Alpine A110 Drifts Like a Professional Dancer

Those who have agreed to pay €58,500 for such a downsized sportcar (for the record, the 718 Cayman kicks off at €53,000) are almost ready to adorn their driveways and garages with the thing.

And while the automotive producer has just released a fresh batch of official photos showcasing the mid-engined machine in all its splendor, we're here to talk about the dancing skills of the machine.

The A110 has recently been put through its pace on the track, with the journos over at L'Argus having drifted the hell out of the thing on the Circuit Du Grand Sambuc.

Isn't that part of France covered in the snow these days? Well, that may be true, but, as the magazine mentions, plenty of salt had been thrown onto the track in order to deal with the capricious weather. Even so, the circuit still had some wet areas, which only delivered even more fun.

Once the electronic nannies were off, it didn't take much for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S cold-weather torture to kick off.

And, as you'll notice once you hit the "play" button below, the A110 can easily be convinced to let its tail slide, while the sportcars appears to be very easy to control.

As in the case of its Zuffenhausen rival, the Alpine is animated by a turbo-four. In fact, the A110 borrowed its 1.8-liter motor from the new Renault Megane RS. Nevertheless, the engine has been slightly downtuned and now delivers 252 hp and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque.

The 1,080 kg (2,381 lb) kerb weight means that power is enough, as, for instance, the 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint is handled in 4.5 seconds. That time interval also happens to be sufficient for delivering hefty slip angles.