Renault face the most breakdowns. (* Pile of shit)
F1 looks. But let’s look to the future, as the Paris Motor Show approaches, and the French brands can’t resist getting us warmed up with their premieres ahead of time. Earlier we had the fun R5 Turbo 3E that will forever remain a concept, now the curtain is going down on the Alpine A110R which you will soon be able to spot on an order form ( although in limited edition). Currently, this is the hottest version of the A110 series. You can recognise this A110R mainly by its colour, since it is identical to the A522 F1 car that Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon are driving.
The competition. Brands like Lotus and Alpine are obsessed with lightweight cars that handle perfect, and after a brief diet, this R has become 34kg lighter than the A110S. Henceforth, it still weighs 1082kg, and that’s a mere 30kg more than that other driver’s car, the Mazda MX-5. But that only brings 115bhp to the plate, while this A110R has a whopping 300bhp in store. Looking in the other direction, we soon arrive at the Lotus Emira. That one does weigh 248kg heavier, but has about 100 hp of extra power on board.
Matched. That looks like a battle at the edge. The Frenchman reportedly hits 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds while the British/Chinese Lotus takes 4.0 – 4.2 seconds. Top speed of the Alpine A110R is 285 km/h, some 5 km/h slower than that of the Lotus Emira. Furthermore, the Alpine got a lot of carbon spoilers, splitters and similar fitted, which are partly responsible for extra downforce. But also the bonnet, wings, sports seats and even the wheels are made of black gold.