| Alpine A110-50 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Alpine |
| Production | 2012 (Concept car) |
| Designer | Yann Jarsalle |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Racing car |
| Body style | 2-door coupe |
| Layout | Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout |
| Platform | Sport Mégane Trophy |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 3.5-liter Nissan-Renault VQ35DE V6 |
| Transmission | 6-speed semi-automatic sequential |
| Dimensions | |
| Curb weight | 1,940 lb (880 kg) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Alpine A110 |
| Successor | Alpine A110 (2017) |
The Alpine A110-50 (codenamed ZAR for "Alpine revival", with Z being the letter used for Renault concepts) is a concept racing car created by Renault to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1962 Alpine A110 [1] It debuted at Monaco's GP circuit, where Renault Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares raced the A110-50 for four laps of the Monaco track. [2]
The Alpine A110-50 has all carbonfibre bodywork, a mid-engine layout, and tubular frame. [3] [4] It is built upon the same platform and shares its mechanicals with the Sport Mégane Trophy race car. [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] Because the A110-50's height is lower than that of Mégane Trophy, the roll cage and bracing in the engine bay were lowered in the workshop of Tork Engineering. [5] The entire car weighs 1,940 lb (880 kg), and its weight distribution is 47.8 percent front and 52.2 percent rear. [4] With a naturally aspirated 395-hp variation of the Mégane Trophy's 3.5-liter V6 based on the Nissan VQ engine, [4] it has a 456bhp/ton power-to-weight ratio. [3] The inlet manifold is fed by a new roof-mounted air intake which broadens the engine's power band, with additional horsepower at all engine speeds. [5]
A110-50's front splitter and rear diffuser generate ground effect, and account for a third of the car's downforce, while the other two-thirds comes from the rear wing. [3] [5] The body can be raised with integrated pneumatic jacks for easier servicing. [4] [5] The steering wheel features a color screen and employs the same technology as a Formula Renault 3.5 single-seat race car. [5] The A110-50 has highly adjustable double wishbone suspension with Sachs dampers. [3] [5] It utilises a six-speed semi-automatic sequential gearbox, which slots longitudinally behind the engine and incorporates a mechanical limited-slip differential. [3] [5]
Designer Yann Jarsalle and Concept and Show Car Director Axel Breun based the A110-50 on the same design language introduced with the DEZIR concept car, [5] but incorporated several design cues from the original A110. These include: half-domed additional headlights with yellow tinted LED lighting; air intakes on each side echo the ducts on the rear wheel arches of the Berlinette; and painting the body in a modern version of the signature Alpine blue. [5] [7] The aerodynamic body was designed using a process called computational fluid dynamics. [5] Its relation to the DeZir is clearly seen in its design, excluding the electric motor and butterfly doors.
