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Yep. Anything else?
The Renault Alpine- official pics of the new A110
- Thread starter RocZX
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New Renault Alpine set to utilise a Turbocharged 1800cc engine with up to 300hp.
Interestingly, the power unit is based on the 1.6 TCe found in the Clio RS (pictured above). And like the Alfa Romeo 4C, there are no plans for a manual offering.
So, I take it the Alpine won't be weighing 700kg like the original.
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Dear entire automotive industry, why can't we have a lightweight car with a V6?
Sincerely,
Me.
Sincerely,
Me.
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Has Alpine itself made any noises about it being a 4C competitor?
Or is this just something the internet has said because every mid-engined car between zero and a hundred grand is basically a 4C competitor, which by extension is just a Cayman competitor, which by extension is just a poor relation to the 911, therefore making all mid-engined cars below 100k not quite as good as a used 911?
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With the current specifications known so far, one can only assume that the most similar car currently on the market is the 4C or possibly the Lotus Elise. I doubt a revived sub-division of Renault is going to make as much of an impact on the market as a Porsche Cayman - Alpine is better off targeting the niche players in the sub-100k mid-engined sports car field. So yeah, that's where the assumption originates from.
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The TT has done well by targeting people who have bought TTs. People that order an Alpine, certainly wont be people trading in their MX-5. I'm also thinking about how well the Megane has done. The right car will come along that attracts those buyers. If Alpine get that thrill of driving right, people(and MR-S owners perhaps?) that never would have thought about buying such a car, will.
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Given the specifications hinted so far it's certainly not in the Elise bracket. 4C does seem likely, as does Lotus Evora. But I'm not going to hold my breath until more info has been announced.
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I don't think it makes much sense from a marketing standpoint to target the 4C. That is a car that sells in tiny numbers. I very much think this will be along the lines of the TT.
Have we had official, unambiguous confirmation that this car is mid-engined? I only say this because, 1 i'm a pessimist, 2 I looked and couldn't find a categorical confirmation that the production car will be mid engine, and 3, the patent render drawings don't explicitly look like a mid engined car. For instance, there don't appear to be any inlets or heat extraction vents in the patent drawing. Normally in an MR car you get stuff like this:
Side intakes
Side intakes and heat extraction vents
Side intakes and heat extraction vents [at the edges of the glass]
Now compare to the Alpine
It does look like the small window behind the door curves away into the body forming an inlet. But it's rather small. I doubt it would be big enough to provide for a radiator and an engine's oxygen supply. Similarly, there does appear to be some sort of small vent behind the rear glass....but is that enough?
Ok now I've gotten to this point in my post and I was search for a different angle of the above drawing. And then I found this.
Which appeared to hold the answer...so I took it into photoshop and blew out the exposure...resulting in this:
So now it's pretty obvious to me it's mid engined. You can even make out the window separating the passenger compartment from the engine compartment. Stream of consciousness forum posting for the win!
However, I still feel like this will be no lightweight. Mainly because I still do not feel as though those small scoops are large enough to feed a radiator and an AC condenser and a trans cooler, etc. Plus the front grill is pretty massive indicating there are some heat exchangers up there. Running coolant lines from front to back is not the lightweight approach to mid-engine car design. On an ethos level it's wrong. If that part is wrong, then it's clearly not this cars ethos. I predict something like 1100-1400kg Audi TT/Cayman rival. Again.
Have we had official, unambiguous confirmation that this car is mid-engined? I only say this because, 1 i'm a pessimist, 2 I looked and couldn't find a categorical confirmation that the production car will be mid engine, and 3, the patent render drawings don't explicitly look like a mid engined car. For instance, there don't appear to be any inlets or heat extraction vents in the patent drawing. Normally in an MR car you get stuff like this:
Side intakes
Side intakes and heat extraction vents
Side intakes and heat extraction vents [at the edges of the glass]
Now compare to the Alpine
It does look like the small window behind the door curves away into the body forming an inlet. But it's rather small. I doubt it would be big enough to provide for a radiator and an engine's oxygen supply. Similarly, there does appear to be some sort of small vent behind the rear glass....but is that enough?
Ok now I've gotten to this point in my post and I was search for a different angle of the above drawing. And then I found this.
Which appeared to hold the answer...so I took it into photoshop and blew out the exposure...resulting in this:
So now it's pretty obvious to me it's mid engined. You can even make out the window separating the passenger compartment from the engine compartment. Stream of consciousness forum posting for the win!
However, I still feel like this will be no lightweight. Mainly because I still do not feel as though those small scoops are large enough to feed a radiator and an AC condenser and a trans cooler, etc. Plus the front grill is pretty massive indicating there are some heat exchangers up there. Running coolant lines from front to back is not the lightweight approach to mid-engine car design. On an ethos level it's wrong. If that part is wrong, then it's clearly not this cars ethos. I predict something like 1100-1400kg Audi TT/Cayman rival. Again.
Take this with a grain of slash. I've overlayed a 4C and the Alpine matching up the wheel size of the rear. The 4C has 19" wheels and I would expect the same on the Alpine. Again, this is assuming what I feel to be the most probable case.
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The prototype seen at Le Mans and Goodwood is mid-engined (I've seen it in the metal at both events), so I'd say the chances are fairly high.
As for the weight, I'd expect it to be at least reasonably light if only because it's absolutely tiny. Possibly smaller than a Cayman, though it's difficult to say categorically without seeing them side-by-side.
Edit: Incidentally, I double-checked my images of the car from its static display at Le Mans. It appears there are vents to the engine bay behind the rear quarter glass - and you can see that in the patent drawings too (edit #2 - just noticed you noted that in your post above). The concept also had additional, raised vents on top of the rear wings, but these seem to have disappeared in the patent drawings.
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- GTP_TheCracker
The 750kg Lotus Elise (Mk1) disagrees with your hypothesis.
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Yeah I thought about that after I posted. Good point.
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Incidentally, on the 4C vs Audi TT market positioning thing, I don't see why Renault wouldn't target the 4C rather than something softer. I believe they've said it won't be too hardcore, but equally this is very much a niche market product. I'd be hugely surprised if they were going for TT-style volumes with it - it just doesn't make sense to resurrect an old brand with motorsport heritage to then take aim at a style-over-substance coupe.
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In the same way that the 986 Boxster, BMW Z3, and AP1 S2000 were all Audi TT competitors. They have varying degrees of hardcore-ness (S2000 -> Boxster -> Z3 -> TT) but they could all easily be cross-shopped. I doubt many people cross shop an Elise or 4C with a TT.
To be sure, it will be different than most cars I believe. It's a French sports car, it kind of has to be. One might expect a roadster rather than a coupe (without knowing Alpine heritage) for instance. To be honest, if it is what I'm hoping it is, it will be rather unlike most offerings you can buy today. Something along the lines of a pre-996 Porsche 911 in it's straight-forward performance coupe mentality. But even thinking that gets my hopes up way too much.
But by saying it will be a boring, style-driven Audi TT clone, I can live happily in confidence that it can't possibly be worse than my expectations.
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Were there vents on the side? Or are they fake? Cant recall.
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- SVPSkins
Or The new Dino which has been announced
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ferrari-dino-return-v6-engined-sports-car
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- PrecisionXCIV
Waiting for the Alpine's debut is set to be even longer...
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Let's put a positive spin on that:
Waiting for them to get the car right = a good thing.
Ollivier also comments in that article that light weight is very much a priority. Which is also a good thing. Everyone has different ideas of what light weight means, but in context of Lotus and Alfa making genuinely light cars, it's not a term you can throw about without backing it up any more.
CodeRedR51
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Sorry if this has been posted already, not keeping up with this thread.
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I love how you can hear the turbo.
Now, whether they are functional or not, I don't know. Looks like a nice size.
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This. 👍
Renault have a history of doing niche products. (i.e) Renault Sport Spyder, Renault Clio V6. And that's what i love about Renault, they don't specifically target anything when it comes to models like this, they just do it.
