The A290 is Alpine’s second coming after the splendid A110 sports car – and it could scarcely be more of a change! Joining the family alongside the (ageing but brilliant) turbocharged, mid-engined, rear-drive sports car is… a front-wheel drive, electric hot hatchback.

Yes, yes, we know EVs haven’t quite hit the mark with enthusiasts yet. But hot hatches are few and far between these days, and the A110 was stand-out special, so we should both be excited and give Alpine credit for bucking a gloomy trend.

How then, does the Alpine A290 stack up? Over to Top Gear Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Jack Rix, to find out…

Subscribe to Top Gear for more videos: http://bit.ly/SubscribeToTopGear

WANT MORE TOP GEAR?
Listen to the Top Gear Magazine Podcast: https://topgear.podlink.to/Podcast
Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.topgear.com/newsletter-signup

00:00 Intro
01:21 The Alpine A290
03:01 Power and performance
05:26 Handling
07:21 Styling
09:23 Interior
10:18 Gadgets
13:40 On track
15:39 Conclusion

MORE ABOUT TOP GEAR:
Welcome to the official home of Top Gear on YouTube. Here you'll find all the best clips from your favourite episodes, whether that’s Ken Block drifting London in the Hoonicorn, Chris Harris in the latest Porsche 911 GT3 or classic Top Gear clips from Clarkson, Hammond and May. You'll also find the latest performance car reviews from the TopGear.com crew, our brand new series American Tuned with Rob Dahm and the fastest power laps from our in house performance benchmark: The Stig.

This is a commercial channel from BBC Studios.

Service & Feedback https://www.bbcstudios.com/contact/contact-us/