So slick are the vehicles that it’s simple to neglect Alpina is barely out of nappies relating to gross sales volumes – particularly when put next with BMW, the corporate with which Alpina has indelible historic ties and on whose merchandise these slick vehicles are primarily based.
Take the least costly and infrequently hottest mannequin within the line-up, the three Collection-based D3. Between 2013 and 2018, Alpina bought 460 D3 saloons and 790 estates within the outdated form.
It’s an nearly microscopic sum that makes these machines rarer than any mainstream supercar, however to Alpina, it represented a cornerstone of the agency’s income and meant a successor merely needed to be constructed, even within the face of quickly deflating demand for diesel energy in Europe. And that’s what the ‘D’ in D3 stands for: diesel.
That successor has now arrived within the UK, the G20-generation-based D3 S, albeit examined right here in G21 Touring guise. However for the badges on the bootlid, it’s outwardly equivalent to the petrol-powered B3 (B for ‘benzin’) of five-star street check fame, with subtly draped skirts and bumpers, and the choice of cast 20in multi-spoke wheels, which our check automotive has.
Nonetheless, beginning at round £55,000, the D3 S prices a lot lower than its M division-engined, AMG-rivalling sibling and as an alternative goes up in opposition to the not too long ago dieselified Audi S4 Avant and… not a lot else, really, until you embody the very entity whence it got here.
Each D3 S begins life as an M340d xDrive, however then morphs significantly. Initially, BMW’s 3.0-litre mild-hybrid straight six receives an Alpina-specific cooling system, with two exterior radiators and an enlarged intercooler and fan.
The result’s 350bhp and an elephantine 538lb ft – figures which are 15bhp and 22lb ft up on the M340d xDrive and in addition surpass these of the V6 Audi, though gasoline effectivity drops from 44.8mpg within the BMW to 37.2mpg for the Alpina.
Elsewhere, the driveshafts have been bolstered and the chassis shares the identical revisions because the scintillating B3: higher camber for the entrance wheels, bespoke spring and damper models, greater brakes and Alpina’s personal calibration for the torque break up between axles, limited-slip differential and steering.