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  1. #1
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    Alpine Vision Concept 2016

    Monte Carlo, Monaco - At the home of the world-famous Monte Carlo Rally and on the Col de Turini, site of some of racing’s most memorable moments, Groupe Renault today announced plans for a new Alpine sports car, and unveiled the Alpine Vision show car.

    “Motorsports and sports cars are deeply rooted in the DNA of Groupe Renault,” Groupe Renault Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn said. “Earlier this month we announced our return to Formula One with a Renault team, and today we are announcing Alpine. This is an exciting next step in our strategy to leverage talent and technology between road and track, and we look forward to reaching new customers in the sport premium cars segment.”

    The show car Alpine Vision combines sensual design with outstanding agility, true to the great Alpine A110 Berlinette loved and admired by enthusiasts around the world. Alpine Vision is powered by a new 4 cylinder turbocharged engine, built by experts at Renault Sport, and its low weight will allow the car to achieve 0 to 100 km/h in less than 4.5 seconds - the target for the future production model.

    Alpine will be managed by a small team of passionate experts within Groupe Renault, with one sole mission – to meet and exceed the expectations of the demanding sport premium customer. Michael van der Sande will lead as Alpine managing director, and Antony Villain will head Alpine design.
    Alpine will draw on the extensive resources of Groupe Renault, and Renault Sport.

    “All of us at Alpine are proud to have been entrusted with the task of bringing back Alpine to sports car lovers around the world”, said Michael van der Sande, Alpine managing director. “Our job is to faithfully re-interpret famous Alpines of the past and project Alpine into the future with a beautifully designed, agile, high-performance sports car. Our Alpine Vision show car is immediately recognizable as an Alpine yet resolutely modern. We look forward to revealing the production model later this year.”

    Over the next 12 months, the Alpine team will focus on building an outstanding car, very close to today’s show car in terms of design, weight, handling, agility and attention to detail. Priorities will also include building out the team and the network, and finally, to pursue racing. The current Signatech-Alpine Racing Team has already won two European endurance championships, and won the LMP2 class in the World Endurance Championship last year in Shanghai; and this year, the team will enter two Alpine LMP2 cars in the World Endurance Championship, including Le Mans.

    Made in Dieppe, France, the new Alpine will go on sale in 2017 initially in Europe, followed by other markets worldwide.
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  2. #2
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    Far too retro, but other than that not bad #2
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  3. #3
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    I doesn't really look like the Alfa 4C, like I misspoke about the Veloster. What I meant, however, and what I mean here, is that the design language seems similar as does the proportioning. They all have some of the Stormtrooper-helmet aesthetic, especially in white.
    Overall, I'd say the Alpine is much, much more successful than the Hyundai and a little bit worse than the Alpha Romero.
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    What's with the A7 rear?
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    A thought popped into my head this morning. This and the 4C (let's be honest, the Alpine's only true rival) have, unless I'm mistaken, the traditional front-tranverse engined layout behind the rear seats. Since the engine and gearbox are above the rear axle, does this make them mid or rear engined?

    By the way, at least this doesn't have the eye infection the 4C had (although it's only a prototype) and it also looks like it will be more civilised. If the price is good it could sell moderately well, but even with a full carbon fibre chassis the 4Cs and their 50+ price tag the Alfas are languishing in the dealer lots apparently...
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    A thought popped into my head this morning. This and the 4C (let's be honest, the Alpine's only true rival) have, unless I'm mistaken, the traditional front-tranverse engined layout behind the rear seats. Since the engine and gearbox are above the rear axle, does this make them mid or rear engined?
    4C engine position is clearly shown here.

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    Thanks Revo!

    So somewhat like a Stratos (or a Smart) then; not rear engined but not quite mid engined either.
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    What, exactly, are you on about?

    Both 4C and Stratos are textbook examples of mid-engined layout.
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    What I meant is that in longitudinal-engined mid-engined cars the whole of the engine (or almost of all of it is in front of the rear axle. Here the Porsche 917 as an example.



    On the other hand in cars like the Stratos, the 4C or (probably) this one, there's a lot of engine over the axle or near it, making it have a more rearward weight bias than other mid engined cars. So despite not being rear engined, those cars will display a weight distribution which is more similar to rear engined cars than other mid engined cars do.

    I hope it makes sense now.
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  10. #10
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    Porsche 917 is a poor example you gave, because it actually has more rear weight bias than Alfa 4C (36/64 vs 38/62 in numerical values).

    However, compared to another mid-engined car like Porsche Cayman with weight distribution 45/55, Alfa 4C has indeed more of its weight on the rear axle.

    Naturally, one should not forget the weight difference of about 450 kg. That is what really makes the difference between the two.

  11. #11
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    My bad...

    Still, apparently then the 4C has the same weight distribution as the basic 911 997 (38/62).
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  12. #12
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    I was talking to my friends at the Autoshow, and I impressed on them how much of a hard sell the 4C was.

    FCA make some interesting business and engineering decisions. The Viper, 200/Dart, Alfa reboot... Curious.

    This Alpine also smacks of being a poor allocation of resources. Will this bring any prestige or cash to Renault if its made?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitdy View Post
    I was talking to my friends at the Autoshow, and I impressed on them how much of a hard sell the 4C was.

    FCA make some interesting business and engineering decisions. The Viper, 200/Dart, Alfa reboot... Curious.

    This Alpine also smacks of being a poor allocation of resources. Will this bring any prestige or cash to Renault if its made?
    They sure as hell hope it will. Misses the mark for me cos of the simple fact that it's meant to be a small, light fun to drive car.. but it's auto only, likely the gearbox out of the Clio RS which is apparently particularly awful. So there goes the fun.
    Life's too short to drive bad cars.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pimento View Post
    They sure as hell hope it will. Misses the mark for me cos of the simple fact that it's meant to be a small, light fun to drive car.. but it's auto only, likely the gearbox out of the Clio RS which is apparently particularly awful. So there goes the fun.
    I mean, it also is not badged as a Renault. It's an Alpine; which always was a niche brand. Will this draw showroom traffic for Renault's more pedestrian offerings? Is relaunching a dormant niche sub-brand a good use of company/shareholder capital?

    A similar (and yet very different) scenario was VW's experiment with Bugatti. How can Bugatti be a halo car, if it has no other cars in its lineup? Bugatti being a halo brand for VW Group makes no sense.

    If Renault proceeds and makes an (singular) Alpine, after kicking around the can with a few concept cars... What does that achieve?

  15. #15
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    I'm sure they'll waste no time in badging it Alpine-Renault when it comes to put it into production. I also doubt they will set an entirely new dealer network for just one car.

    So, there you have you showroom traffic driver.

    On the other hand if it's successful they want to unveil several new models, including SUVs and whatnot. Then the brand should be able to sustain itself, much like Lexus isn't a showroom traffic driver for Toyota but rather an entirely different entity.
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