Can the French really take on Porsche? Alpine thinks so.
As outlandish as it sounds, for an offshoot of Renault currently offering a hot hatchback, it’s the German sports car brand that is often associated with Alpine.
Since its revival as a brand rather than a trim level, Alpine has turned out some thrilling cars. The A110 is a joy to drive: simple poise, performance and balance combined with proper clunk and click mechanical parts.
It then embraced electric with its take on the retro-styled new Renault 5. The end result was the A290, a car with plenty of poke and loads of tech, and great fun to drive.
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Yet it ultimately struggled to match the sporting purity of its forebears. The Alpine brand of old represented cars that were as light as the mountain air, cheekily styled like a couture crop-top and fizzing with energy.
[ Alpine A290: an EV that will have you smiling and giggling on almost every driveOpens in new window ]
Can you really remain faithful to the brand’s DNA and build a two-tonne electric crossover? Can you really zip around while hauling a battery pack the size of an average kitchen table?
The numbers certainly stack up. Our A390 GTS test car rocketed from a standing start to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds, with a total power output of 470hp and up to 808Nm of torque. That’s as fast as the A110R.
All this comes from a three-motor set-up that gives the car all-wheel drive. There’s a single motor at the front, but round the back, there is a motor dedicated to each wheel. With independent wheel control, the Alpine can deliver active torque vectoring, delivering different levels to the front and rear, along with to the left and right rear wheels, similar to a rear differential. This translates into remarkable cornering agility, even on loose gravel roads.
In the area where we were testing the A390, there’s a roughly 3km dirt track with a deep ditch on either side, cutting across farmland. A layer of shiny loose stones makes it slicker than an ice rink. You could get a Massey Ferguson sideways on this surface. Yet the A390 shimmied along as if Thierry Neuville was at the wheel.
The secret lies in the suspension. Alpine engineers fitted hydraulic stops designed to replicate the comfort and control of an A110. That’s wildly ambitious for a car of this size, yet they come damn close.
Combine that with the short steering ratio and massive grippy brakes, and it tricks your mind into thinking for a moment you are driving a little coupe. And you can adjust the level of stability system intervention through the simple click of the My Safety button next to the steering wheel.
The interior is a proper five-seat family car. Up front, the driver is faced with a 12-inch instrument panel and a 12.3-inch infotainment screen.
But the most eye-catching elements are two features on the steering wheel. The first – a blue rotary knob- controls the regenerative levels that can be dialled all the way to One Pedal driving mode, akin to what you get on a Nissan Leaf.
Arguably, the best feature of the A390 – and something every car maker should install (BMW already has it with its Boost button) – is the red OV button. OV stands for overtaking, and it’s the best way to utilise the A390’s prowess.
Developments in automotive software now mean you can turn a small city car into a pocket rocket, and owners of performance cars like the BMW M5 have myriad menus where they can retune their cars in ways once the preserve of race engineers.
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The problem is that most of us can’t be bothered resetting all these parameters every time we start out – and certainly not during the trip. So you set it to Normal mode and rarely return. But then you don’t get to appreciate the car’s true capabilities.
With the Overtake button, you get this Alpine’s sport power for up to 10 seconds. It needs a 30-second recharge before it can be used again, so you can’t simply drive around with the OV button engaged. Inspired by motorsport and gaming, it makes sense for everyday driving when you need that extra thrust of power when overtaking or getting out of a tricky situation.
And if you do find yourself on a racetrack, the A390 also has launch control. Opt for Sport mode, place your feet on both pedals, hit the Overtake button, and release the brake pedal. Then hold on for dear life.
The links to gaming don’t end with the OV button. There’s a suite of Challenge functions for drivers to complete – on closed roads, of course – to improve their track performance, while there are also challenges for the open road, aimed at improving the driver’s anticipation of braking points and traffic situations.
What’s missing with this missile is an authentic engine roar. Alpine has added a soundtrack that plays out in the car’s interior, but it’s fooling no one. You’re still hurtling towards the horizon in a gentle whoosh rather than a roar.
At its heart – along with the three motors – is a battery pack built in France, with a capacity of 89kWh, delivering a claimed range of over 500km, depending on the wheel choice. It can be charged at up to 190kW on DC fast charging stations.
[ Alpine A290: an EV that will have you smiling and giggling on almost every driveOpens in new window ]
It’s worth noting that during our time behind the wheel, we were seeing consumption figures of 30kWh/100km, which suggests that if you are having some fun with this car, then a 500km range is a fantasy.
With Irish prices likely to be in the region of €80,000 when it lands next year, it’s clear that Alpine has its headlights focused on Porsche Macan EV buyers.
That’s a big name to chase, even if Porsche fans aren’t charging towards electric power in the numbers its executives had hoped.
Where the Porsche feels solid and unflustered, the Alpine does feel more sprightly, peppered with some Gallic mischief. For those looking for something out of the ordinary, it will certainly appeal. And its styling is far more engaging than the German’s lozenge lines.
The A390 crossover is more about engineering ingenuity than emotional character, but driving it does make you smile. Not the ear-to-ear grin you get behind the wheel of the A110, but a knowing smirk.
Alpine engineers managed to distil a surprising amount of the brand’s DNA into a two-tonne family car. It was never going to be a pure sports car, but they have managed to deliver an awful lot more than we expected when we first hit the Start button.
