Over-make-up
It doesn’t always make sense to trumpet your first thoughts to the world. But here it has to be, because even after looking at it seven times, my first impression hasn’t changed. So I thought, a pretty young lady, but unfortunately a bit over-made up. A bit like Agnetha Fältskog from ABBA back in the day, and the Alpine also has blue trim like Agnetha once had eye shadow, there are little spoilers and sills and stuff everywhere, a bit like the singer’s eyelashes once stuck on. In the 70s, it was fashionable, and in the 70s, Alpine also had its best times. Perhaps this is how the circle closes. Oh yes: if you order it in blue, it looks better, the eyeshadow is not noticeable.
We wrote about it just recently: the all-electric Renault R5 is a really cool vehicle. Not just for an electric car, but for any car. We drove the R5 up to Col de Turini a few weeks ago, and had a lot of fun doing it. The Alpine is now an R5 with more power, with 180 hp/285 Nm in the weaker version and 220 hp/300 Nm in the stronger one. We only drove the latter, which can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.4 seconds, so the conditions are actually perfect for even more driving pleasure. Especially since Alpine has also worked hard to turn the small Stromer into a ‘hot hatch’. There are wider wheels (Michelin Pilot Sport S5 with Alpine A29 designation, 225/40 on 19-inch rims) and new aluminium steering knuckles, which increase the track by an impressive six centimetres. At the front, the Alpine has an aluminium subframe and brakes from the A110, at the rear a better multi-link axle, larger stabilisers and dampers with a bump stop all round. The weight has only risen slightly to 1479 kilograms, which is still sensational for an electric car – so it’s ready to go.
And on the first trip into the mountains, the smiles that we already had with the R5 come back. Good, precise steering, a bit more direct than in the R5. The driving and suspension comfort remains excellent even on bad lanes, which is a great credit to the French dwarf – if you drive it smoothly and fluidly, it will thank you with high speeds and lots of fun. But you can already feel that there will be a but soon, so: Alpine Torque Pre-Control. If you now want to drive the Alpine the way you like to drive a front-wheel-drive hot hatch, braking late, somehow choking through the corner, then accelerating out of the bend, that’s when the aforementioned fun-killer kicks in, then (too much) power is cut off (even when the ESP is switched off). Scraping front wheels, jerking on the steering wheel, that’s not, it’s electronically prevented. We can only guess at the reasons, we assume that the French are a little afraid of putting too much strain on the battery. But to be clear: the A290 is also a lot of fun in twisty terrain. It’s just that the difference to the normal R5 is much smaller than expected. And even on the straights, it only does 20 km/h more; on the racetrack, it hits the barrier a little too early on long straights.
The seats are comfortable, with excellent lateral support, but without feeling cramped. The Alpine is well made overall, and naturally looks more sophisticated than the Renault, with better materials and beautiful workmanship. The workplace is well laid out, although there may be a little too much electronic functionality (see above, all the programs), but potential customers are familiar with this from their smartphones; Google provides the software, and as we know, it is very user-friendly. But you can also concentrate quite well on driving, you don’t have to play every game. There isn’t an awful lot of space in the back, but the boot, with a volume of 326 litres, is well above average for a car that’s not even four metres long.
Man sitzt zudem gut, hervorragender Seitenhalt, aber nicht beengt. Überhaupt ist die Alpine innen gut gemacht, sie wirkt selbstverständlich edler als der Renault, feinere Materialien, schön verarbeitet. Der Arbeitsplatz ist übersichtlich, vielleicht gibt es etwas gar viele elektronische Spielmöglichkeiten (siehe oben, all die Programme), aber die potentielle Kundschaft kennt solches ja vom Smartphone; Google liefert die Software, und das ist bekanntlich sehr bedienerfreundlich. Man kann sich aber auch ganz gut auf das Fahren konzentrieren, man muss ja nicht jedes Game mitmachen. Hinten ist nicht übermässig viel Platz, der Kofferraum mit seinen 326 Litern Volumen ist aber deutlich über dem Durchschnitt für ein nicht einmal 4 Meter langes Fahrzeug.
The most affordable Alpine A290 is available from 37,700 francs, 180 hp, 52 kWh battery, which should provide a range of 380 kilometres. The more powerful version costs from 40,900 francs in Switzerland, a fully equipped Prèmier Edition is priced at 45,100 francs and limited to 1955 units, and very blue. Well, for a small car, that’s a lot of money, but on the other hand, there is actually no competition. And maybe the French will see it our way and allow themselves an A290 that is more Alpine, that is, nastier, more poisonous, as cheeky as you would like a hot hatch to be.
Excellent handling details. Alpine, do better on this matter…