VIDEO. Toulouse: with the Alpine A110, the gendarmerie engages 252 horses against speeding
The Haute-Garonne gendarmerie group has had an Alpine A110 since mid-April. A French-built racing car intended to chase away excessive speeders on the department’s motorways and expressways. Discovery of a car that takes less than 5 seconds to reach 100 km/h.
As close to the ground, in a deep navy blue crossed out with the inscription Gendarmerie Nationale, the Alpine A 110 of the Haute-Garonne departmental road safety squadron (EDSR 31) hardly goes unnoticed. “When you post it at a toll, it is indeed a great success,” smiles Captain Christophe Barre, deputy commander of the EDSR. But this car, which has been monitoring the expressways of the Haute-Garonne for ten days, mainly chases away excessive speeders.
The Alpine A 110 Pure. The model designated to the gendarmerie is equipped with a 1.8 l turbo four-cylinder engine delivering 252 hp. Its maximum speed is announced at 252 km/h for a 0 to 100 km/h reached in less than 5 seconds, 4.5 according to the tests. With a weight of 1,103 kg, its acceleration capacity is “very solid”, according to the chief warrant officer who pilots it. It is equipped with a “practical” automatic gearbox with possible gear change on the steering wheel. An identical vehicle is offered to private individuals in dealerships at €58,500. In the gendarmerie, this car succeeds the Mégane RS which served more than eleven and in the service of the BRI, rapid intervention brigade which became ERI, rapid intervention team.
His missions. This vehicle can, of course, accompany official trips or, in an emergency, transport evidence or organ donations, but its number 1 mission is to fight against excessive speeding. “Exceedings greater than 40 km / h”, specifies Captain Barre. On the highway, for example, you have to drive at a real 180 km/h for the Alpine to chase you.
Already a surprised driver at 204 km / h
Pilot son. Chief Warrant Officer Olivier L., 42, already has eleven years of service with the gendarmerie’s rapid intervention teams. Selected after a series of physical and psychological tests, he was entitled to a week of circuit training “and retraining every six years”. “At very high speed, you have to anticipate a lot of things, in particular the trajectories and the behavior of other motorists”, confides this non-commissioned officer. The pilot systematically works with a co-pilot. A second pilot should gradually come from the ERI of Haute-Garonne.
Surprise at 204 km/h. Only ten days of service and already a “big” speeding ticket for the Alpine. Dutch tourists surprised at “real” 204 km/h instead of 130 on Sunday afternoon (!), in the Saint-Jory sector, on the highway towards Montauban. The driver’s license was suspended immediately, plus €150 in consignment and immobilization of his Mercedes. “At least 7 days but it will depend on the decision of the prosecution”, warn the gendarmes.
Sad record: 241 km/h. After eleven years of “hunting” on the department’s high-speed tracks, the record stands at 241 km for the chief warrant officer. “Still on the A 62, the Toulouse-Montauban axis. The driver, under the influence of alcohol, had refused to stop. This did not deactivate us from cornering him”. If on average, “an effect also of the increase in gasoline”, the gendarmes note months of excess speed on the motorway, some are still pushing hard, especially in the evening. Precisely, it is at nightfall, when the traffic becomes fluid, that the Alpine takes out its hood and its 252 horsepower.