The new Alpine A290 Rallye is a £62k customer competition car
No extra power to report, but there's upgraded running gear, racier suspension and a tweaked sound generator Skip 3 photos in the image carousel and continue reading
Say hello to the Alpine A290 'Rallye'. It's the brand's first all-electric customer competition car, intended for both one-make events and open races, and will debut later this year.
Though the running gear has been adapted for motorsport, the front-driven e-motor remains unchanged, maintaining a punchy 215bhp and 221lb ft of torque. Alpine has instead fettled with the ECU and revamped the monitoring systems, allowing the 52kWh battery to work more efficiently.
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What's more, the Rallye will get a different sort of sound generator to the standard car, which tunes in with the driver's throttle inputs to make… noise. Precisely what sort of noise, we'll have to wait and see.
Looks the part too, no? The body gets a roof scoop and a black bonnet with pins, finished up with a funky blue and white livery. Can't forget those 18in Evo Corse alloys either, painted in the customary shade of white and wrapped around a set of Michelin rubber. You might like
Tucked behind those will be 350mm brake discs at the front and 280mm ones at the rear, hooked up to a race-bred ABS control unit. Elsewhere, the modified suspension is bolstered by ALP Racing shocks, while a ZF self-locking limited-slip diff is there to help around the twisty bits.
Inside, the Rallye will get an FIA-grade welded roll cage and Sabelt bucket seats. Most important of all is the inclusion of a hydraulic handbrake - imperative for maximum slip and slide around a tight loose gravel stage.
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Customers will have their first chance to compete at a single-race event later this year in France, where Alpine will provide technical support where needed. At certain fixtures, the manufacturer will even have its own paddock and dedicated charging infrastructure in place. Talk about getting your money's worth, eh?
Money that sits in the region of €59,990 pre-VAT - or circa £62k on this side of the Chunnel.
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