Alpine is also targeting a kerb weight below 1000kg, giving the A110 a similar power-to-weight ratio as the Cayman GT4 RS, rated at 348bhp per tonne.
Autocar understands Alpine’s ambition is to beat the GT4 RS’s Nürburgring lap time of 7min 4.51sec. In October, spy photographers clocked the A110 at 7min 18.77sec with Ocon behind the wheel, suggesting there’s still headroom for Dieppe to unlock.
The new variant is expected to be the final outing of the current A110 before it is retired to make way for the next-generation, battery-electric model, and could wear the Ultime name to reflect its position as the last and most potent iteration of the two-seater.
A110 sales are set to be severely restricted over the next couple of years, due to the European Union’s new GSR2 safety standards. The current car does not comply with the standards, which come into effect this July but has been granted a two-year stay of execution.
The condition for that exemption is that Alpine sells fewer than 1500 cars per year in the EU until it is withdrawn from sale.
Roberto Bonetto, Alpine’s vice-president of engineering, told Autocar: “We believe we can use that to keep the A110 on sale in its most important European markets until July 2026 and hope to develop our market presence outside of the EU in order to export the balance of our cars, and maintain a viable production volume for the factory.”
