Life110 Alpine A110 R 2025 review – hardcore featherweight turned to 11

Despite some early reservations after our first exposure to the Alpine A110 R, it has become a firm favourite of evo’s – something confirmed by its stellar performances in 2023’s eCoty and 2024’s TCoty tests.

Those qualified first impressions centred upon Alpine’s decision not to give the R more engine performance, and the fact such an apparently track-focused model still delivered its best on the road. It’s a sentiment shared by Life110’s David Pook. Now well established as one of the world’s leading tuners of A110s, Pook has turned his attention to the R.

> My Life & Cars – David Pook, Vehicle dynamics engineer and founder of Life110

His approach has clear echoes of Sir Dave Brailsford’s theory of marginal gains, which led Team GB’s cycling team to record medal hauls at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Rather than attack one area of the car, or attempt a wholesale reinvention, Pook’s holistic approach targets modest improvements across the chassis, powertrain and aerodynamics.

At first glance the Life110 R appears little changed from the factory car. The wheels are the most obvious deviation, those famously expensive (and vulnerable) carbon wheels swapped for a set of lightweight alloys made to Life110’s design and dimensions. The R’s carbon rims are identical in size to the standard A110 S alloys, but Life110’s replacements are wider by 0.5 inches and run different offsets. There’s a weight penalty of 2kg per corner, but Pook says this is more than mitigated by the gain in cornering performance. At £4065 per set they’re also less than half the price of the carbon wheels, should you need to replace one.

Pook retains the R’s excellent factory-fit multi-adjustable Sachs dampers, but changes the springs, which are barely stiffer than A110 S items as standard. The new springs (£480) are 40 per cent stiffer, a significant jump aimed at giving the R a sharper, more direct feel with tighter body control.

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All A110s come with extensive scope for camber adjustment, something Pook has exploited to the full on his R set-up. Front camber is now -2.1deg, with -2.3deg at the rear. Combined with the R’s adjustable spring platforms this means ride height can also be trimmed. As tested the Life110 R sits 15mm lower than factory, with dampers adjusted to Pook’s preferred ‘set and forget’ for road and track use. The tyres remain Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, as per the standard R.

The single most significant change is a revised engine and gearbox tune (£840). Thanks to punitive French taxation rules Alpine elected not to boost the R’s engine outputs, but Life110 has partnered with Active Motion to increase both power and torque. Peak power is up by 20bhp to 316bhp, but it’s the maximum torque figure of 295lb ft – up from 251b ft – that promises to beef up the R’s in-gear performance.

The remap comes in conjunction with a revised ECU tune for the DCT gearbox, with quicker shifts and increased clutch pressure to handle the extra torque. As a final tweak the R’s contrived and unrelenting pop-pop-pop-pop on the overrun has been dialled back to a more authentic, less attention-seeking level.

We meet Pook and his tuned R at Goodwood Circuit, but before taking to the track we head out onto roads that criss-cross the South Downs to see whether the promised increase in sharpness and attitude has come at the expense of compliance and refinement.

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First impressions are of a more urgent machine. Not aggressive exactly, but punchier and more direct. Some of the country lanes are lumpy to say the least and the Life110 R communicates the surface imperfections more explicitly, but not without taking the sting out of the impacts.

There’s more than a whiff of 911 GT3 about it, which is no surprise as Pook is a big fan of Porsche’s track-focused products. Where the standard R looks like Superman but behaves more like Clark Kent, Life110’s modded version is more explicit and unapologetic. It means business.

The engine and gearbox remaps make a significant contribution to the welcome shift in attitude. With 44lb ft more to flex, the lightweight R feels significantly more muscular, especially in those moments where you squeeze into the throttle in a higher gear. It amplifies the Alpine’s magical lack of mass, the strong, elastic sense of propulsion giving the R huge reserves of effortless acceleration.

The modest gain in power is less noticeable, but because the tune retains some top-end fizz, the added torque doesn’t negate your desire to hold a lower gear and use its reach. Changes to the gearbox map deliver punchier upshifts and snappier downshifts, so there’s more pleasure to be had from working the paddles.

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Speaking of which, Pook has developed a Mk2 version of his CNC-machined paddles, which are now 40mm longer than his original items and give you even more chance of finding an up or downshift wherever your hands are positioned.

Bombing along the Sussex lanes is a great reminder of the A110’s compactness. It’s so refreshing to have plenty of road to play with. More so when the car cuts to an apex like Life110’s R. The steering is light but fabulously feelsome, and with the slightly wider rims, firmer suspension and more effective aero it really does change direction with magnificent immediacy and precision.

The regular R always felt supremely impressive on the road, but this version elevates the experience. You can guide it with such economy of effort it barely feels like you’re making any inputs. Look through the corner and the R follows, like an Apache helicopter pilot’s gun turret aiming system. It’s a sublime experience.

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Judged as a whole the Life110 R is a truly special car to enjoy on the road. Its added focus increases the sense of occasion and brings greater detail and intimacy to the connection you feel. That bump in torque pays real dividends, boosting straight-line performance to a level that’s more aligned with the R’s elevated price point, and the overall look and feel has OE levels of quality and attention to detail. It makes an already covetable car even more desirable.

Goodwood is one of my favourite circuits. Few are faster or demand so much commitment from the first corner. There are more bumps, crests and camber changes than you’d expect from an airfield circuit, and with little in the way of run-off and old-school earth banks defining track limits, you need to be confident and respectful in equal measure. The R is well suited to the challenge, its lithe build, ample mechanical grip and increased downforce paying dividends through the nearly flat-out corners and high-speed direction changes which define Goodwood’s unique character.

You notice the aero upgrades on the road, but they really come into their own at racetrack speeds. Pook’s modifications are smart and subtle. Witness the front-end changes, which simply lower the standard splitter by 11mm using a neat spacer kit, then seal it to the bumper to prevent airflow spilling over the top. Low enough to make meaningful gains, but still high enough to remain clear of speedhumps, it’s a clever upgrade that costs just £70.

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The rear-end changes are more costly (£2195) but equally intelligent, new rear-wing uprights raising the standard wing element by 46mm and offering three angles of attack. New carbonfibre endplates feature a small winglet, channel more air onto the main wing and save 100g.   

The aerodynamic changes don’t transform the R into a downforce monster like the GT3 RS, but they unquestionably give it a more planted feel through Goodwood’s challenging corners. Thanks to the lowered front splitter the front-end is supremely lively on the road, but with added speed that brilliantly darty response is balanced by increased rear stability from the raised rear wing. The result is a car you can place with commitment and confidence, gentle inputs yielding clean, immediate direction changes of uncanny precision and consistency.

Alpines have never been cars you grab hold of and roughhouse around a lap, but the R gives you more to work with, so you can lean on it harder and earlier in the corner, trusting in the mechanical grip and aerodynamic balance to carry terrific speed. There’s plenty of feel, too, so you have a tangible sense of how hard you’re working the tyres and what’s left in reserve.

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As you’d imagine, the R’s handling is inherently neat and tidy. Rarely if ever does it adopt more than a degree or two of slip, but such is its friendliness either side of the limit that you can hustle it with real conviction without feeling like you’re on a knife edge. The lack of mass helps hugely because you don’t have to wait for the car to settle between direction changes. It’s always under you and able to respond to your next command.

It’s quick, too. At Goodwood, where you maintain big speeds for large portions of the lap, you really sense how slippery the A110 is. There’s no feeling that the aero package is creating speed-sapping drag, so you slice down the straights like a dart. It’s pulling the best part of 150mph on the run to Woodcote, which is quick for a car with a little over 300bhp.

Goodwood isn’t hard on brakes – the knack is to use them as little as possible – but the one big stop into Woodcote demands a firm, feelsome pedal and strong stopping power, something Pook has delivered with OE finesse thanks to new 330mm front discs (up 10mm from standard), braided hoses and new pads front and rear. Combined, these upgrades cost £1887; a worthwhile investment if you intend to do regular trackdays.

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There are some tempting deals on all Alpine A110s at the moment, at least here in the UK. The A110 R Turini, which does without the carbon wheels, costs £91,490 (compared to mid-to-high 90s for a regular R) and seems like the perfect candidate for the full Life110 treatment.

I love the standard A110 R, but not until you drive Life110’s version do you appreciate how perfectly the modifications are applied to those areas of the base car that needed some amplification. By ramping up the performance and dialling in just enough aggression to the chassis, the R’s on-road demeanour is intensified and its trackday game sharpened to addictive effect.

Returning to the marginal gains analogy, spending an additional 10 per cent of the purchase price gets you a car that’s at least 20 per cent more impressive in terms of character and capability. That seems like a good deal to me.

Life110 Alpine A110 R specs

This story first featured in evo issue 330.