2018 Alpine A110 in numbers: the competition

Now that the Australian pricing and specs for the 2018 Alpine A110 have been revealed, we figure we need to work out how it stacks up against the competition on paper.

We’re calling the base model Porsche Cayman and the Alfa Romeo 4C Coupe its biggest rivals, given their premium branding and lightweight focus.

PRICE

If we take the cheapest route possible for each car, the Alpine A110 starts at $97K before on-road costs for the driver-focused ‘Pure Edition’, while the Cayman comes in more expensive at $117,160 before ORCs, using the dual-clutch to keep things fair.

The 4C is far cheaper, at just $89K, though it’s the elder of the trio.

The Alpine A110 is also showing up in two more specs, the standard Launch Edition, and the Legende Edition, coming in at $106,500 and $103,500 respectively.

ENGINE and POWER

When it comes to outputs, the Porsche’s 220kW/380Nm trump both the 185kW/320Nm of the A110, and the 177kW/350Nm of the Alfa.

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However, the Porsche’s 2.0-litre flat-four only delivers its peak power at 6500rpm, while the others manage it at 6000.

Alpine hasn’t confirmed where torque peaks, though we assume it’s low in the range, likely near to the 1950rpm and 2200rpm of the Cayman and 4C respectively.

PERFORMANCE

When it comes to speed, it’s surprisingly the Porsche (even with dual-clutch) left trailing. Though its 275km/h top speed is the highest, a 4.7 second run to 100km/h falls two tenths behind both of the other cars in this face-off.

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In manual guise, the Cayman takes 5.1 seconds.

The A110 and 4C will, for reference, reach 250km/h and 258km/h, though how often is that going to happen in Australia?

WEIGHT

This is crucial for these three sports cars, as they’re all relatively light by today’s standards.

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Going some way to explaining its slower sprint, the Porsche is the heaviest at 1335kg, meaning it’s packing 165kW per tonne.

Next up, the nimble A110 comes second here with a respectable 1094kg kerb weight, and 169kW/tonne.

So, in terms of power to weight, the Alfa 4C takes it with a 173kW/tonne figure thanks to its delicate 1025kg kerb weight.

So… now what?

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Given each car has its own strengths and weaknesses – and that this is an on-paper comparison – we’re not going to call any car here a winner.

However, we will say that it’s clear the 4C provides the most power for its money, and that the Cayman is likely to make the ‘nicest’ ownership proposition. It’s still all down to perspective.

We’ll wait to get our hands on an A110 in Australia before we make any final decisions. Plus, there’s always the likes of the Lotus Elise, if you prefer the ‘less is more’ approach.