We found the little electric hot hatch's natural environment: a twisty, 1,127-yard ribbon of ascending asphalt. EVs are dull? Think again
我们发现，这款小型电动性能掀背车简直是为这条蜿蜒曲折、长约1031米的爬山沥青路而生。还觉得电动车无聊？再想想吧
One of the wonders of motoring is that your opinion of a car can vary enormously depending on the circumstances of the drive. Stick a pair of preteens in the back of a Porsche 911 GT3 Touring, as I did recently, and the experience is absolutely ruined. A wallowy classic Cadillac, meanwhile, can be delightful with the roof down in California sunshine. And on a straight road.
在不同的驾驶环境下，你对同一辆车会有着天差地别的评价，这就是一种开车能够体会到的奇妙之处。最近，我把一对十几岁的小孩塞进保时捷911 GT3 Touring的后座，然后整场驾驶体验全被毁了。相比之下，开着一辆老式凯迪拉克敞篷车，收起车顶，沐浴着加利福尼亚的阳光，在直路上晃晃悠悠地行驶，该是多么令人愉悦的体验。
Similarly, when I tested the Alpine A290 in its most powerful GTS form on a racing circuit last year, the electric hot hatch felt disappointingly underpowered. But show the same car a narrow, twisty road in the Cotswolds, as I did recently, and it suddenly seems to have the energy and dynamism of a Haribo-infused child with ADHD.
同样，去年我在赛道上测试了阿尔派A290最强大的GTS版本时，感觉这款电动性能掀背车感觉动力不足，着实让我失望。但就在最近，我开着同一辆车在在科茨沃尔德[1]狭窄蜿蜒的道路上行驶时，它就像吃多了Haribo[2]糖果的多动症小孩一样，突然表现出不俗的活力与动感。
[1]英国著名的乡村地区，以丘陵和古镇闻名.
[2]德国软糖品牌，畅销欧洲多国。许多家长认为，小孩吃多了这种糖就会过度亢奋，开始上蹿下跳。
I had travelled to the area because the folks at Alpine had remembered the connection between the brand's name and racing up hills. The company was founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, a Renault dealer from Dieppe who went rallying to help promote his business, and proved talented enough to win events. His "favourite playground", as the company's website puts it, was the Alps, and it was because he had such a blast piloting his modified Renault 4CV to second place in the 1954 Critérium des Alpes that his own car firm was called Alpine.
我前往这个地区是因为阿尔派的工作人员想起了品牌名称与爬山赛的渊源[3]。该公司由让·雷德勒创立于1955年，他是来自迪耶普[4]的雷诺汽车经销商，通过参加拉力赛推广自己的生意，并证明了自己有足够的天赋赢得比赛。正如公司网站所述，他“最喜爱的游乐场”是阿尔卑斯山。在1954年阿尔卑斯山挑战赛中，他驾驶改装的雷诺4CV获得第二名。这可让他高兴坏了，当即就把自己的汽车公司命名为阿尔派。
[3]阿尔派（Alpine）名字本身就有“阿尔卑斯山”、“高山”等含义。
[4]法国上诺曼底地区港口城市。
Hillclimbing is essentially a condensed version of rallying using a single, short sprint course. If you have ever been to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, you will have seen hillclimbing first-hand, although most official courses are steeper and twistier than the Duke of Richmond's driveway. The run is timed, and the goal is to get from the start to the finish line at the top of the hill as quickly as possible.
爬山赛使用的是单条短距离冲刺赛道，本质上就是浓缩版的拉力赛。只要你去过古德伍德速度节[5]，就能亲眼见识到爬山赛，尽管大多数官方赛道比里士满公爵的车道更陡峭、更弯曲。比赛全程计时，需要在尽可能短的时间内从起点到达山顶的终点线。
[5]世界著名汽车盛会，可以看到不同时代、不同领域的各种速度机器。
It's not as famous or glamorous as Formula 1 or the World Rally Championship, but hillclimbing is one of Britain's oldest forms of motorsport. One of the best-known venues in the country — Shelsley Walsh in Worcestershire — has a continuous history of competitive events dating back to 1905. Alpine set up camp for our event at the UK's other prestigious hillclimbing mecca, Prescott, near Cheltenham. Both venues have hosted the British Hillclimb Championship since the series was founded in 1947.
和一级方程式赛或世界拉力锦标赛相比，爬山赛的名气和吸引力相对较低，它是英国最古老的赛车运动形式之一。而伍斯特郡的谢尔斯利沃尔什，英国国内最知名的场地之一[6]，自1905年以来一直都在举办比赛。阿尔派还在英国另一个著名的爬山赛圣地普雷斯科特[7]（位于切尔滕纳姆附近）设立了营地，用以支持我们的赛事。自1947年该系列赛创立以来，这两个场地都举办过英国爬山锦标赛。
Prescott was opened in 1938 by a group of Bugatti owners hungry for a place to put their cars through their paces away from the public roads. It features short and long courses, the latter for modern machinery. The 1,127-yard tree-lined ribbon of narrow asphalt rises 200ft and comprises a mix of fast and slow corners, a couple of challenging hairpin bends and tricky cambers that can easily catch out the unwary. That is especially true in wet weather, and even more so in the autumn when fallen leaves reduce grip further.
普雷斯科特赛道始于1938年。当时，一群布加迪车主渴望在远离公共道路的地方测试汽车性能，便开辟了这条赛道。它设有短程和长程赛道，后者用于现代车辆。这条沥青赛道树木成荫、蜿蜒曲折，长约1031米，海拔落差约60米，包括快慢弯道组合、数个具有挑战性的发夹弯，以及一不留神就会失控的诡异倾斜角，尤其是在潮湿天气下。而到了秋季，赛道上的落叶会进一步降低抓地力，让这场挑战变得更加严酷。
In the dry, the fastest modern bespoke hillclimbing specials (extremely lightweight single seaters, some with F1-derived engines) might complete the course in about 36sec: the course record, set in 2024 by Matthew Ryder in a Gould GR59, is 34.6sec. But in a roadgoing sports car or hot hatch you might expect a time of 50-60sec.
在干燥条件下，最快的现代定制爬山赛车（极轻量单座赛车，有些使用F1衍生发动机）能够在36秒左右完成比赛。赛道记录为34.6秒，由马修·赖德在2024年驾驶Gould GR59创下。但对于公路跑车或性能掀背车，预计得花上50-60秒。
Alpine, perhaps sensibly, decided against timing our runs in the A290 GTS — a load of cars driven by influencers and journalists pinballing off mighty oaks and rolling down a Cotswold hillside would not be a good look. Instead we were being given the message that while Alpine looks to an electric future, it has not forgotten its competition-derived past.
阿尔派让我们驾驶A290 GTS在爬山赛道上跑了几趟，却并没有计时。这或许是明智之举，毕竟在科茨沃尔德山坡上，要是一群网红和记者开着自家牌子的车，哐哐往大橡树上面撞，然后叽里咕噜滚下山去，那也太煞风景了。相反，他们传递的信息是，虽然阿尔派展望电动未来，但并未忘记它的赛车基因。
Alpine, perhaps sensibly, decided against timing our runs in the A290 GTS — a load of cars driven by influencers and journalists pinballing off mighty oaks and rolling down a Cotswold hillside would not be a good look. Instead we were being given the message that while Alpine looks to an electric future, it has not forgotten its competition-derived past.
阿尔派让我们驾驶A290 GTS在爬山赛道上跑了几趟，却并没有计时。这或许是明智之举，毕竟在科茨沃尔德山坡上，要是一群网红和记者开着自家牌子的车，哐哐往大橡树上面撞，然后叽里咕噜滚下山去，那也太煞风景了。相反，他们传递的信息是，虽然阿尔派展望电动未来，但并未忘记它的赛车基因。
Another point being made was that electric cars can be perfectly suited to certain motorsport disciplines. Hillclimbing is almost a match made in heaven because an electric motor's immediate torque delivery makes all the difference in firing you from tight corner to tight corner.
另外要说的一点是，电动车完全适合一部分赛车项目，而且与爬山赛几乎是天作之合。因为在你驶出一个急弯、冲入下一个急弯的过程中，电动机的瞬间扭矩输出能起到定夺胜负的作用。
One thing that would not come into play at Prescott, but has been a factor at longer events such as the infamous 12-mile Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the Colorado mountains — aka the "race to the clouds" — is that electric cars do not suffer from air starvation at higher altitudes. Petrol and diesel cars do because oxygen is a crucial part of the combustion process.
还有一个因素也很关键：在高海拔地区，燃油车会因空气稀薄而出岔子，因为氧气是燃烧过程的关键组成部分。如果你驾驶的是燃油车，在普雷斯科特赛道都还好，但在更长距离的赛事中就难说了。令人闻风丧胆的科罗拉多山脉12英里派克峰国际爬山赛[7]就是典例。而电动车就不会出现这样的“高原反应”。
[7]美国著名爬山赛，又称“赛至云端（race to the clouds）”。该赛道因危险而闻名，极具挑战性。
I say "almost" a match made in heaven because there is one big disadvantage: weight. There is no ignoring the fact that batteries are heavy. But there are ways to mitigate the impact on agility, such as 4×4 for greater traction under acceleration, torque vectoring for sharper cornering, and in the case of the Goodwood hill record-holder — the McMurtry Spéirling — a great big fan underneath the car sucking it to the road.
我之所以说“几乎”是天作之合，是因为电动车有一个硬伤：重量。电池固然是重，但还是有方法可以减轻对车辆操控性的影响。比如，引入四驱系统增加加速牵引力、通过扭矩矢量分配提高过弯精度，以及古德伍德爬山记录保持者McMurtry Spéirling——这辆车的底盘装有巨大的风扇，能将车身牢牢吸附在路面上[8]。
[8]该车搭载Downforce-on-Demand（按需下压力）系统，通过车底的双电风扇主动吸气产生巨大下压力，也因此被称为“风扇车”。
The Alpine A290, which costs from £32,000 after the chancellor Rachel Reeves's electric car grant, does not have a fan or 4×4. But it does have adjustable torque vectoring, allowing the "pivot point" of the car to be fine-tuned.
在财政大臣雷切尔·里夫斯的电动车补贴下，阿尔派A290起价32,000英镑。尽管没有风扇或四驱系统，但它具备可调节扭矩矢量分配功能，可以精确调整车辆的“转轴点”[9]。
[9]描述车辆转弯动态行为的术语，指车辆在过弯时感觉上“围绕哪个点旋转”的位置。
Also, weight has been kept to a minimum — the A290 tips the scales at 1,479kg. It has decent punch because Alpine ditched the motor from the Renault 5, on which the A290 is based, in favour of the more powerful one from the Megane E-Tech. That results in up to 217bhp (GT Performance and GTS models) and 221 lb ft of torque going to its front wheels, for a 0-62mph time of 6.4sec.
此外，减重方面也做到了极致——A290整备质量为1,479公斤。它拥有不错的推力，因为阿尔派放弃了基于的雷诺5的电机，转而采用更强大的Megane E-Tech电机。前驱布局的GT Performance和GTS车型最高可输出217马力和近300牛米扭矩，零百加速6.4秒。
The A290 also features front and rear antiroll bars and bespoke Michelin tyres developed during a two-year collaboration. Tech is employed, with the 10.1in central infotainment screen able to display live telemetry and record your run time.
此外，A290还配备前后防倾杆，以及历时两年合作研发的定制米其林轮胎。技术应用方面，它搭载了10.1英寸中控信息娱乐屏幕，能够显示实时遥测数据并记录你的比赛时间。
Not that we were using that during our time with the car and the Prescott hill. I didn't have time to look at any screens; I was too busy learning the course and concentrating on keeping the car on the blacktop. And, as a reminder that the hill is usually a public road set in beautiful countryside, twice I had to slam on the anchors to avoid, first, a local resident coming down the hill towards me, and then a family of pheasants. Never have I been more grateful for antilock braking, stability control and Brembo sports brakes.
不过我们在普雷斯科特赛道驾驶时并没有使用这些功能。我忙着学习赛道并集中精力保持车辆在柏油路面上，哪还有时间看屏幕。而且可别忘了，在平日里，这条山路也是美丽乡村中的公共道路，我两次不得不猛踩刹车避让。先是一个开车下山、向我迎面驶来的当地居民，然后是一群雉鸡。我从未如此感激防抱死制动、稳定控制系统和Brembo[10]运动刹车。
On the uninterrupted runs the Alpine seemed much more at home at Prescott than on a racing circuit. With the guiding hand of a pro driver in the passenger seat and the A290 set into Sport mode, I lined up the car at an angle behind the start line for as straight a run as possible to the first corner, a left-hander called Orchard, with my thumb over the red OV (overtake) button on the steering wheel.
在不受干扰的比赛中，阿尔派在普雷斯科特明显比在赛道上更得心应手。副驾驶座上有职业车手指导，我将A290设置为运动模式，将车辆在起点线后以最佳角度排位，以便尽可能直线冲向第一个左转弯——名为Orchard的弯道。我的拇指放在方向盘上的红色OV（超车）按钮上。
Pressing it releases every ounce of performance for a burst of 10 seconds, although in slippery conditions and with traction control bypassed, the little A290 spun its front tyres and torque steer made the wheel in my hands seem to want to spin off in all directions at once. Alpine decided not to fit a limited-slip differential to the A290, and that makes it feel wilder and less efficient than its chief rivals, the Abarth 600e and Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica. But you could argue it also lends much needed character.
按下按钮，A290就会进入10秒钟的满性能释放状态，不过在道路湿滑且关闭牵引力控制的情况下，前轮会发生打滑，而且手里的方向盘会在扭矩转向的作用下乱甩。阿尔派决定不在A290上配备限滑差速器，所以它开起来比主要竞争对手阿巴斯600e和阿尔法·罗密欧Junior Elettrica感觉更狂野、更低效。但你可以说这也赋予了它急需的个性。
Whatever, the Alpine comes across as a little overeager — so much for being underpowered — but the trick, of course, is to manage traction with your right foot.
无论如何，阿尔派给人的感觉是有点过于急切，所以就别说它算动力不足了。但关键当然是用右脚管理牵引力。
Before I knew it I was flying under Prescott's footbridge and heading into Orchard. A lift of the accelerator is all that's required, even in greasy conditions, before the car heads up and into a tricky hairpin — really a double right-handed bend — named after Bugatti's founder, Ettore. It tightens deceptively on the exit and rolls off camber into a short downhill section.
不知不觉，我飞驰过普雷斯科特的步行桥，冲向了Orchard弯道。即使在湿滑条件下，稍微松开加速踏板就足以让车向上冲入一个棘手的发夹弯——实际上是连续两个右转弯，以布加迪创始人埃托雷命名。出弯时，弯角会看似平缓实则悄然收紧，并伴随外倾坡道转入一段短暂的下坡路段。
I got the impression the A290 was open to much more abuse than I was prepared to show it in these conditions, with sharp handling and a balanced chassis helping to ease some confidence into my system.
在这般路况下，我本不打算过于粗暴地驾驶这辆A290，但它却给了我一种“任你肆意挥霍”的底气——精准的转向与平衡的底盘逐渐让我找回了信心。
One of the problems with this type of motorsport, I realised, is that getting temperature into the tyres is difficult, with such a short run preceded by long periods of waiting for your next go. It means that by the time you reach the post-Ettore dip and are rising sharply into the next left-hand hairpin, at perhaps the steepest part of the course, the rubber has barely begun to reach its optimal operating window.
我意识到，这类赛车运动的一大难题是轮胎升温困难——短暂的冲刺路段后，往往需经历漫长的等待才能再次发车。这意味着，当你驶过埃托雷弯后的下坡，随即急转冲向上坡的左发卡弯时，轮胎甚至还未完全进入最佳工作温度区间。
After that comes a really tight right-left-right sweep, with barriers on each side, but I received instructions to use every inch of what little road width there is. Then follows a 90-degree left that has a rough rumble strip on the outside, followed by sheer hill face, so you have to avoid that and then floor it up another steep section into the most unnerving turn — a blind 90 right over a crest, called the Semicircle.
随后迎来一组极窄的右-左-右连续弯道，两侧均有护墙，但车队指令要求我利用好每一寸路面宽度。紧接着是一个带外缘粗砺路肩的90度左弯，弯外便是陡峭山壁，必须谨慎避开。随后全电门冲上另一段陡坡，直抵最令人心惊的弯角——坡顶盲弯“半圆弯”，一个视线全无的90度右弯。
I'd seen a video on YouTube of a racing contemporary of my dad's come a cropper there, and I didn't want to make the same mistake. Coming off the other side means an ignominious slide down a steep grass slope into a tyre wall, and the embarrassment of trying to drive your car out while its side is stuck to the barrier.
我在YouTube上看到过我父亲同时代的一位赛车手在那里失控的视频，我不想犯同样的错误。从另一侧失控意味着耻辱地滑下陡峭的草坡撞上轮胎墙，然后尴尬地试图将卡在护栏里的车开出来。
The line through Semicircle is also open to debate, it seems, with two of our pro drivers having different opinions. Mine told me to keep near the centre of the road rather than take the racing line, which seems curious in itself but reflects the fact that hillclimb courses are not flat circuits — they are mostly driveways with odd bumps and curious cambers that refuse to follow the rules and can confound even the best of the best.
关于如何通过“半圆弯”，似乎连职业车手们也意见不一——我们团队的两名顶尖车手就给出了截然不同的走线建议。我的教练让我紧贴道路中央行驶，而非采用常规赛车线。这一策略看似反常，却恰恰揭示了爬山赛道的独特之处：它们绝非平坦的封闭赛道，而更像是布满诡谲起伏与怪异倾角的私人车道，甚至能让最顶尖的车手阴沟里翻船。
Then it's a short foot-to-the-floor run to the finish, and Prescott is done. Breathe.
然后是短暂的全速冲刺到达终点。普雷斯科特赛道已拿下，可以喘口气了。
The Alpine A290 is a huge amount of fun in this environment, and perfectly suited to it. This type of event is what Alpines are for — always have been — and its engineers clearly know that. It's a car unlike anything else out there, not as powerful as many of its rivals but nimble and, in this environment, it felt brutish enough.
阿尔派A290在这种环境下简直乐趣爆棚，完美契合这类赛事。阿尔派生来就是为这样的舞台而存在，向来如此。并且工程师们显然深谙此道。它是一台与众不同的车，虽不如许多对手那般马力澎湃，却灵巧敏捷，在这样的赛道上甚至让人感受到一股蛮横的野性。
This experience has made me rethink the A290 completely. It's a nutter with more than enough performance, especially if you only ever show it public roads. We need more EVs with character, ones that even Clarkson wouldn't dare label "white goods".
这次体验让我彻底刷新了对A290的认知。它就是一台不折不扣的“性能疯子”，动力储备远超日常所需，在公共道路上更是如此。我们需要更多有灵魂的电动车，就连克拉克森也不敢轻蔑地称其为“白色家电”。
The A290 is as far from a fridge-freezer as cars come, and I have no doubt Jean Rédélé would have found it a car worthy of the Alpine name.
A290绝非一台“白色家电”。我毫不怀疑，要是阿尔派创始人让·雷德勒还在世的话，也会认为它完全配得上“阿尔派”之名。
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