Alpine A390 review

The A390's compact wheelbase makes it feel quick on its feet, especially as the steering is a direct ratio. It doesn't have four-wheel steering and doesn't need it. Nor does it have active anti-roll or even adaptive dampers. Again, you won't miss them.

The car feels pure, and you don't waste time playing with endless settings. It's not one of those cars where you feel under the cosh of FOMO, always buried in the configuration menus looking for the perfect setup for the lovely road that's just ending.

Even though the steering is quick and light, it doesn't feel nervous. You pour it through a series of bends and it feels fluid and lithe. It's not actually light, mind, at nearly 2.2 tonnes, but it disguises it. And just like the A290 hatch, the way it sweeps from one corner to the next is a source of endless joy. What a lovely thing.

What about the ride? Is it comfortable?

A game of two halves, this. For the most part the ride is really quite amazing, making beautiful use of its spring travel to turn solid potholes into rubbery disturbances from below. Probably not a sentence that's ever been written before, that.

And when you're devouring a B-road it absorbs everything, with every rut and bump giving you a steady stream of info as you focus on the next bend. Its brilliant.

It's only when you ease off that the constant thunk and shimmy of the suspension and body starts to get annoying. Told you this was a proper sports car. And there's no driving mode that unlocks a sufficiently soft setup to counteract it. So if you're up and down the motorway most days, this isn't the car for you.

The chassis is generally quiet, and road roar on the GT's 20in wheels is impressively low. But at 70mph wind noise is harsh.

The five modes – you can circle through them using a button on the steering wheel – are Save, Normal, Sport, Track and Perso. The last one lets you pick your own throttle response, soundscape, steering strength and agility settings.

Sport mode uses the torque vectoring to emphasise quick turning and very slight oversteer. You can feel the A390 working with you, balancing the four contact patches. The steering is more communicative than most, too.

On the GTS's Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres, there's so much grip and traction you won't be sliding it, at least not in the dry. The Michelin Sport EV tyres on the GT are naturally less potent, but they're still sticky enough to hold a committed line.

How strong is the going and stopping?

Pedal efforts are all fairly light, but the brake especially combines that with deep travel so you can plunge into big stops. You might find gentle braking hard to do at first, but you'll get used to it. The accelerator is pretty progressive, even in the most aggressive modes.

In the GTS, performance at B-road speeds is very strong rather than wicked. Mind you, 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds eh… the electric era is dulling our internal g-meter. Maybe at times you're using all of it, but that's not a reflection of a shortage of power, more that the chassis is just so composed. On a track, you really can see 100mph in no time at all. Low aero drag shows itself there.

Similarly the GT has enough shove to get your pulse going without being scary.

A selectable artificial sound in the cabin really does help gauge your speed and power, rising and falling in pitch, tone and volume. Actually it's not wholly artificial, as it mixes in some real sounds of motors and inverter hum.

The steering wheel carries a big red OV (for overtake) button, a slightly pointless nod to motorsport. It's a shortcut to max acceleration, plus a wooshy animation on the driver's screen, which you won't be watching at that moment. It just gives you performance you can get by another means: mashing your foot. Ecraser le champignon, as the French say. Crush the mushroom. One other thing though, it's also for launch control. In sport mode, press both pedals and OV, then release the brake. Bye.

The blue rotary control on the steering wheel selects regeneration level. It demands a slightly awkward hand movement. We'd prefer paddles. Anyway the high regen levels have a slight lag when you lift the accelerator, so we just used the brake pedal.

It's always worth sticking your destination into the satnav of Renault Group EVs: their software takes into account likely speeds and elevation changes on the upcoming route to give a very accurate range prediction. If it won't get you there, it plans best charge points too.