if a couple of years ago you were going
to try and decide what the best small
sports good paper is to have quite a
simple set of procedures to follow one
you would try a Porsche Cayman two you
would try anything else three you decide
that the Porsche was the best today
things are not quite so simple thanks to
the advent of cars like this which is
the BMW m2 competition the competition
biggest knew about the f2 it was revised
earlier this year replaces the standard
m2
and it brings with it so most jointing
in there is especially bracing in the
front an m3 engine has more power
tightly stiffer springs and dampers it's
cleaner more focused more responsive
more accurate more agile more of all of
the things that make a great sports car
and there are also other rivals too
including but not limited to the alveen
a 110 we've tested never two before
we've tested our bit before individually
but we have not had them together
however you can find those videos among
many others all auto cars youtube
channel or on auto car located UK if you
subscribe if you turn off notifications
never fix it
Alpine a110 I've been waiting a very
very long time for this car ever since
they announced they were bringing back
the album Ian brand I've been super
excited about this little thing
and I'm so pleased to be able to say
that it's brilliant to drive so sweet so
satisfying so much fun and so of that
group of fifty thousand pound ish sports
coupe A's the two most difference are
probably this out beam and the BMW and
when you start looking at the numbers
between the BMW and the alpi you just
think well how can they possibly be
rivals that they possibly sit in the
same sector that BMW has more power a
hundred and fifty horsepower more that's
a massive number but this L plane is
lighter by five hundred kilograms that's
about the same weight as that mountain
over there it's a huge huge difference
in weight and what it means is the two
cars actually have very similar levels
of performance there's a tenth of a
second in it to 62 miles per hour
they both do around about four and a
half and they'll both do 155 miles an
hour flat out when they go about
achieving that level of performance
completely opposite ways am I completely
bonkers by saying this car could be a
Porsche 718 Cayman I'm not you know now
that the Porsche has moved to a
four-cylinder engine and this retains
a straight-6
[Music]
it sounds terrific mysterious it still
doesn't feel as light as a Cayman
doesn't feel as light as the Alpine a110
which has a truly truly world-class
chassis but there really is an accuracy
to its steering now it's very easy to
place it's very responsive
all right the ride is still up on roads
like this a little bit quite a long
vertical movement but it's quite well
planted I think helping deserve so much
credit for the approach they decided to
take with this car it's a custom
purpose-built platform this cars got its
own body shell its own moniker aluminium
as we know that's not a cheap thing to
do that was an expensive decision to
make where they made anyway and they've
pursued lightness obsessively and
they've also given it double wishbone
suspension which might just sound like a
detail but actually it kind of defines
the way this car drives because of that
double wishbone suspension they've been
able to give it very long wheel travel
relatively light springs they can let
the car roll just a little bit in
corners they don't have to try and fight
that roll with big thick fat heavy
anti-roll bars and it just means that
over a moorland road like this one up in
North Wales which is one of the best
roads in the country I love driving
along here this car feels found
the out Peters of a similar ilk it's
really involving really engaging really
light does have a better shot than this
as a worst gearbox has it worse engine
slight swings and roundabouts kind of
thing this feels like a nicer classier
car but the alpide has other things
going for it but anyway I'll focus on
this the original M 2 was good was it
joyful had a lot of the characteristics
of this car it felt a little bit more
miniature muscle car if you like
whereas this now has had the sports car
elements that the delicate elements the
responsive elements the engaging
involving precision elements turned up
to the point where we are faced with
deciding which is the best 50,000 pound
coupe a that does not include a Porsche
718 the combination of ride and body
control is
exceptional exceptional there aren't
many cars on sale today that combined
ride and body control quite like this
one and if we want to delve into the
handling characteristics a little bit
further get a little bit nerdy what you
find is that when you turn into a corner
you get the sense that the car is uring
that it's pivoting turning into the
corner at the same rate that it's
rolling onto its outside edge and it's
just the most satisfying sensation you
don't even have to be hammering along to
be able to enjoy it there's a really
nice balance to the chassis because the
drive only goes to the rear wheel so it
just lets the Front's only worry about
the steering while the rears only worry
about the power and it's got that nice
weight distribution it's just enjoyable
at all speed and I'll go very fast I'm
having fun it's good fun it's good fun
it's compact I can see out of it really
well the driving position is terrific
the seats are fantastic
I just love driving this thing along
here it's so satisfying so rewarding and
you just find yourself pushing harder
and harder and harder this steering is
good it's not exceptional
but it's perfectly decent and then it
feels small on the road and we've got
these fantastic bucket seats that give
you so much support I just think this
car is its superb Lee well judged and
brilliantly executed it's playful fun to
drive satisfying rewarding you get all
those good words all those good roads
that highlight a really great
performance car they apply here I think
all that's left to do is for me to have
an argument with Matthew Pryor about
which of these two cars is better and
whether we're making that decision I
don't think we're missing out too much
Porsche resin incredible mid-engine
chassis really terrific really great
steering feels compact rides handles
does all of the things you should but
there is enough now in these other cars
the BMW and the LP and forget this clear
to Supra coming - a lot of cars that can
give the 718 Cayman a very very hard
time
[Music]
what have we learned anyway what have we
learned sir I already know that I love
this LP and I think it's a fantastic car
what surprised me is how close the m2
got to it
yeah that's what shocked me nailed him
to very much a sort of bruiser I liked
it a lot but slightly sort of a small
muscle car but it's so much closer to
the a110 than I thought it would be it's
not true however I still prefer I do
there's just something about the alkyne
it's somehow bit more intoxicating isn't
there it's a proper purpose-built sports
car
so there you are the Alpine a110 is the
best small coupe 8 you can buy if you
like this if you want to see it tested
against other things if you want to see
loads of cars touches gets other cars
also car it's what we do it's just what
we do just come back subscribe to turn
notifications on and then the video man
will leave us alone