Alfa Romeo 4C review (30/08/2013)
The 4C is not only divinely good-looking — there is surely Lancia Stratos DNA in it — but is a technological masterpiece that will become one of the brand’s classics and be worth a fortune in time to come.
The 4C will underpin a new era for the legendary Turin company as a maker of cars with to-die-for looks and astounding performance
At the core of this mid-engined, two-seat hardtop is lightness, underlined by its all carbon-fibre tub, which weighs just 65kg, and its new direct-injection, 1,750cc turbo-charged four-pot engine, which outputs a modest 240bhp at 6,000rpm. The lightweight tub and an engine of lightweight components combine for a power-to-weight ratio of 258bhp per tonne, putting the 4C right up there with anything coming out of Maranello, Zuffenhausen and Woking, which have twice the naked power and twice the naked price.
Naysayers might moan that Alfa might have created a better car if it had utilised one of its legendary V6 engines, but this would be truly ignorant of its technical advances. The 4C is as technically advanced as any Ferrari, Porsche or McLaren.
The mid-engined layout means 60% of the car’s weight is over the rear wheels, greatly adding to its stability on the road and its ability to get all of the power to the rear tyres all the time. The six-speed, dual-clutch sequential gearbox with paddle shifters and all-round, specially coated Brembo disc brakes will bring the car from 100kph to a standstill in an incredible 36 metres.
More impressive again is the Alfa’s ability to get from a standstill to astonishing velocities in incredibly short order. The 4.5-second, 0-100kph time is eye-watering, as is the top speed of 257kph. But this car’s ability to go from, say, 100kph to 180kph is supercar territory.
Now it is not all fantastic news, because to get into the car you have to lower yourself into the cockpit one leg at a time. The test car was a left-hooker, so I climbed right leg first over the high carbon-fibre sill and down into the footwell. I slid down the bucket seat until only my left leg was still outside the car.
The door hinges are further rearward than normal, so you have to peel your left leg around those hinges and in over the thick sill. Exiting is even more undignified.
Once aboard, the surroundings are stark. The driver’s seat moves forward and backwards and the backrest tilts, but there are no other adjustments and the passenger seat does not adjust at all. The steering wheel will adjust for reach and rake, so it is possible to get comfy in amid all that matt-black finish and carbon-fibre. The sole TFT screen contains all relevant information about revs, speed, oil pressure and temperatures.
But the interior is threadbare and reminiscent of a Le Mans racing car; there are no creature comforts. A simple leather strap acts as a door pull — like a Morris Minor — but there is a radio/stereo (and air conditioning and Bluetooth).
You start the 4C with a conventional key, but that’s the end of the normal driving experience. Low down on the centre console there are four buttons — ‘1’ (drive), ‘A/M’ (auto/manual), ‘N’ (neutral) and ‘R’ (reverse). Choose ‘1’ and you hook up first gear and then use the paddles to negotiate the rest of the gearbox. For the wary, the ‘A/M’ mode is best.
She will burble away contentedly in neutral, but once you apply any throttle the whole world changes. The raucous engine just inches from the back of your head — valves chattering happily — sharpens the senses.
With no power steering and Alfa’s shunning of traditional adaptive damping, the feel of the car is not like anything normal, and while the steering is terribly heavy at low speed, as you quicken up it lightens and becomes driver-friendly, even if it does weight up again nicely when cornering.
Despite the design, oversteer is not a major problem. The racing pack — which adds stiffer dampers, a rear anti-roll bar and a thicker front anti-roll bar, as well as a racing exhaust and bigger wheels and tyres — further intensified the physical experience, but you never had the sense, no matter how hard you drove it, that it was going to get out of shape unexpectedly.
With the level of feedback coming through your hands via the steering wheel, this is a thoroughly engaging drive and while the ride might be harsh on some surfaces, the devastating performance and mind-blowing handling will keep your mind off such trivialities.
This car tested my bravery and talent and found both wanting. I could not, nor did not want to, get to the bottom of the 4C. I just revelled in the savage potential.
This work of art will define Alfa for years to come and will spark a massive upsurge in its fortunes.
€69,000 — a bargain.
a relatively modest, 1.7-litre turbo, but when combined with a lightweight chassis turns into a complete monster.
there are little, if any, creature comforts on offer here — but who cares?
a nailed-on work of automotive genius.
