For American car enthusiasts, 25 years isn’t just the time frame for a quarter-life crisis, it’s the countdown until we can import the good foreign cars we never got the chance to buy here. And, as of now, we can go ahead and put the new Alpine A110S on the clock.
The Alpine A110S is the new performance trim on the mid-engined, two-seater A110 sports car from Renault’s resurrected performance brand that we all know, love, and often complain about not receiving in the bleak automotive landscape that is the U.S., the carmaker announced Thursday. It’s just another reason why it’s a great day to be an American. Yep.
The 288-horsepower A110S is the new top of the already great A110 range, and gets a bump over the two lower trims’ 248 HP while sharing their seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. That’s in addition to the A110’s general philosophy of focusing on handling and keeping the weight down rather than chase big, unusable performance figures.
Now, 288 HP sounds low for American ears, but it has to move just 2,456 pounds, or around the same weight as the similarly small Mazda Miata. The Miata’s recent 26-HP bump was noticeable thanks to its light weight, so just close your eyes and imagine upping that by more than 100 HP.
Stop crying tears of jealousy, please. They might be contagious.
Along with the power bump, the press release said the A110S will get carbon-fiber accents and some nice suede upholstery, and a base price of 66,500 euros (or $75,000 at current exchange rates, but like that conversion matters). That’s compared to the roughly $62,000 and $66,000 base prices for the Pure and Légende trims, as announced at last year’s Geneva Motor Show.
The new trim can already be reserved, and the announcement said it’ll be in showrooms this October. The first deliveries are planned for before the end of the year.
Alas, in the U.S., our scheduled delivery dates begin approximately two and a half decades from now. Settle in and enjoy the wait, because it’s sure to be a long one.