Alpine A110 S lap time at Top Gear Track

Rewatched video in hopes of seeing a tyre sidewall closeup. But no luck 🥴

Ah, I’ll assume Pilot Sport 4 until someone find out otherwise

I don't think the A110 S could've pulled off such a crazy time if it were on the standard PS4 DT1s. For context, the 718 Cayman S ran a 1:21.6 on P Zero N1s, which offer grip levels pretty much on par with the non-bespoke Cup 2s optional on the Alpine.Here’s what I’m basing this on「This time round it’s running on Michelin’s track day-targeted Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber (a £640 option)... A 1min 22.3sec lap.」https://www.topgear.com/long-term-car-reviews/alpine/a110/18l-turbo-300-s-2dr-dct/report-2?hl=zh-Hans-US

I have to add that there's something quite counter-intuitive here: the standard A110 Premiere Edition on PS4 DT1s was only 0.6s slower than the A110 S on Cup 2s around the TG track. Call me contradictory, but maybe the base car's softer, more compliant suspension works in perfect harmony with those bespoke tires. After all, the Dunsfold tarmac is notoriously uneven, and the standard A110’s softer setup likely offers superior mechanical grip by keeping the tires glued to the bumps. On this specific track, that setup might actually generate a much higher angular velocity mid-corner than the stiffer S model.

「I want to throw in here is that stiffer isn’t necessarily faster. When I test straight line acceleration, cars are normally quickest off the line with dampers in their softest setting. The extra squidge pressures the tyres more evenly, improving traction (note: this isn’t true for front drive cars, where the weight transfer unloads the driven wheels). The same basic rule applies on circuit, although to what extent a stopwatch alone doesn’t tell.」

I get that, but the A110S setup isn’t that aggressive I thought, it’s still quite soft compared to equivalent sports cars. Also it was done at extremely hot conditions which will torture that 1.8 engine even more. Think it should do a high 1:20 in more ideal conditions

I’m afraid it might be a bit of a stretch. It’ll probably perform similarly to the Cayman S. Forgive me if I’m oversimplifying things, but the grip levels between Porsche’s P0 N1 and the A110 S’s off-the-shelf Cup 2s are pretty comparable. The Porsche is actually a bit faster on the straights, too. Plus, Dunsfold is quite bumpy; those stiff suspension setups might be counterproductive, making it hard to fully exploit the mechanical grip of the tires.

I agree that dunsfold is a bumpy track, but I don’t think that the A110S (in general) setup is so bumpy that it would poorly affect the laptime. I want to ask, where did u find out the P0 N1 grip matches the A110 Cup 2?

At the Tianma Circuit in China, both a 981 2.7 on retail Cup 2s and another on P Zero N1s clock in at around 1:13.5. The drivers weren't the same, but both are local 'track rats.' From chatting with the locals, I've learned that manufacturer-specific tires like Porsche’s 'N1' spec or BMW’s '*' spec have bespoke compounds and shoulder constructions. This means that on their intended cars, you should really view these tires as being one performance tier above their standard versions.

Okay that’s what I was interested in, mainly because I was reading an article about the 2016 Focus RS and it’s Cup 2s being nowhere near as aggressive as a Golf GTi Clubsport S’ (Porsche type of compound) Cup 2, despite sharing the same name