#Roadtest: AL Flusso
Some might argue that it’s near impossible to get a luxury limousine wrong. It’s easy, surely; make the cabin spacious, pack it full of leather and electronics, and then give it a powerful engine. Simple.
AL Autos followed this template with the Flusso, their new uberpremium sedan. Having been redesigned from its concept version, it now looks thoroughly grownup. It certainly has enough chrome to tell you that it’s a car with a big price tag, with only the back letting it down a bit. It just looks a bit flat and simple. What is has, most importantly for such a car, is presence - well defined, not too aggressive but still prominent. And quite welcoming too.
The interior on this 542 XLE model is fabulous but also unexpected. Polished wood in stead of brushed aluminium does make it feel a bit 1980s, but its styled with modern flair, giving it more of a retro-modern feel. And it’s certainly very well equipped; if you can think of it, this car has it optioned. It also has something called “HD Radio” - I couldn’t work out what the ‘HD’ bit meant, but it’s a good DAB tuner that’s for sure. WorldConnect is also on this car, AL’s great internet-based infotainment system. It’s well designed and I can see it being very useful for many customers. Better still, this is a luxury car WITHOUT a B&W sound system! They got Bose to do it instead, and it sounds lovely.
As you can tell, comfort and luxury is really what they’re going for here more than anything else, and that continues with the suspension; it’s ludicrously smooth. Bumps simply aren’t noticeable in this car, and it carries it self on the road like a yahct on a lake. However, that softness does make it roll considerably in the corner. This is not a car made for high performance driving, that’s for sure.
That said, even though it weighs in at just under 2.5 tons, it’s still good for 0-60 in 4.8 seconds. Yet, it doesn’t wheel spin; even with the traction control off, I still couldn’t get it to let loose. That may be due to the AWD system, but it seems to more down to the very weird engine tune.
This is sadly where the Flusso falls short. The engine it self is good; a 3.5l turbo V6, nothing wrong with that. The problems arise with how it’s limited to just 7000 rpm, which is frankly absurd. They’ve squeezed 542 hp out of it, but it clearly has so much more to give. The result is that the power band is horrible to use, mainly because it’s barely there. There’s almost no usability, making it very hard to hold it one gear to cruise in. The gearbox itself is fine, and very smooth in fact, it’s just the power it’s trying to use is so weirdly delivered.
Worse still, the turbos don’t kick in til just before 4000 rpm, meaning that you have almost no torque to move this thing at low speeds. I found this very frustrating in stop start traffic, where you had to rev the engine massively just to get anywhere. AL claim it is very, very reliable, which I certainly have no doubt about. But what’s the point in having so much reliability if the engine is rubbish? It really should have been allowed to max out its revs more, and even toning down the turbos wouldn’t matter too much if it meant you exchanged less power for a better power band.
Still, once you’re at speed, it is much nicer to use, and I can certainly see it being very nice over long distances at constant speeds. You’ll certainly be paying a pretty penny to run this thing, but if you can afford to buy it in the first place, that shouldn’t matter anyway.
So then, the Flusso: it’s hit and miss. Some of it is fantastic, some of it is badly designed.
I love the interior, and the insane levels of comfort, plus it looks better than almost any other car they’ve ever made. On those factors alone, this is a great luxury limo.
But the engine has been tuned so badly, and needs to be properly reworked. It’s almost unusable at low speeds and is very limited in its rev range.
If they sorted out the engine, this could be an incredibly good car. It’s just such a shame it’s let down so much by it.
#Roadtest: AL Actio
If someone were to ask me what an ‘Actio’ was, I’d probably reply “It sounds like a fitness band or some dieting app”. But no, it’s actually a supercar. AL have had a go at making supercars before, but this seems to be the most competent effort by the company so far. Classic mid-engined layout, smooth and low slung body and lots of vents to make it look aggressive. Actually, what am I saying, it’s a great looking car. It won’t set any records by any means, but it’s sure to impress most supercar buyers.
Powering this thing is another ‘safe bet’ of sorts; a 4.75l bi-turbo V8 that knocks out some 800 hp and is packed to the brim with high quality performance parts. Sounds good too; a sharp, snorty kind of whine is produced once those turbos kick in, and I like it.
The interior is very nice too; it may well be made of weight saving materials, but you really do get everything in here, and it’s very comfortable. Easy to use too; really can’t fault it here whatsoever.
So then, how does it drive? Well, the specs are everything you’d expect from this sort of car: 0-60 in 2.6 seconds, top speed of 214 mph - very nice. DCT gearbox, carbon ceramic brakes, active suspension; all the boxes covered. It’s yet another tech-fest supercar.
All of this adds up to a sharp and nippy feel on the road. Power delivery is great; it’s exciting more than anything else, thanks to the massive kick from the turbos. You certainly have to be ready for it, but it’s a lot of fun. And at speed, it holds itself very well, though I get the sense that the active wing is there to compensate for the lack of fine tuning in the aero department. The transmission is pretty normal, though I can say that it’s been setup well and does its job as good as any other DCT gearbox.
The problem here then is that it feels a bit lacklustre. It’s almost as if it wants to be like the mainstream, and that they haven’t really tried to innovate with it or make it particularly special. After a while, I ended up feeling that it wasn’t really much different to any other supercar, which isn’t exactly bad, but then again, other supercars offer you other things to keep you interested like certainly driving characteristics and special features. And in short, this doesn’t.
Still, it’s precise and consistent through the bends, with lovely steering feel and all the desire in the world to do powerslides. The weight balancing greatly impacts this, as it is very rear heavy, but they have controlled it well. Right up to the point where you brake.
It seems that the team working on the Celeriums Azure were collaborating with AL, as we have another mid-engined car with front bias brakes. The size difference on the discs is astounding; 405mm at the front and just 265mm at the back, and boy do you notice it. Thankfully, compared to the the Azure, you aren’t going quite as fast for it it to be dangerous, but it was still very sketchy when coming down from high speeds. The whole car lists forward, and the suspension struggles under the sudden increase in force on it. And naturally, the back just wants to swing out and put you into an impromptu pirouette.
So, it’s not particularly special, and it’s quite happy to try and make you crash whenever you brake. Hmmm. The Actio really is a mixed bag.
I like the engine, the transmission and the styling. It’s also very well equipped for a supercar, and you can’t fault the effort they’ve put in to make it a nice car to use.
But, I cannot stand having to deal with that dreadful brake setup. And aside from that, it just hasn’t got enough substance to be that distinct from rival cars. It feels like a generic supercar, and that’s just not good enough in this market.
The Actio then is a supercar without the passion and flair of other supercars. It only just hits the mark and leaves you wanting more. Even with that low price tag, there are much better offerings elsewhere.
