Alpine A110 1108 VA engine

Fireblade

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Hey, can someone help me understand this... The A110 is quoted as having either the 688 motor from the R8 Major or a Gordini motor. I have seen specs quoting the A110 1108 motor as delivering 66hp, but the R8 Major 1108 as delivering 49hp. Even my Caravelle 'S' with downdraft weber is quoted at 52hp. Where/how does the A110 1108 get the extra herbs???
 
There are numerous ways of doing that. Sometimes the mod isn't mentioned in detail and I don't know much about A110 detailed engine mods but I can tell you that the Matra Djet 5 had an 1108 engine and the mods by Rene Bonnet (father of the Matra) are increased compression ratio to 10.2:1, a Zenith 32 NDIX carburettor, and a fairly good extractor and that engine developed 70hp.

So just by a compression ratio increase that is not mentioned it can have the change you are after.

Regards, Frans.
 
Hi Frans, you might hurt some purists here... René Bonnet was the father of the RB Djet (and yes the tuning mods on the engine), but the later Matra-Bonnet Djet and Matra Jet was conceived in secrecy by René's son Claude, who faced later disapproval from his father. Irony made that soon Matra took control of Bonnet's firm and they decide to use the son's prototype to put their first Matra car in production.
 
I don't know the answer to your question or anything about the engines you mention.

But.

Have you checked the specs for the engines in question? Renault uses suffixes to distinguish variants of engines which are the same on the surface, but can be wildly different under the skin. I would check camshaft specs, bore/stroke, ignition curve, head chamber geometry, etc., the usual suspects.

Frans has mentioned one option, but I am sure there are many others.

The power increase from 49 to 66 is not earth shattering but it is considerable in the context (about 34%).

One very simple thing I would try to test is to remove the exhaust and put the car on a dyno, see how that goes.
 
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I don't know the answer to your question or anything about the engines you mention.

But.

Have you checked the specs for the engines in question? Renault uses suffixes to distinguish variants of engines which are the same on the surface, but can be wildly different under the skin. I would check camshaft specs, bore/stroke, ignition curve, head chamber geometry, etc., the usual suspects.

Frans has mentioned one option, but I am sure there are many others.

The power increase from 49 to 66 is not earth shattering but it is considerable in the context (about 34%).

One very simple thing I would try to test is to remove the exhaust and put the car on a dyno, see how that goes.
 
Some further research suggests the Alpine 1108 VA engine was taken from the Caravelle S the 688-03 motor. The 66HP quoted for the Alpine is gross (SAE). The best I have seen quoted for the Caravelle S is 57HP Gross, 52 nett. My questions about this motor are more than just academic. There is a motor on e-bay at the moment, and I am wondering if opened it what would I find? Would it just be a garden variety 'S' motor or something more special about it?
 
The guy on ebay selling this engine is also on this forum, that guy is https://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/index.php?members/lotus-47.21293/ flick him a PM he is very approachable and knowledgeable. Not everyone on Ebay is a crook.
Yes, I know the vendor and he is a great bloke - he has built a couple of upgraded universal joints for my big box 5 speed. I am not suggesting he is mis-representing the engine - I am sure it came out of an A110 and everywhere on the web I read the A110 1108 VA motor made 66HP. I guess no A110 owner bothers with whether they do or not, they immediately swap it out for an 807 build.

I just thought someone might have a more definitive answer....
 
Yes, I know the vendor and he is a great bloke - he has built a couple of upgraded universal joints for my big box 5 speed. I am not suggesting he is mis-representing the engine - I am sure it came out of an A110 and everywhere on the web I read the A110 1108 VA motor made 66HP. I guess no A110 owner bothers with whether they do or not, they immediately swap it out for an 807 build.

I just thought someone might have a more definitive answer....

Or they upgrade to an R8G motor like I did or even an Alpine 5 motor. I endorse Col's and Fireblade's comments that the vendor is a great bloke. He accommodated my tow vehicle and car trailer at his premises while we caught the ferry for Targa Tassie in 2016.
 
I didn't make the above comment to cast aspersions on any particular ebay seller, just to share my experience of ebay.

But if the vendor is known, why not shoot them the question?
 
I didn't make the above comment to cast aspersions on any particular ebay seller, just to share my experience of ebay.

But if the vendor is known, why not shoot them the question?
Because I don't think the vendor knows any more than it came out of an A110.
 
Hi,
according to the spare-parts-catalog P.R.871 the only parts with an "Alpine-reference" (=60 00 00w xyz) are the camshaft and the cylinderhead.
For the head different dimensions are given, so probably the compression-ration was increased.
Cheers
 

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Hi,
according to the spare-parts-catalog P.R.871 the only parts with an "Alpine-reference" (=60 00 00w xyz) are the camshaft and the cylinderhead.
For the head different dimensions are given, so probably the compression-ration was increased.
Cheers
Seems to confirm, it is a 'Caravelle S' motor. 8 port head and a cam which I suspect found it way into the 10S.
 
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